Performance driving school for SWMBO

My wife autocrosses and has expressed some casual interest in going faster on a road course. She's good but not great, having started too late in life and without a lifetime of hoonage is not comfortable enough to totally throw caution to the wind. With coaching at local events she responds well and has the desire to go faster, just has to get past the brain. Christmas present will be some sort of driving event. I'm trying to decide which driving school in the USA/Canada would be the best to build her speed threshold and get her a first track experience. If she takes a liking to it I would replace our STR Z3 with a hardtop/caged car for autox and DE's, but I don't want to do that until I know that she would enjoy it and not be too intimidated.

You might look at the NASA-Florida region events for next year. They have events at Sebring, Roebling Road and Daytona from what I have heard. If you don't min d a road trip NASA-southeast region has events at Carolina Motorsports Park, Roebling Road, Road Atlanta, and share events at Barber and Daytona with other regions. I have had good experiences with their HPDE system. There are many other excellent groups running events as well.

http://www.drivenasafl.com/

Check out Skip Barber. They were at Laguna Seca but don't seem to teach there any more. I think some place like AMCI teaches there now. Skip Barber does teach at Thunderhill here in CA. Thunderhill is an excellent track to learn and have fun on.

A friend of mine went to Allen Berg Racing School and had a fantastic time and was pleased with the experience.

http://www.allenbergracingschools.com

Most driving "schools" are geared towards people who want to go racing. I think a NASA HPDE would be the best place to send her. Far cheaper and she'll learn in a car she's already comfortable in.

amg_rx7 wrote: Check out Skip Barber. They were at Laguna Seca but don't seem to teach there any more. I think some place like AMCI teaches there now. Skip Barber does teach at Thunderhill here in CA. Thunderhill is an excellent track to learn and have fun on.

he's in FL …. all those places would be a bit of a reach …

Find a low pressure DE event and have a private coach for the day. Interview several coaches and SPELL OUT what her goals are for the day... You'll probably spend $300-600 plus the event cost but get 100% of the instructor with real time feedback inside the car. Most of the "Big Name" schools split the instructor between many students and some do feedback from outside corner positions plus they cost some pretty big money.

contact Amy Riches directly, she's the head instructor for PCA Sun Coast region which runs on Sebring. I wouldn't be too surprised if she does some instruction outside of PCA as well.

email: amy@autoquestcars.com

That's pretty funny, I'm looking for the same thing for my wife as that's what she wants, but I'm in Texas.

wbjones wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: Check out Skip Barber. They were at Laguna Seca but don't seem to teach there any more. I think some place like AMCI teaches there now. Skip Barber does teach at Thunderhill here in CA. Thunderhill is an excellent track to learn and have fun on.

he's in FL …. all those places would be a bit of a reach …

he didn't ask for FL only

glueguy wrote: I'm trying to decide which driving school in the USA/Canada would be the best to build her speed threshold and get her a first track experience.

To those recommending NASA or HPDE, I don't think the OP will get what he is after in those types of orgs. The schools have a set lesson plan to really break down the learning into specific things you need to know and practice/implement those skills on track in a manner that encourages learning. Won't get anything close to that in HPDE IME.