BMW School Northstarbmw.org streetsurvival.org - Teen School DCTC - Dakota County Technical College Sat Jan 12 - Teen Winter School Street Survival Sat Feb 23 - Advance Car Control Clinic - Winter Sat Apr 13 - Advance Car Control Clinic - Spring Sat Jul 27 - Teen Summer School Street Survival Sat Aug 24 - Advance Car Control Clinic - Summer BMW High Speed Driving School at BIR June 7-9 June 7 - Advance Students, Instructors and Instructor Canidate program June 8-9 High Speed Driving School w/Personal Instruction
Are the other events @ DCTC? (Feb, Apr, Aug) I plan to renew my membership this year. I had a great time out with the club last year.
Thanks for bringing that up, I've updated the first post. I'm happy to hear you had a great time with our club. I believe we have one of the best programs in our area and we also have a great group of club members. Looking forward to hopefully getting a chance to work with you next season. And no more baby excuses
I'll be at the April and Aug Advance Car Control Clinics. I had a great time last year and its a great chance to get seat time. I also plan to be at most the PDX events too
Which one to send the kid to? 18 yrs old, solid driver and went to winter street survival last year and loved it. Repeat or go to advanced? thanks
Great question: Our SS school is great for Novice, Intermediate student, we are not allowed to apply track/racing fundamentals as kids are very impressionable. We focus on key traits that Teenager's have that would put them more at risk like texting, having too many friends in the car, two tires off, jumping hills, seat belts, car control and more. In the Advance program we have more freedom to apply more of our own knowledge and really challenge the students in situations where a more experienced driver may encounter. In both school our goal is teaching Car Control and safety. Again we're not a "RACING SCHOOL" but we will apply some of our racing knowledge where it would benefit someone's education especially when it comes to safety and saving their life. I think at this point he'd have fun at either school. If I could suggest something here, talk with your son and find out what things he'd like to learn more about and if you have specific skill sets you'd like us to help work with him on. I'd be happy to work with him at either schools.
Update: Both Jan Street Survial Winter School and Feb ACCC is now open for registration. www.consumerreports.org/cro/video-hub/featured/featured-videos/training-teens-to-drive-more-safely/17387256001/941401979001/
Update: Sat Jan 12 - Teen Winter School Street Survival **Is currently full** The next opportunity is July 27. Sat Feb 23 - Advance Car Control Clinic - Winter **Registration is currently open.** I'll be a both events, looking forward to a full day of fun in the snow.
I signed him up for the Feb23 class! The green wagon with fresh paint and a new clutch return (what was I thinking)!
That's fantastic, will you be there as well? I'm make sure we get a chance to meet. Thanks for the heads up.
The driving fundamentals remain the same, except for the part where we try and distract the Teens while driving. What other questions may you have?
ah ok, I was just curious is this would be a more "spirited" driving event like the last PDX event at DCTC.
In it's own way yes with more obsticles and exercises to tackle on the track to test your techniques. Most of the lapping is done in the last 2 hours of the day. Our school allows you to focus on refining your skill sets.
Thanks for posting! I was hoping to attend the BMW event at BIR this year. which reminds me that i have some big purchases to make!
We just had our first Teen Street Survival school this past Saturday. The kids these days have such busy schedules and have so much on their plates, but they still find time to smile and laugh. I had two students, the young lady was a sophomore, worked a part time job and participates in figure skating. She drove this manual transmission 23 year old marroon Honda Civic with 285k miles with a safari hood with lots of bumps from all the previous drivers who had the car before her. Her foot work was astonishing working the paddles consistently considering she just started driving 7 months ago. She did not do the old clutch and gas balancing act. Shifts were smooth and clean. Her hands were busy as she didn't know where to put them while maneuvering thru the exercises in the mroning. But once she received some coaching on hand positions it was no longer an issue. Because she was able to pick up the pace fairly quickly I decided to help teach her how to shift, down while slowing down for a turn and shifting up after exiting the turn with increasing speeds instead of doing everything in third. She turns to me and says "my car has never sounded like this before." My male student was a Senior who drove a 1995 Black Mustang with 6k miles who plays football. He too picked up our materials very quick and because of it I was able to introduce some more advance techniques to him. In our classroom we teach students it's bad to use left foot braking, this is true when you're new to driving and haven't developed the sensitivity in your left foot and understand how to use it properly, is correct. But on the icy slalom his rwd mustang was able to weave around the cone's much much faster with control and ease on the icy surface. I've seen a lot of kids come thru the Teen programs I get to work with and I've found that kids that are active in sports tend to have better hand and eye coordination behind the wheel. But the most facinating thing I've found is unlike our experienced drivers I don't have to fix any of their bad traits or habbits that will lead a driver into trouble. This probably is one of the most important opportunities we have when it comes to improving our safety and mannerisms on the public roads. It's great to see these students make a 360 turn in their driving in one day. And thanks to our instructors and parents/volunteers and students for making this a worthwhile event.
Oh I almost forgot to mention one of the highlights of the kids day was when we intentionally created a very distractive environment to drive under. The young man in the black mustang had to endure a painful situation where he had to listen to Country music (which I found out was his least favorite) two chatty Cathy's in the back singing their hearts out while he was on his mobile phone talking with his good old Dad who was working the course. Considering his inexperience he did very well, he managed to hit just two cones and was able to react correctly when I yelled out cow all the while driving with one hand. I informed him although he was successful I highly discourage him from doing this as when you're new you can still see what's happening before you, but once it becomes a trait you will not. Things will be in a passive state and your reflexs will not be as it should.
We should try this at a PDX event and see where the real talent lies All joking aside, I'm glad to hear that it was a successful event! I'm hoping that I can made the event on 2/23.
Well yesterday we had our BMW Winter ACCC with over 6 inches of snow on the DCTC Track. I was the second person on the track so you can see why it pays to be early lol. I told myself I was just going to take two laps around the course to check things out, but after each lap I kept finding myself going around one after another. I think I ended up going around a total of 8 laps, then duty called so I had to head into the office. This has been one of our best winter school's in a very long time, I say that because unlike the previous years we actually had snow for this event. I was happy to see that my friends had brought their wives to our schools and then instead of me working with them as we had originally planned they switched and I ended up working with their wives instead. I had a pretty busy day but I'm always happy to help. I got a chance to catch up with the guys in the afternoon to see how they were doing and they asked me some questions and I made up some funny answers. I also got a chance to meet Rick silver03 and his son Garrett. It was a really nice treat to meet you again and work with your son. He did a great job in the limited time I had with him. I look forward to see you both again at our future events. My winter tires are now more like All Season's so I'll be shopping for new ones next season. The difference between what I was wearing and Noah's H6 SVX was quite apparent to say the least. Thanks for letting me drive your beast. You have a very high aptitude when it comes to driving, I have no doubt in my mind you'll become a very fast driver soon.
We had a terrific time. I personally spend so much time maintaining and improving the performance of my subies, its money well spent on learning how to control them better.
**Update** Where's all my driver's at? Registration is open for the Spring April 13 Advance Car Control Clinic. We are currently half full as I am lol. And we would greatly appreciate some volunteers for this event. We'll feed you and give you rides around the track and maybe even a few laps in your own car. http://www.motorsportreg.com/index..../uidEvent/DAF982CD-960C-805C-2E16F2D16B52E221
Currently waiting for my taxes to return so I have the funds to get this season started. Have big plans for this summer with luck i will have enough to do most of it
Looks like we have a huge turn out for our April event and as a result we're now putting new registrants on a Waiting List. Thanks to those who have registered I can't wait to try out my double under at this event. We are always looking for course volunteers, we'll feed you lots of food and beverages and fun.
Update: If you're an advanced student & would like to drive on Fri, contact Chief Instructor Bruce Carlson or Driving Events Coordinator Eric Christenson at [email protected] for approval if you haven't been approved to drive solo on Fri previously. ** Sat/Sun driving school ** The weekend driving school is open to all experience levels, BMW & non-BMW makes. Our club for years has offered safe, educational, fun experiences @ the track. We teach the basics & finer points of driving, & you will be on track with an experienced, knowledgeable instructor that will customize the school for your background. Convertibles, t-tops, targas, trucks, vans, & SUVs aren't allowed. SAVs such as BMW X-series, Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7, etc are allowed with permission. Basic 2-day school costs $320 early bird/$350 after. Other package options include a 3-day combo drive for approved drivers. ** Registration ** To begin, visit http://www.motorsportreg.com and create your account if you haven't already. Add 'BMW CCA - North Star Chapter' to your Club Memberships, & our events will show up in the Calendar. Please note: club membership is required to attend driving schools. A 1-year membership is $48 & can be obtained by calling BMW CCA @ 1-866-250-0022 or visiting http://www.bmwcca.org. Students: register by May 12th & receive early-bird discount for the Sat/Sun school! ** Tech Inspection ** Please join us on Thurs night, May 9th from 6:00 - 8:30pm @ BMW of Minnetonka for our complimentary BIR pre-event tech inspection. BMW of Minnetonka will inspect all makes & models planning to attend the June BIR event for no charge on May 9th. First time attending a driving school? We'll have friendly persons there to talk with & answer any questions you might have. Other entertainment & fun will be offered by BMW of Minnetonka the night of the event, so feel free to bring friends & family! All drivers must have their car tech inspected in advance of the event & bring a completed tech form with them. BMW of Minnetonka will also be providing track-side support @ the event; THANK YOU! ** Other details ** We'll be staying @ Comfort Inn & Suites Rapid River Lodge on 371 in Baxter. Our group rate is $99 per night. Water park passes are available & complimentary upon request when booking your room. When making your reservation, mention that you are with the 'BMW club'. The block of rooms for the club is reserved; book now before the summer vacation rush. Contact Comfort Inn & Suites @ 218-825-7234. For Sat night dinner, we'll be enjoying gourmet fare from Prairie Bay Restaurant. Choose your entrée @ time of registration! Cost is $30/person. We'll not be offering barn spots @ track this year as we hope for beautiful weather & there'll be another event on the drag strip by the barns. Be sure to read the BIR Welcome Packet in advance to the event, it will likely answer any questions you have or didn’t know you had: http://northstarbmw.org/drivingschools.aspx?ns=Forms
Good chance I will be there on the 13 to drive, if I do make it I'll be there early to help setup if the help is needed
This week better go quick can't wait to try out the new surface at BIR, should be a good warm up for Proving Grounds.
Was just up there last weekend, the new surface is nice. Easier on tires but they squeal a lot (Star Specs), and it takes awhile to get used to the extra width.
The flow is very much the same as is the approach. What's different is obviously the surface and run off. What the 10ft asphalt on driver's left has to offer is more cornering speed. It's there and it's everywhere, but you'll have to find it. And the consistent surface will allow more temptations to get into trouble, which is a good thing the run off's have been reworked.
