Mundty

Just looking for some recommendations on professional driving instruction, I know a lot of people recommend Auto-X... but I'd like to get some proper instruction before attempting to compete in anything. Really interested in learning the limits of my car, as well as general instruction on getting the most out of my car. I've read as much as I possibly can about racing, and need to take things to the next step. I'm from Southeastern PA so anything in or around the Philadelphia area would be fine.

I'm not a new driver by any means, just never tracked a car or raced in any real capacity. More of an enthusiast looking to take things to the next level!

robrob

I would still recommend autocross. Look for an autocross school, many are run in early spring. Even if you can't find a school a standard autocross is very educational. There will be experienced instructors at almost every event and you can ride along with lots of people to see how incredibly skilled many of the regulars are. You can get a ton of driving skill and fun from your first autocross weekend. I highly recommend people get comfortable with "automatically" correcting a slide before trying to learn that on a race track at high speed. Autocross can be a catalyst for getting the most out of expensive track weekends.

IntegraR0064

I do think that people get a little too intimidated by going to an autocross, which is understandable but unnecessary. Autocross is great because 1) It's really, extremely rare to damage your car or hurt yourself, no matter how bad you're driving and 2) there are quite a few people there that are pretty new to performance driving, so you're not out of place.

I can particularly speak as part of the philly region scca that drivers new to autocross really get a good experience at our events. Even if you just come out to a normal autocross, you can have an experienced instructor, many of them having national championships, ride with you every run, even driving your car to show you concepts if you want, all at no additional cost over the normal autocross entry fee (about $35 or $40).

So that's one option, just check out our schedule here - http://www.phillyscca.com/schedule/p...edule.htm#solo

What it sounds like you want though, would be our novice school. That's on April 29 this year, so not too far off, and it's in warminster. The novice school is really good because there's less intimidation of being in a race and more emphasis on learning, plus you get plenty of runs to reinforce things. You also get a classroom session to start off. It's pretty cheap too, I think it's maybe $125 and that includes lunch and a free entry to a future autocross. So if you do that, then come out to a few autocrosses afterwards and have instructors at those, you should be well on your way to being fast. Those autocrosses will still be competitive too, since we have a novice class only open to people in their first year, so you'll have like minded people to compete against. Then maybe if you want you can try a track event to see how you like that compared to autocross and feel confident that your car control skills will be adequate.

Link for the novice school here - http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.c...0C713AC55BB225

Hope to see you out soon!

steguis

Autocross novice school and then after a few events Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Evolution school (http://www.evoschool.com/) is a step in the right direction. While you're new you want to get rid of bad habits right from the start. From there, you can continue to autocross and/or start doing track days whichever your preference is. Doing both and getting as much seat time as you can I feel is the best way to maximize improvement in driver skill.

robrob

steguis, that's a seriously good looking S you've got there.

CKit

If you do autocross schools first to learn basic chassis control, you'll get more out of track school later.

And it'll be cheaper and safer that way.

steguis

Thanks

whynot

check out NASA-NE. we have alot of events lined up for this coming season. I instruct with them and would love to get you started. Pm me if you have any questions
Ron

Legion

I say just get out there. Last year I went to my first autocross and I'm from the philly area too. I pulled up to Citizen's bank park, saw a shiny blue S2000, figured I'd park next to them. That S2000 happened to be owned by IntegraR0064. I had no idea what I was doing so I asked him questions and he was more than happy to help me out. There are tons of nice people there willing to help you out; just let them know its your first time and they will take care of you.

Mundty

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I'm still doing some research on schools, but I'll definitely consider Auto-X as my introduction into racing. Hoping I can find one that focuses more on instruction rather than competition, most of the stuff I see on Auto-X seems to be more competition based.