Learning to Drive
When I was a kid, Dad used to take Kimry (my sister) and I to a local dirt oval track in Oregon every once in a while to watch the cars go round and round. After a few years, as I got a little older, and Kimry lost interest, we went a few more times just him and I. Then, after a while we stopped going. I was never sure why - it's possible the track closed down, or the tickets got to expensive, or any of a hundred different reasons. I wasn't old enough to drive then, and we did go to other racing events. IMSA, a couple of CART races, the GTP races at Portland International Raceway. We even ended up in the paddock a few time. I still have a couple slides were I got pictures of Michael Andretti in his first or second season in a Texaco car.
As I grew up I started out driving a riding lawnmower, then the old Dodge pickup in fields while Dad & Kimry filled it with straw or hay for her horse. I think I was about 13. Then, later on, when I turned 15 and got my learners permit he took me out to teach me how to drive a manual. That was in a 1972 Saab Sonnet 3. It had front wheel drive, a stiff clutch that didn't always engage in the same place twice, no power brakes, and no power steering. It was a beast. But it really did teach me how to drive a stick.
He taught me how to be smooth, and told me about driving a line, and how to apex. I'd listen, and watch what the race cars were doing on track, and over a great deal of time see what I could here and there with my cars as I grew up.
Some of the things I ended up doing were (looking back) pretty stupid. I learned from those mistakes. I listened when others that I respected were speaking (or writing) above driving. When the internet came along, and I finally got online, I read even more about how cars handle, what affects their handling, and how to shift weight. In each car that I owned, I learned carefully where my comfortable limit was, and stayed fairly well within that safety cushion.
I started out in the family wagon, a 1972 Volvo Wagon, and the truck, a 1969 Dodge 3/4 ton (Uuuuuuugly....) My first car was a 1965 VW Beetle. Great learning car. Constantly adjusting the valves. Sometimes hard to handle. My second car was another Volvo wagon, a 1974 145 with a 4-speed. After that I bought a 1979 Toyota Celica. Drove that for several years. Then a 1993 Mazda Protege - one of the worlds great commuter cars, and still ahoot to drive. Also my first front wheel drive. After I married, we traded that car in on a 626 for Wendy, and I inherited the Nissan 240sx Wendy had. I hated the auto, so after a time sold that and bought a 1985 Toyota MR2. Sweet car. Loved it dearly. Eventually, though, it was time for something different and I bought (slightly on a whim) a 1989 BMW M3. Dream car. Quick. Nimble. I'll have to own another someday... but at the time it got me into to much trouble. Had to sell.
Then found what I was originally looking for, and bought a 1991 BMW 318is. Last of the E30 models with a 4-cylinder engine. Light, balanced, nimble, but not to quick. Easy and comfortable to commute in. Reasonable mileage, I can average 28mpg without trouble in mixed commuting, and can top 31mpg on a long freeway cruise. And... it does well at speed.
Which brings us to the point of this long, winding road... learning to Drive (with a capital D).
In 2004, after we bought the MINI Cooper and I had the MR2 a while, Wendy and I went to the BMW Club performance driving education "Skills Day" where they teach you car control. Things like threshold braking, weight transfer, controlling under-steer and (The Fun Part!) over-steer, collision avoidance, and line selection (finding the apex of a turn). At the time we didn't have the money for me to take the follow up on-track driving instruction. Then, when I bought the M3, I did another skills day, and again did not have the money to be able to take it to the track. (And it needed work to make it safer on the track at the time.) This year was the first year that I was finally able to get to the track for the first time, and I really enjoyed it.
I signed up for the IRDC Drivers School weekend before last, and had an absolute blast. This last weekend I went to another driving school through the local chapter of the BMW Club, and again had a great time. It's the first time I've really been able to explore either my car's or my own limits, and I've discovered that initially my own limits are much more stringent than my car's. It will easily handle any edge I'm willing to push towards right now. Which is a really nice feeling, as that means it's really easy for me to be able to drive it home from these events... Over the two weekends there were three incidents where the drivers exceeded the limits of the vehicles, and two of those incidents resulted in the cars being taken away on flat bed tow trucks.
There were a couple of photographers at each of the two days, but only one has posted pictures yet. Here's a few images that I was able to purchase for my own use from the first of those photographers to make the images available.
All images copyright 2008 Pete Stoppani, Red Mist Photo
As I grew up I started out driving a riding lawnmower, then the old Dodge pickup in fields while Dad & Kimry filled it with straw or hay for her horse. I think I was about 13. Then, later on, when I turned 15 and got my learners permit he took me out to teach me how to drive a manual. That was in a 1972 Saab Sonnet 3. It had front wheel drive, a stiff clutch that didn't always engage in the same place twice, no power brakes, and no power steering. It was a beast. But it really did teach me how to drive a stick.
He taught me how to be smooth, and told me about driving a line, and how to apex. I'd listen, and watch what the race cars were doing on track, and over a great deal of time see what I could here and there with my cars as I grew up.
Some of the things I ended up doing were (looking back) pretty stupid. I learned from those mistakes. I listened when others that I respected were speaking (or writing) above driving. When the internet came along, and I finally got online, I read even more about how cars handle, what affects their handling, and how to shift weight. In each car that I owned, I learned carefully where my comfortable limit was, and stayed fairly well within that safety cushion.
I started out in the family wagon, a 1972 Volvo Wagon, and the truck, a 1969 Dodge 3/4 ton (Uuuuuuugly....) My first car was a 1965 VW Beetle. Great learning car. Constantly adjusting the valves. Sometimes hard to handle. My second car was another Volvo wagon, a 1974 145 with a 4-speed. After that I bought a 1979 Toyota Celica. Drove that for several years. Then a 1993 Mazda Protege - one of the worlds great commuter cars, and still ahoot to drive. Also my first front wheel drive. After I married, we traded that car in on a 626 for Wendy, and I inherited the Nissan 240sx Wendy had. I hated the auto, so after a time sold that and bought a 1985 Toyota MR2. Sweet car. Loved it dearly. Eventually, though, it was time for something different and I bought (slightly on a whim) a 1989 BMW M3. Dream car. Quick. Nimble. I'll have to own another someday... but at the time it got me into to much trouble. Had to sell.
Then found what I was originally looking for, and bought a 1991 BMW 318is. Last of the E30 models with a 4-cylinder engine. Light, balanced, nimble, but not to quick. Easy and comfortable to commute in. Reasonable mileage, I can average 28mpg without trouble in mixed commuting, and can top 31mpg on a long freeway cruise. And... it does well at speed.
Which brings us to the point of this long, winding road... learning to Drive (with a capital D).
In 2004, after we bought the MINI Cooper and I had the MR2 a while, Wendy and I went to the BMW Club performance driving education "Skills Day" where they teach you car control. Things like threshold braking, weight transfer, controlling under-steer and (The Fun Part!) over-steer, collision avoidance, and line selection (finding the apex of a turn). At the time we didn't have the money for me to take the follow up on-track driving instruction. Then, when I bought the M3, I did another skills day, and again did not have the money to be able to take it to the track. (And it needed work to make it safer on the track at the time.) This year was the first year that I was finally able to get to the track for the first time, and I really enjoyed it.
I signed up for the IRDC Drivers School weekend before last, and had an absolute blast. This last weekend I went to another driving school through the local chapter of the BMW Club, and again had a great time. It's the first time I've really been able to explore either my car's or my own limits, and I've discovered that initially my own limits are much more stringent than my car's. It will easily handle any edge I'm willing to push towards right now. Which is a really nice feeling, as that means it's really easy for me to be able to drive it home from these events... Over the two weekends there were three incidents where the drivers exceeded the limits of the vehicles, and two of those incidents resulted in the cars being taken away on flat bed tow trucks.
There were a couple of photographers at each of the two days, but only one has posted pictures yet. Here's a few images that I was able to purchase for my own use from the first of those photographers to make the images available.
All images copyright 2008 Pete Stoppani, Red Mist Photo
posted by Stephen Hughes-Jelen at 4:15 PM
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