Ever since I picked up my 'fun' car, I've had the opportunity to take it out to three of the many advanced driving schools in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA for those of you outside of Toronto) and here's my review of them.
Standard disclaimer: I am NOT paid by any of the schools nor am I affiliated with them other than having paid for and participated in their classes (with the exception of the SPDA which I am a member of but have no say in their school curriculum). This is a personal review and I am by no means a professional driver.
Hanson International Advanced Driving School
Website:
http://hansoninternationaldriving.com/
Cost: $310 per class
Discounts: All three classes for $750 ($250/class) or early bird signup (6 weeks in advance or earlier) for a single class is $260.
Chief Instructor: Peter Hanson
Date Attended: June 3, 2016
Classroom training -
6.5/10
Track training -
8/10
Skidpad training -
6.5/10
Track time -
9/10
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D78fNMx--EI&index=2&list=PL9wNT1VjpnnzeJ3wFqOFuPrwW9j_3B5LD &t=187s"]Hanson International Advanced Driving School - June 3, 2016 - 4th Session - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VLq8QgWa8Y&index=3&list=PL9wNT1VjpnnzeJ3w FqOFuPrwW9j_3B5LD"]Hanson International Advanced Driving School - June 3, 2016 - 5th Session - YouTube[/ame]
Review:
Hanson's driving course is one of the cheapest advanced driving courses available that I am aware of and in many ways, a great portal for those that are not necessarily wanting to drop tons of cash into a class yet still get some decent instruction and get on a track with some ease. The caveat is that you do get what you pay for and their weakest component is the classroom sessions. It's done in extremely short sessions; officially only 20 minutes but since students are running back and forth between lapping, skidpad and whatnot, no one is EVER on time so realistically, the class sessions are roughly 12-15 minutes. This is hardly enough time to explain to people what they need to know let alone really drive a point home. All of this is done verbally by the way. Once you are done classroom sessions, you will either bounce to 20 minutes of track time or 20 minutes of skid pad time and then back to class.
The skidpad training exercises involve the standard circle and slalom course. For those of you that don't autocross, the slalom is essentially a line of pylons spaced (in this case) evenly apart and you drive you car such that you are snaking through them. No instructors join you for this time period but instead you drive up to the course, they tell you what to do and you go out there and try to figure it out. I think the reason why no instructors are joining you out there is because they are out with another group doing track time. It seems that instructors are only issued for that which is odd. Nonetheless, it's still useful but less so since you get less instantaneous feedback and when you do, it's hard to relate. One of their weaker aspects is what they call the "accident avoidance" lesson - you drive through the slalom as quickly as you can and at the end of it there is a person who will tell you at the last minute whether to go left, right or stop all together. I find this session extremely unsafe for the person at the end. They try to trip you up but if you screw up the stop section, you could very well wind up going right through (and hitting him) or wipe out. Not sure why they chose it this way.
In regards to track time, Hanson shines in their 20 minute format. 20 minutes for most rookies to intermediates is more than enough. That'll get you at LEAST 10 laps. You also are not out there long enough to get stupid due to fatigue (both physical and mental) and it is short enough for you to get some vague recollection when you instructor says: "Remember on the last lap at that turn you did
this?". They also implement point-to-pass rules which is pretty much a staple in any track school.
However, being one of the cheaper schools means that the school is almost always PACKED and the rankings that they assign students based on experience get somewhat tossed out the door. For my session, we had at least 4 rookies pushed up into intermediate due to overflow and then 5 intermediates pushed up into advanced due to overflow. There were probably 30 students in total so that meant 10 cars per track session. This might not sound like much but keep in mind that most folks (even the intermediates) are not track seasoned vets.
What does that mean? Point-bys for passing are highly inconsistent with some students and instructors totally oblivious to their backsides. Worse, some point-bys are VERY last minute and most folks are soooo enthusiastic to pass that they will do it even if it feels unsafe. Be careful out there folks - exercise caution. I place full blame on the instructors for not keeping an eye out the back and doing the point-bys themselves. There seems to be no real structure to the lapping sessions, just go out there with an instructor and talk it out.
I was lucky to have a great instructor in Pierre K. and got some great tips and feedback throughout the track session and after it as well. However, other folks have reported less than stellar instructor feedback but while that can be said for ANY school, this is the only school I am aware of that makes you stick with the same instructor for the whole day so the odds of you finding someone else are nil if you don't get along with your instructor or (s)he isn't your style.
Overall, I'd still recommend Hanson for those of you wanting to get a minor taste of track days with instruction but there are better schools out there. Mr. Hanson Sr. who runs the classroom section might say that this school is one of the first to do track day schools but I'd argue that it isn't the best overall.
RATING: 7.5/10
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Ian Law Car Control School - Track School
Website:
www.carcontrolschool.com
Cost: $525 per class
Discounts: None for the class.
Chief Instructor: Ian Law
Date Attended: August 8, 2015
Classroom training -
9.5/10
Track training -
9/10
Skidpad training -
8/10
Track time -
8/10
Review:
At $525 a pop, Ian Law's course (ILR) is more than twice the price compared to Hanson's 3-day package (per class) and that's primarily what you wind up hearing from anyone asking for advice which one to pick. Having been to both, I am gonna pull out the old saying:
You get what you pay for. No offence to Hanson's course but Ian Law runs a considerably tighter ship and the course feels much more professional and is a well-oiled machine in terms of scheduling and execution.
Since the price is considerably higher, it allows ILR to reduce the number of students and produce a much more condensed training session. ILR's classroom sessions are pretty much as professional as it'll get. You get half hour of classroom, half hour of track time and bounce between the two. This reduces confusion as to where you need to be which means people are generally on time. Ian personally teaches the in class session and had great slides and videos (which he shares in printouts to the class). He uses great tools to tech people how your brain fixates or ignores objects and has a HEAVY emphasis on vision. Throughout the day, over the course of 5 classroom sessions, he will lay down foundations and add a little bit of new material but will constantly go back to what he discussed earlier to keep that fresh in your mind. It works - trust me. Also, he seems to have a knack of picking on idiotic S2000 drivers in his videos - I am not in any of them thank god. Hands down, best in class training. For those of you that think he's a Jap-car hater, he actually still races a race-prepped Integra. He also will hop in on rides with you.
The track training is run but a whole plethora of driving instructors of different styles and throughout the day, a different one will be hopping in with you to give you a wide palette of instructional styles and aggressiveness. I went from literally "ok take it reaaaaal easy here" to "GO GO GO GO GO ... ease off ... NOW GO GO GO ALL OUT". The best part about this course is that towards the end, you can ask for the same instructor when they essentially let people go on the track on their own and they can further reinforce details for you. Short of interviewing the instructors ahead of time, I can't think of a better way to get the best instructor for you for the day.
Skid pad strictly involves the standard large circle to get a feel of understeer or oversteer using the throttle pedal. No slalom course here but you have an instructor in the car with you at all times.
The track exercises are also a lot more progressive - they will start your first lap session with 20 minutes of simply going around in a train with everyone taking a chance to lead the train. This may sound boring and stupid but it gives you a chance to learn the track and also watch other cars and feel comfortable with them on the track. This then progresses to spreading out cars (with tons of gap) and driving faster and learning the nuances with the car. All instructors will initially have a radio and will push or pull the train. By midday, you will be finally let loose on the track normally and since there are less students, you won't find yourself in a conga line.
Instructors are also extremely diligent about watching the rear view mirrors for incoming bogies and will tell you to slow down and allow them to pass. They will also signal for you but will ask that you get in the habit along with them. Unlike other schools, ILR actually mandates that the SLOWER car pull OFF the racing line and point by thus allowing the faster car to keep the racing line and pull past. I personally like this as the slower car can navigate a turn at a tighter radius easier than a person overtaking on the inside of a turn.
The only weakness of ILR's course is that the track time at 30 minutes a session is awfully long for rookies. You start losing count of the number of laps you've been out there and start getting way too aggressive for your own good. Keep your wits and stay alert! Pull off if you have to - I did it after mucking up a turn. No one judges and you are student after all. It's still fun but the vectors for fatigue exponentially increase in those extra 10 minutes.
Overall, I'd say ILR is a very well run school with great instructors and worth the extra money. Since there are going to be less students than Hanson, you WILL learn more. The way I look at it is, ILR is the foundation, Hanson is really good lapping day with instruction.
RATING: 9/10
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I will review the SPDA Advanced Driving Clinic shortly!