Skip Barber vs Jim Russell--racing school. Or another?
02-14-2005, 06:52 PM
#52
true if you drive a race car/kart - but its not the same as learning to
drive your own street car at the limit as far as explring your cars limits - but it is good/cheap experience. its also a good way to learn recovery afeter you go off without fear of damaging your own car. one of my best off-track learing experiences was in a kart.
02-14-2005, 08:14 PM
#54
Bro, you have NO idea what you're talking about.
When I made the transition from karts to cars, I could not believe how much <i>easier</i> the cars were to drive. And you know what? After a total of 50 minutes of seat time, I qualified my car off pole in a 45-car field at Texas Motor Speedway by about two tenths of a second. At my very first race in a car--ever. This was after ALL practice sessions prior to race-day had been rained out. I attribute this and my later success, 100%, to my karting experience.
So until you've raced in either a national-level kart race or a national-level car race (I have done both...and won in both), a little humility would serve you well.
So until you've raced in either a national-level kart race or a national-level car race (I have done both...and won in both), a little humility would serve you well.
02-14-2005, 08:26 PM
#56
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It worked for Senna.
I don't plan to get into karting. I'm too old and not serious enough about motorsports. I've just done some recreational indoor stuff. There is one one local Audi enthusiast (who now drives a Lancer Evo) that drags his kart all over the west coast, racing on the big courses. You can get those things moving pretty fast on a mile-long straight (with no harness). Scary. But if you want to race, it is *MUCH CHEAPER* to start out there than racing a full-sized car. And unless you get into the shifters, maintenance and sparing is relatively straight-forward and inexpensive. Although you can go crazy with karting as well, even a "big" trailer with spare motors, wheels, etc. is only a small fraction of the cost of prepping a Spec Miata with an equivalent kind of setup for competition. My buddy bought a used 10-foot covered trailer and he hauls two karts and all his spares/tools/etc. behind his daily driver (a Lexus GX).
I have another story. Some Focus SVT friends recently quit racing their daily rides (Focuses) and picked up a kart. On their first day out, one of them spun (VERY common in a kart) and went off-road. He got a badly bent control arm and limped back to the pit. Now if you had a severely crooked control arm on your S4, you might be able to get it fixed and be back the next day for more lapping. But I doubt it would be a cheap fix and you'd have to be lucky enough to have someone like Matrix onsite. Or be prepared to do some pretty substantial maintenance for a HPDE track day. Well, these guys just plopped down like $25 for a new control arm (at the track's concession stand), bolted it on and were ready for their next session. It's just a completely different mindset. No gearbox. Chain drive. One powereed wheel.
As far as learning to drive? Ayrton Senna started out that way I believe, as have many F1 drivers. Of course, Senna was, what, 4 when he started.
I have another story. Some Focus SVT friends recently quit racing their daily rides (Focuses) and picked up a kart. On their first day out, one of them spun (VERY common in a kart) and went off-road. He got a badly bent control arm and limped back to the pit. Now if you had a severely crooked control arm on your S4, you might be able to get it fixed and be back the next day for more lapping. But I doubt it would be a cheap fix and you'd have to be lucky enough to have someone like Matrix onsite. Or be prepared to do some pretty substantial maintenance for a HPDE track day. Well, these guys just plopped down like $25 for a new control arm (at the track's concession stand), bolted it on and were ready for their next session. It's just a completely different mindset. No gearbox. Chain drive. One powereed wheel.
As far as learning to drive? Ayrton Senna started out that way I believe, as have many F1 drivers. Of course, Senna was, what, 4 when he started.
02-14-2005, 08:40 PM
#59
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In SoCal 4 karting, you have to go to Moran Raceway in Beaumont!!!
This is a killer track!!! I took the advanced class over Christmas and had the most fun around. The front straight is hit going 70+ mph and the 90 degree turn called "the widowmaker" is taken full throttle if you have the *****. I had to lift every time b/c it feels like you are doing 160 mph.
I've taken karting classes at Jim Hall in Ventura and had a blast but this course is huge. Avg. laptimes at Jim Hall are something like mid 20 second laps. Moran raceway is like 1:18. They even have a Laguna like corkscrew. Check out the video. Best $350 I've ever spent. Once you get the track down you can just rent the kart for the hour.<ul><li><a href="http://www.moranraceway.com/">http://www.moranraceway.com/</a</li></ul>
I've taken karting classes at Jim Hall in Ventura and had a blast but this course is huge. Avg. laptimes at Jim Hall are something like mid 20 second laps. Moran raceway is like 1:18. They even have a Laguna like corkscrew. Check out the video. Best $350 I've ever spent. Once you get the track down you can just rent the kart for the hour.<ul><li><a href="http://www.moranraceway.com/">http://www.moranraceway.com/</a</li></ul>