My REALLY cool Christmas gift!

[Kawidude]

So for Christmas my brother-in-law and I were given gift certificates to Skip Barber's Race School at Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA. It was a gift from our father-in-law (yeah, we both married "keepers.") We went and attended the course last Friday, so I thought I'd share some pics.

We got to the track early and were allowed to walk the paddock and pit areas. There were cars everywhere. Skip Barber typically uses Dodge vehicles to teach their classes, but they recently changed the Laguna Seca courses to Mazdas (since it's technically "Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.")

We managed to find the stash of Porsches that they use to teach the advanced Sports Car classes.

 

[Kawidude]

After about an hour of classroom instruction on things like load distribution, turn-ins, apexes, trail-outs and threshold braking, we hit the skid-pad to practice recovering from skids/spins. What a great way to start the day! They put us in a new RX-8. The front tires were brand new with 35 psi and the rear tires were completely bald with 90 psi. They really wanted us to spin these things! We'd basically accelerate all the way to the turn in cone, apply a little more brake than necessary to induce the slide and then countersteer, pause and recover from the slide as close to the apex as possible. I picked up on it really quickly and had a blast going through the skid pad sideways. The RX-8 is a 1.3L rotary engine that doesn't redline until 9,000 rpm, so these things loved to be revved out!

 

[Kawidude]

After the skid pad and more classroom sessions, we went out to do some extreme braking. It was really counterintuitive to have someone tell you to smash the accelerator to the floor and hold it until you hit the cones. Once you reach the cones you're supposed to slam on the brakes as hard as possible. We did this in ABS and non-ABS vehicles to get the feel of both. After learning to control the skid/stop, they added a turn that we had to learn to negotiate while we were skidding.

Once we had the sliding and stopping elements figured out, we had the opportunity to put all the skills together on the Autocross course. They put us in brand new MX-5's (Miatas) and turned us loose. I thought driving the Miatas wouldn't be much fun, but they turned out to be the perfect vehicles for the tight Autocross track. I was getting a really good feel for the braking and turn in points and was able to nail most of the apexes. It was an amazing thing to finally feel like I had a car doing everything I wanted it to do.

After a few dozen practice laps they decided to hold a little timed competition. Everyone in the class took three laps with the instructor as a passenger. I ended up with the fastest laps and beat my brother-in-law by a tenth of a second.

 

[Kawidude]

After our race, the instructors took each of us out for a hot lap with the instructor driving. As students, we really thought we were pushing these cars to their limits. But when these guys got behind the wheel we realized how wrong we were. They were smoking the tires and sliding them through every turn while talking to us and giving us tips throughout the track. They were so calm behind the wheel while the passengers were freaking out a little bit. You can see my reaction in the passenger window! :whoa:

 

[Kawidude]

This class was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm glad I got to participate. I learned some things that will most definitely keep me safer on the road and I'd recommend the courses to anyone that might have the slightest interest. The philosophy behind this class was that you never know how you're going to handle emergency situations behind the wheel unless you actually experience them. It was a great way to spend a Friday! :nod:

 

[Moparman1539]

Oh man dude!

Sounded like so much fun! Congrats on the experience to go!

 

[psycho]

Wow that does look like one heck of a time!!

 

[kmccune]

Very cool :nod: :cool:

 

[Papakeith]

nice! That's one cool gift!

 

[Chili]

Does your wife have anymore sisters? :) Sounds like a very cool experience and an awesome gift.

 

[XRpredator]

Does your wife have anymore sisters? :)

That's funny right there I don't care who you are

awesome christmas present! (or xmas present, for PK)

 

[trial_07]

That is so awesome! Congrats :cool:

 

[Papakeith]

It's not XMAS DAMMIT!!!! :bang: :yell: :pissed:

 

[Kawidude]

Does your wife have anymore sisters? :) Sounds like a very cool experience and an awesome gift.

Sorry. Just two sisters and they're both taken. :) Trust me, my brother-in-law and I have no idea how we landed these girls. ;)

 

[rickyd]

When we goin for a BONZAI run?? :laugh: That looks fun!

 

[knowiam]

Great Gift

Cool gift and report... Must have been something to be taught the right way to power around...and then have a pro show you how it's done. Very cool, indeed!

My father inlaw gave me a bandsaw and a remote controlled fart machine for Christmas.... not sure which I like better, but I've replaced the batteries in the fart machine twice.

Ken

 

[trial_07]

You must have really cheap batteries :whoa:

 

[mmz77]

Wow ur lucky, I wish I would of done something like that when they offered our family to go and test Dodge's line of SRT's, that would of been fun also. Looks like an expierence you will never forget!!! Thanks for pics :cool:

 

[KelvinKDX]

Definately a cool Christmas gift. :)

Nice write up too!

 

[Kawidude]

When we goin for a BONZAI run?? :laugh: That looks fun!

Any time! We'll take my wife's car and turn off the traction control! :cool: