Performance Driving School with car rental
 

Are there any performance driving school that has a car rental option around the bay area?

You could try Skip Barber: http://www.yelp.com/biz/skip-barber-...school-salinas
or Simraceway: http://www.yelp.com/biz/simraceway-p...-center-sonoma

Will be curious to hear from anyone who's done one of these programs.

I think TofuJoe mentioned the two main ones, Skip barber in MLS and Simraceway in Sonoma. Don't think thunderhill has a driving school. I do know of some private instructors that rent out shifter karts for instruction/drills (they trailer in the karts and meet you at the track), but I'm not sure that's what you are asking.
I've always wanted to do skip barber, but never got to. I've done a one day EvoX class with Jim Russell a few years back and it was good fun (plus you get to drive an Evo!)

The one thing I would caution folks who want to do this type of driving school is yes, you do learn the basics and concepts, but you learn it on a different car, which may handle/react differently than your own car when applying what you've learned. IMHO I think you would benefit more on getting an instructor at an hpde (Trackmasters,hooked on driving, etc.) to learn both the concepts and apply it your own car, that way you get the practice and muscle memory along with the feedback from the car.

I would agree... you already own a great car, why not have fun with it? Even taking it to an autocross for some relatively safe fun will be a great experience and directly applicable to you learning how to control YOUR car in everyday driving and emergency situations.

Hooked on Driving looks like a lot of fun: http://www.hookedondriving.com/first-timers

I definitely agree with that, and I love my car. I am asking because I have friends that wanted to have experience in high performance driving but either don't have a car or don't want to use their own car.

You could also do a car rental during a HPDE day. Everything from Sealed Spec Miata, and Spec E30 on the low end to Spec Mustang and Boxster S on the high end. You could even get a little crazy and rent a spec racer ford if you wanted a purpose built race car (I would recommend against this though since those cars tend to have issues with being seen by other drivers). You can find a pretty good list at: http://www.sfrscca.org/images/2015/R...cars1_2015.pdf
Two names that I don't see on there that I've seen at the track are Lesher Motorsports and Mad hamster (spec Miata and spec E30 respectively). All these organizations will rent you a car and provide track side support so you have less to do/worry about while there. Some will offer you coaching and data acquisition, others won't. Alot of the HPDE organizations will also provide you a coach (some, like HOD, include it while others charge specifically for it).

My local vintage racing club Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing (rmvr.com) offers a competition driving school for people who want to compete and have a vintage race car.
They ALSO offer a performance driving school that gives students the same training but who do NOT have a vintage car.
Those people are allowed to bring their street car but many people will rent the sportiest car they can find and use that.
Many insurance companies allow you coverage while on the track at a driving school as long as it is not a timed event.

HOD is a great group and would highly recommend it along with trackmasters if its your first time. I've had great experiences with their instructors.

Since I'm one of the instructors with HOD, I strongly second this opinion!

Does that mean I get a discount for my next track day? I'll also consider taking some free instruction :thumbsup:

I can't do anything for a discount (I don't get one unless I'm coaching), but anytime I'm at the track I'm more than willing to jump in a car and give advice.

BMW has their car control clinic and M School down in Thermal, CA near Palm Springs. I did the car control clinic (BMW messed up the registration for M School), and it still was a lot of fun. Got to drive around in the M235i. For M School, you'll drive the M3, M4, etc.

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There are a couple spec miata rentals:

http://larryoka.com/
http://www.aracing.org/

I rent a spec miata for a track weekend with Al at A+ racing and it was a great experience. It is pricey but given no choice (my car wasn't ready at the time) it is really worth it. Miatas don't have TCS so just get used to the car and you will be fine.