HPDE: Where, When and Who With?

[mkivsoopra]

Originally Posted by BRZkitty

signing up now, hooked on driving :3

This one?

http://www.hookedondriving.com/event..._Minis_Welcome

I may join you... Need to check on that date first though.

[Krispeee]

Originally Posted by Flow

I just noticed NCRC is $100 (or maybe $200 if you have to pay track + instructor fee) vs. HOD $300 at Thunderhill.

Have either of you (or anyone else) had instructors from both, and any thoughts on whether the price difference is justified?

(I plan on continuing at Thunderhill for a while, since there are so few walls, and want to continue with in-car instructors, but $300 (plus consumables) isn't chump change.)

Originally Posted by kster1

If you are a complete beginner to high performance driving, I'd recommend a club like HOD or BMWCCA over NCRC. If I remember correctly, NCRC instructors don't sit in the car with you, but instead, do lead-follows on the track. It does help a lot to have an instructor in the seat next to you (with an intercom headset) going over any mistakes, missed flags, etc.

Hooked on Driving provides much better classroom instruction than NCRC. Beyond basic safety items, HOD has classroom time after every session to talk about the proper line, early/late apexes, issues that came up during the track session, etc. etc. etc. NCRC classroom time provided safety information, and not much else. This is a significant advantage for HOD if you are a newbie.

HOD does, in fact, seem to attract more newbies. This means its novice track sessions were quite a bit slower than NCRC's novice sessions. A HOD novice session might be filled 30% with real newbies who are driving slowly, which makes for a frustrating session if you've got a little capability. In contrast, the NCRC novice session had just a few newbies, and plenty of faster intermediate drivers.

In HOD you will have a different instructor for each session. This has advantages and disadvantages. You'll get several different perspectives instead of just 1, and you won't get stuck for the entire day with an instructor who's not a good match for you for whatever reason. On the other hand there is no continuity from session to session. At NCRC you'll have the same instructor all day.

The NCRC novice session has many more point-by passing zones than the HOD novice session. This was really very helpful - it was great to be able to pass in so many different places.

In summary, both groups provided an excellent experience, and a safe friendly atmosphere. For your 1st outing I'd recommend HOD. As you get more capable and start getting frustrated by too many slow cars, give NCRC a try. Note that it is very easy to move up to more advanced groups in HOD, so don't read too much into these comments.

[Krispeee]

[quote=BRZkitty;1421567]

Originally Posted by Krispeee

Are you going with NCRC? I was looking into this as well. I'll be heading out to Laguna with NCRC in Jan.

Do it too! so I wont be a loner

Just checked my schedule, I think I'll be out of town that weekend.

[BRZkitty]

Originally Posted by mkivsoopra

This one?

http://www.hookedondriving.com/event..._Minis_Welcome

I may join you... Need to check on that date first though.

nope.. I dont think it is hookedondriving. Just the NCRC driving school
feb 7th - already paid stoaked!!

http://www.ncracing.org/reg/pay-even...14-2-7&id=6441



For you exp tracksters: Any thoughts on purchasing track insurance??????

[Flow]

Originally Posted by Krispeee

In HOD you will have a different instructor for each session. This has advantages and disadvantages. You'll get several different perspectives instead of just 1, and you won't get stuck for the entire day with an instructor who's not a good match for you for whatever reason. On the other hand there is no continuity from session to session. At NCRC you'll have the same instructor all day.

Thank you. That is very helpful. I'll probably continue with HOD for a bit until I get more comfortable on track.

One note, in my one HOD session (my first track day) I had the same in-car instructor all day, though they did say I had the option to switch if I wanted.

[Flow]

Originally Posted by BRZkitty

For you exp tracksters: Any thoughts on purchasing track insurance??????

Purposefully ignoring your bold. I'm not experienced but I did stay at a Holiday.... wait. That's not it. I'm not experienced, but I checked with my insurance (Geico) and I was covered for HPDE events, under my normal plan. The key is probably the education side of it, but you might check with your insurer.

[BRZkitty]

Originally Posted by Flow

Purposefully ignoring your bold. I'm not experienced but I did stay at a Holiday.... wait. That's not it. I'm not experienced, but I checked with my insurance (Geico) and I was covered for HPDE events, under my normal plan. The key is probably the education side of it, but you might check with your insurer.

Wow that's lucky... not many are.. I will double check w/mine. thanks @Flow

[mike_ekim1024]

Originally Posted by mkivsoopra

This one?

http://www.hookedondriving.com/event..._Minis_Welcome

I may join you... Need to check on that date first though.

I think I'll be coming out to some track meets in the coming months. Got my pads and brake lines, just need to install them. Jan is some vacation and going to CES (fiancé will be working there). Can't wait to get it out on a fast track!

[Cjymiller]

Originally Posted by mike_ekim1024

Got my pads and brake lines, just need to install them.

Not sure if you've done brakes before but on my friend's and my BRZ, the flare nuts on the hard lines did not want to come out at all. I highly suggest an hour of PB blaster and tapping every 5 minutes or so.

[mkivsoopra]

Originally Posted by BRZkitty

nope.. I dont think it is hookedondriving. Just the NCRC driving school
feb 7th - already paid stoaked!!

http://www.ncracing.org/reg/pay-even...14-2-7&id=6441

Paid... I'm in too.

[orthojoe]

I was lucky enough to nab Thunderhill for myself and some friends on New Years day. You'd think that I would have driven my cars a ton, but I only ran about 10 minutes with the BRZ, and 3 short sessions with the spyder. Between riding and driving in others cars and doing lead follows for my wife, I didn't get that much driving done in my own cars. That being said, I was able to nab some video.

Here's a 2:15 run over the top in the BRZ. Only mods are MPSS tires (OEM size on OEM wheel), camber bolts at -1.6, and Pmu CR brake pads. If you're wondering why the brake is being used mid corner at turn 14, it's not me. I neglected to turn off traction control completely, and the ECU apparently logs brake intervention from traction control. Something I never noticed before until now.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI08YWtfX3w"]2:15 lap time at Thunderhill in a Subaru BRZ - YouTube[/ame]

Here is some video my buddy hooning around in the BRZ. 3 spinouts in less than 2 laps. LOL.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne7Rsg7yn3w"]Shenanigans in the BRZ - YouTube[/ame]

I let 2 of my friends drive the spyder with video and datalogging running, so I made a neat video pitting us against each other for a virtual 'race', all in the same car. I won, but it's scary how fast the other 2 were given it wasn't their car and it was the first time driving the car on track.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1fxXya2tFE"]Showdown at Thunderhill - YouTube[/ame]

[PMok]

Originally Posted by orthojoe

I was lucky enough to nab Thunderhill for myself and some friends on New Years day.

very nice! something I always dreamed of, having a track all to myself just me and my friends. I see they have a few more days like that available this week, not a bad price at all but more than I want to spend right now. Perhaps someday...

[garfull]

86drive trackday?

Originally Posted by PMok

very nice! something I always dreamed of, having a track all to myself just me and my friends. I see they have a few more days like that available this week, not a bad price at all but more than I want to spend right now. Perhaps someday...

thats awesome.

Originally Posted by orthojoe

I was lucky enough to nab Thunderhill for myself and some friends on New Years day.

[RehabJeff86]

@orthojoe - 2:15!!! Awesome time and awesome line!!