Competition driving school

[SILENTKLR]

I am considering taking a competition driving course in my model 3 after I get it track ready. I will have the option to do this in either my car or a dedicated race car provided by the school. The information on the school says there is some door to door driving and passing drills. They of course recommend renting one of their dedicated race cars. They say that bumps and bruises are not common, but they do happen.

The question I have for the group is not whether I should use my car or not, but rather has anyone taken a competition driving course and what kind of chances do you feel there are of sustaining damage during a course like this based on your experience? Renting the race car is quite expensive and I will be required to pay for any damages to that car should any occur. I would rather drive my own car if it is a controlled enough environment to make damage unlikely.

Anyone who has taken a course like this I am interested in your thoughts please.

Thanks!!

 

[Ryephile]

As the saying goes, only go on-track with what you can afford to walk away from.

Specifically which school are you considering?

 

[SILENTKLR]

Specifically which school are you considering?

The track/school is at motor speedway resort near Houston. It is near me and convenient. I spoke with them today and they said they have decided they cannot allow EV’s on the track at this time. He went on to say they support them and look forward to when they can, but at this time they do not have the fire fighting technology for battery fires and that is why they do not allow them.

I was hoping to be able to track this car somewhere close to me. Dallas or Houston specifically. I will need to do more research and see what I can come up with. If I can find a spot to run the car I will just use one of their dedicated race cars for the school.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

at this time they do not have the fire fighting technology for battery fires

They don't have ... water?

 

[Dan203]

They don't have ... water?

Water doesn't put out a Li fire. It'll keep it from spreading to the surrounding areas but the car will burn to the ground. Only a class D fire extinguisher can put out a Li fire, and that's for a little one. I think fire trucks use some sort of special foam to put out Li car fires.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Water doesn't put out a Li fire.

Water is actually the best and the recommended agent for putting out Li-Ion battery fires.

FAA Recommendation for fighting Li and Li-Ion battery fires in consumer portable electronic equipment in flight: Water, Halon, or Halon-replacement such as Halotron.

Water + an encapsulator agent dramatically out-performs foam and dry chemical agents on Li-Ion battery fires:

There is a large misconception about Li-Ion battery fires in that they require special agents or special firefighting capabilities to extinguish, and that's just not true. All you have to do is cool the cells below the thermal ignition temperature and you'll stop the thermal runaway. Water is very hard to compete with for mass cooling ability.

People also confuse Li-Ion batteries with burning solid metals, such as magnesium, pure lithium, or sodium. While indeed those fires are class D and need sand, salt, or other smothering agent, that is because the solid metal material has an explosive chemical reaction with water, and therefore water can't be used. A Li-Ion battery fire is not burning solid metal, it's primarily combusting gases, with more gas being liberated due to temperature. Water will not cause additional chemical reaction.

Sorry for the off-topic post. We just need to spread the facts so that various businesses, people, and industries don't get caught up in the hype and misconceptions about EVs and allow that to stall progress. This competition driving school appears scared of EVs because they are misinformed. If they were properly instructed in how to handle battery fires or other EV-specific issues, they wouldn't need to ban them from their track.

 

[famoruwa]

High Performance Driving Schools, Lessons, Driving Experience, HPDE, Professional Driving School has a program that works quite well.

 

[SILENTKLR]

High Performance Driving Schools, Lessons, Driving Experience, HPDE, Professional Driving School has a program that works quite well.

Cool. Thanks for this link. This is more along the lines of what I’m looking for. In fact I’m not looking to compete, but to just have fun with it. I just want to take the competitive driving class for some instruction and experience ahead of time. Unfortunately it looks like I will need to do some traveling to take part in this. Don’t see any options near me, but we like to travel too, so maybe we can figure something out with this.

 

[brianman]

High Performance Driving Schools, Lessons, Driving Experience, HPDE, Professional Driving School has a program that works quite well.

A good place to start before looking into "competition driving course"s.

 

[MoreAgain]

Cool. Thanks for this link. This is more along the lines of what I’m looking for. In fact I’m not looking to compete, but to just have fun with it. I just want to take the competitive driving class for some instruction and experience ahead of time. Unfortunately it looks like I will need to do some traveling to take part in this. Don’t see any options near me, but we like to travel too, so maybe we can figure something out with this.

Check motorsportsreg.com for events in your area.

 

[SILENTKLR]

Excellent. Thanks for the info provided here on running these cars on a track. I do appreciate it!!

 

[TheWulf]

I've done a few of these.

The big question is are you taking a High Performance Driving course or a Racing course? These are very different.

In an HPD course (or HPDE), you should rarely, if ever, be door-to-door with any other car. In these events you will typically mix class time and track time, and have an instructor in the car with you showing you what to do. Passing is generally forbidden except on the straights and only when the car ahead of you signals that you have permission. Typically they will turn on their turn signal indicating which side you may pass on and let off the throttle. This is done so faster cars can overtake.

In a racing course, expect a lot of nose to tail and door to door action anywhere and everywhere. IMO you should only take these if you've done several HPD events (lapping days, Solo I), know your car very well, and are ok with something potentially happening.

That said, I've had a few close calls in an HPDE. My whole dash lit up like a Christmas tree right before an S curve and I slid ~100m sideways over the turtles -- 2 wheels on the track and 2 in the gravel. Car shut off for a good 15 minutes, then magically started working again. Never found out what it was, it never happened again. I've been illegally passed on an inside corner by some kid in a Civic trying to look cool -- usually this will get you ejected. I've seen cars lose oil pans, blow clutches, scrape concrete walls and barriers, etc. This creates obstacles on the course and could lead to a collision.

While anything can happen, I would not be overly concerned in an HPDE. Make sure you go with a reputable group that will hire track marshals and have emergency and towing services on site. They'll usually require a technical inspection sheet signed off by a mechanic for your car to be allowed on the track. This makes sure to keep the kids with junkers off the track, and you can be fairly certain they'll eject any dangerous drivers.

I like to do these in my own car because each car drives differently, and if you learn to do this at the track you'll develop a driving style for the car you drive. While some knowledge is transferable, not every car behaves the same way and you don't want to find out the hard way that your car can't handle what a race spec car can.

 

[Ryefry]

Try The Drivers Edge as IMO they offer the best instruction of any group in Texas. A couple of past students and an instructor have Teslas so there are no issues with bringing yours.

 

[SILENTKLR]

I've done a few of these.

The big question is are you taking a High Performance Driving course or a Racing course? These are very different.

In an HPD course (or HPDE), you should rarely, if ever, be door-to-door with any other car. In these events you will typically mix class time and track time, and have an instructor in the car with you showing you what to do. Passing is generally forbidden except on the straights and only when the car ahead of you signals that you have permission. Typically they will turn on their turn signal indicating which side you may pass on and let off the throttle. This is done so faster cars can overtake.

In a racing course, expect a lot of nose to tail and door to door action anywhere and everywhere. IMO you should only take these if you've done several HPD events (lapping days, Solo I), know your car very well, and are ok with something potentially happening.

That said, I've had a few close calls in an HPDE. My whole dash lit up like a Christmas tree right before an S curve and I slid ~100m sideways over the turtles -- 2 wheels on the track and 2 in the gravel. Car shut off for a good 15 minutes, then magically started working again. Never found out what it was, it never happened again. I've been illegally passed on an inside corner by some kid in a Civic trying to look cool -- usually this will get you ejected. I've seen cars lose oil pans, blow clutches, scrape concrete walls and barriers, etc. This creates obstacles on the course and could lead to a collision.

While anything can happen, I would not be overly concerned in an HPDE. Make sure you go with a reputable group that will hire track marshals and have emergency and towing services on site. They'll usually require a technical inspection sheet signed off by a mechanic for your car to be allowed on the track. This makes sure to keep the kids with junkers off the track, and you can be fairly certain they'll eject any dangerous drivers.

I like to do these in my own car because each car drives differently, and if you learn to do this at the track you'll develop a driving style for the car you drive. While some knowledge is transferable, not every car behaves the same way and you don't want to find out the hard way that your car can't handle what a race spec car can.

Excellent information, thanks. I will be taking a competition driving course initially in a dedicated race car. After that I want to use my P3D in HPDE events. I should be able to travel to at least some of the events throughout the year.

 

[SILENTKLR]

Try The Drivers Edge as IMO they offer the best instruction of any group in Texas. A couple of past students and an instructor have Teslas so there are no issues with bringing yours.

Thanks!! Will definitely look them up.