Apex vs Driver's Edge
What are the preferences and why. I have heard positives about both and no negatives about either.

I plan to do one of them at MSR, but am trying to figure out which.

I just got a brand spanking new S and haven't driven a RWD drive car in 10+ years and want to get back into safely driving closer to the limit and understanding the car's capabilities.

Thanks for the help.

 

I would suggest autocross first, if you're really trying to learn about your car's limits. The speeds are lower and the results of crossing those limits is just spinning or mad understeer. Off track excursions on a racetrack can get expensive - even if it seems harmless.

 

^ Agree.

But to answer your question, Apex offers 1 day events, whereas TDE usually only offers 2 days events which will run you about $300 for the 2 days. So Apex is better if you think 1 day is enough and you want to save some money. But remember, TDE has the better deal because it turns out to just $150 a day which I believe is lower than Apex's 1 day rate.

So far, I've only been with TDE and I love them. Smart move on deciding to get to know your car better! More people need to do that.

 

I agree with both statements above.

Having said that, the cost of running for 2 days is too much for me. Sure the cost of the event is low, but gas, price of hotel for the night and wear on the brakes and tires just makes it an issue for me.

Back in the days, that's what prevented me (and still prevents me) from running a 2 day event. I'm real glad Apex came around and filled a niche.

 

I gotta give Apex a try some time. Does anybody know what I could expect to be different from Apex vs TDE?

 

But would autocrossing teach a guy like me driving his first manual car to clutch better?
I have no clue how good/bad my clutching is since no one has ever analyzed it.

 

Autocrossing won't teach you much about how to change gears properly. On a lot of autocross layouts, you could quite possibly change into 2nd gear and stay there the entire way through.

And you shouldn't go to a HPDE to learn how to use your clutch better. I'd say go out to a deserted road for that.

 

If you don't grind gears, your car doesn't buck when you shift, and you dont have to rev it up to 4k rpms and slip the clutch untill your goind 15mph, then your pretty much good.

 

Since the overnight is not an issue-
only 30-40 miles to home
Cost is pretty similar 150-175 per day
Is the instructor quality the same, one better than the other?

I figured the first mod ought to be a driver mod vs a car mod.

After talking to Andy/Chopper there are som any things you can do to the car, but none help if the driver can't utilize them.

The biggest advantage to TDE is that they seem to do the 3.1 where Apex uses the 1.7 or 1.3

 

They only let you do the 3.1 if your experience level qualifies you for it.