It's a long shot, but does anybody know a good driving instructor in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area who can coach and teach advanced street driving techniques? Something comparable to Roadcraft in the UK.

 

Maybe you should consider taking a trip somewhere else, like mid-ohio?

http://www.midohio.com/School/Which-...-Should-I-Take

(not that I've ever been myself, but perhaps someday)

 

Thanks. What I was looking for is something between high-school driver's ed and Mid-Ohio. I'll keep looking!

 

pretty good prices.. I may have to consider couple of those classes in the summer.

 

Thanks for those leads; I hadn't thought of some of them. I have put a lot of calls in, and I'll report what comes out.

 

BMW sponsors a teen driving school.

What about a local autocross school?

Chicago region puts on a great 2-day class with tons of street time. Usually offered in April ("The Learning Curve"), you'll learn a lot about the capabilities of your car.

 

In WI some the the Technical Colleges offer safety driving courses. Includes working on a skid pad. Short course that is usually one day of classroom or half day and then out driving around cones and with someone in vehicle that can lock the brakes up so you learn what to do & keep the car going straight.

 

After much calling around, I found that there isn't much to choose from.

Several sources recommended A and A Driving School in Livonia. I ended up working with Jerry Holmes, who happens to be a Ford Tier 4 driver. What makes this exciting is that he can give vehicle dynamics instruction on Ford's skid pad and genite surfaces, if enough people are interested.

During the two hours I had Jerry assess me, we also spent some time on snow. He insisted I try a full-on powerslide, and I of course duly and happily complied. That was fun, and much of the assessment was, and I learned about as little as I had hoped and expected. The idea is of course that I know enough to learn very little. My question was if I apply it equally well, and if I overlook the "someone is looking over my shoulder"-induced mistakes, I feel I passed that test. But then, I have become a traffic safety bore, like most people who have bothered to inform themselves about traffic safety.

I don't know how to tell if anyone reading this would benefit from this kind of instruction. I'm probably still out on a limb if I say that if you have never received any kind of training beyond driver's ed, then Jerry is your man. Not only is he a good instructor, he's also a genuine car guy. He has a 1987 Mustang with more than 300,000 miles on the clock

 

thanx for the info and awesome review