Gary R.

Know zip about Barber, just guessing what the car can do (well, as I had one it's an "educated" guess). Point is 3rd and 4th are plenty quick enough and with a new student (if he is overwhelmed) I will limit it to one gear! Wasn't flaming the original poster, just making the point that he has a LOT more to learn than shifting, bet Hurley Haywood keeps the gears to a minimum for a reason.

BostonDMD

I have done pretty much all the programs Skip Barber offers, the 2 day HP course that you are looking at was good, but very basic and entry level......

If you have completed a couple of track days then I would suggest you take their 3 day racing school to really get you jump started

http://www.skipbarber.com/racing_sch...ng_school.aspx

then go practice the newly learned skills at DE events with a good instructor......

you will be surprised at the results......

Good luck......

P.S. Gary and Rick, not quite made the Ferrari jump yet.............

Reddy Kilowatt

Thanks for the input. Skip has a "sale" on their classes if I sign up by the end of the month. Hmmmm.

mrepka

Another vote for Skippy... It's a very well run program with top notch instruction (at least when I attended a number of years ago, no recent experience) I liked that they were able to add some elements to the instuction that you normally can't get at an open track / DE weekend. Threshold braking and trailbraking exercises for example.

Reddy Kilowatt

Good point... this may be right up there with the instruction as an attraction... an opportunity to try some things in a controlled environment that aren't good to do on the street, and are tougher to do in a track day or DE setting.

Bob Rouleau

My vote is for PCA DE. You learn how to drive properly. You will also enjoy the social side of things. Save Skippy and other R-A-C-E schools for later. You may never decide to race. Before trying to learn advanced techniques, why not start at the beginning?

PCA will be happy to teach you trail braking once you have demonstrated that you have learned how to use the brake pedal correctly. Threshold braking is a basic technique usually taught in pre-DE schools.

In PCA you will be instructed by a guy driving a Porsche - this is not trivial. Secondly, nothing beats having an instructor sitting in your car - feeling what you feel and seeing what you see. That's impossible in the single seat cars used my most race schools.

Regards,

Gary R.

Check with Boston on the cost, but he folded up two Skippy cars during his reign of terror there and damage is an out of pocket expense AFAIK...

Reddy Kilowatt

LOL! I was planning on keeping everything in the original number of pieces. Good advice all. I will mull this over a bit.

techno99

I did the Skippy 3 day racing school 2 years ago. I had the choice of either the single seater open wheel car or and MX-5. I did the MX-5. It was a good school, but much of it was basic. As stated above a few of the exercises are well designed. The only time an instructor was in the car was the first day, during auto-cross exercises. It was fun having the instructor pulling the e-brake at any random time during the auto-cross run. I'm glad I went, but I'm not sure that it was worth the cost unless you're trying to getting a racing license quickly. Terry Earwood was a very entertaining instructor. Imagine Robin Williams instructing the class and you get the idea.

You can buy collision insurance. It was $175/day when I went.

mrepka

Entertainment not a huge draw in picking a driving / race school, but I agree, Terry is something else.

chopperzz

I agree 100%

chopperzz

I disagree with this perspective. The 2 day PSDS gives you a couple driving execises is controlled environments. Autocross, threshold braking, heel-toe and full track exposure.
The list of instructors represent tons of experience, from Hurley Haywood to Chris Hall and the recently signed Andrew Davis (to Brumos Racing in Grand-am)
The PCA, although a great bunch of people, are not always providing instructors with proven experience.
Most anyone can attest to knowing good drivers but bad teachers and in the PCA it is largely an unregulated training environment, using cars that they don't own (because they're yours).
I'm not slamming the PCA, but it simply cannot be said that PCA DE event will give you a comparable learning experience to a PSDS course.

prg

My only caution about the open wheel schools is that you may get the Jones to go open wheel racing. I did a five day school at the now defunct Daly school in Vegas. After the last two days in a formula car on slicks, I knew open wheelers were for me. They will make your 993 feel like a pig.

Personally, I think open wheelers are great for learning. Although you can't have an instructor with you, the nature of the car is that your mistakes are revealed to you, often instantly. The cars respond to your instruction immediately, for better or worse. Great fun and much less tolerant of ham fisted inputs than a sedan.

Coochas

I think PSDS is great: I've done 7 days with them at Barber. Being early on the learning curve, you can pick up some great habits from some fantastic instructors there. Through a combination of parking lot and track they engrain 'looking ahead' which is the first habit you want to pick up. Aside from top notch instructors and an amazing track, the camaraderie is great (with a few exceptions!) and the Barber museum is cool. If you want to play with Boxsters and 997s and even dabble in PDK, it's a great place. If you live some place that is seasonal in terms of track, then an escape to Barber might be nice in the off season.

All that being said, I've had some truly fantastic instruction in PCA. PCA DE is a relative bargain and I do like driving my own cars better. About 2/3 of my events this year were PCA DE. At least in my regions, PCA runs a very safe event and has great instructors. There's tons of local talent in PCA many of whom enjoy teaching!

TedA

Yes+1000.

I wasted my time in engineering school...

DE...look around and ask questions. There is more knowledge than you could absorb.

Read here.....many peeps who know what the deal is. YMMV