Spring Mountain impressions

[Throat Yogurt]

My sons was $4145.00 when everything was added up.....Plus I paid for a bunch of pictures, airfare, hotel, rent car, ect, ect, lol........

No wonder you keep telling us you're broke!

 

[Tall Steve]

No wonder you keep telling us you're broke!

LOL, it was worth it for father son tract time.....

 

[Berserker]

Last week I stumbled across a video from an YouTube reviewer who attended the V Academy:

This guy's hand work is pretty bad, and he's shifting mid-corner. He looks like someone who does not know how to drive fast. Which is fine; that's why driving schools exist.

But this guy doesn't have an instructor sitting with him. An instructor sitting right seat would have shut down that behavior pretty fast.

Is all the track time at V Academy this lead-follow stuff?

 

[Throat Yogurt]

Last week I stumbled across a video from an YouTube reviewer who attended the V Academy:

This guy's hand work is pretty bad, and he's shifting mid-corner. He looks like someone who does not know how to drive fast. Which is fine; that's why driving schools exist.

But this guy doesn't have an instructor sitting with him. An instructor sitting right seat would have shut down that behavior pretty fast.

Is all the track time at V Academy this lead-follow stuff?

Wow, that is...bad.

 

[Carguyshu]

the website says $3,545.00 lol

Gotta offset those new gas prices somehow

 

[Finally-a-V]

He needs to put the car in auto. He's wasting a lot of time, and bad hand placement farting with the paddle shifters. Not that I'm an expert, just saying.

 

[Ivy1Le]

He needs to put the car in auto. He's wasting a lot of time, and bad hand placement farting with the paddle shifters. Not that I'm an expert, just saying.

I was thinking the same. He also kept thinking he was in the wrong gear, downshifts and is basically at redline in a corner

 

[NewCaddy]

My sons was $4145.00 when everything was added up.....Plus I paid for a bunch of pictures, airfare, hotel, rent car, ect, ect, lol........

Tall guy must have played a few winning hands at the black jack table prior to heading out to the track

 

[Berserker]

He needs to put the car in auto.

I was thinking the same.

Yeah. But I posted the video not to critique the guy's technique, but to point out there was no one sitting next to him to critique his technique. And to ask whether there are any track sessions at this school where the participants have someone sitting right seat.

If what I see in that video is the instruction, it makes me whether I would be better served by taking my own car to an HPDE closer to home and starting all over in a Green run group.

 

[AZHEAT]

Yeah. But I posted the video not to critique the guy's technique, but to point out there was no one sitting next to him to critique his technique. And to ask whether there are any track sessions at this school where the participants have someone sitting right seat.

If what I see in that video is the instruction, it makes me whether I would be better served by taking my own car to an HPDE closer to home and starting all over in a Green run group.

It was very surprising to me how the instructors are able to accurately assess what you are doing wrong/right just by watching how your car behaves when braking, corner entry, corner exit, how you apply throttle, etc. (Whether you hit the apex is only a small part of what they’re watching.) It’s not just the instructor in the car in front of you, but also instructors on UTV moving around the interior of the course. They know what gear you’re in, listening to the tires, etc. They communicate by radio as well. You would be surprised. I had the same question before experiencing their methods.

Depending on one’s ability/experience, at a certain point in-car instruction is the next step. Taking an advanced course and/or personal instruction one on one is the logical progression, especially if you’re able to run a lap within several seconds of an instructor ride along pace.

There are obviously professional drivers all over the country, some much better than others when it comes to instruction. At Spring Mountain, you know what you’re going to get. That’s where I will go if I elect to take an advanced course and/or hire them for individual instruction. The instructors are all legit.

 

[Berserker]

It’s not just the instructor in the car in front of you, but also instructors on UTV moving around the interior of the course. They know what gear you’re in, listening to the tires, etc.

OK, that's interesting. Thanks!

I've done a few different types of driving schools, including taking a "drifting" class at a rally school. It sounds like Spring Mountain could be a good experience for me.

 

[strohw]

Are they on UTV moving around? I know that they would park over on the hill and use a drone. Which they would use to make comments to the lead car as well as show footage of mistakes in class.

 

[AZHEAT]

Are they on UTV moving around? I know that they would park over on the hill and use a drone. Which they would use to make comments to the lead car as well as show footage of mistakes in class.

I’m not sure. I did not see the UTV actually moving when I would catch a glimpse of it while I was on track. I assume they don’t always stay in the same spot, but they may. They didn’t mention using a drone and no drone footage of us was shown in class to critique. Some of the classroom images included drone perspective, but not from our sessions.
Maybe use of a drone explains why I kept saying to myself, “How did they see that?!”

 

[PrimeTime]

Background: I am by no means a track rat, but have done a few track days in the past 20 years. I don’t abuse them, but I run my cars relatively hard and I’m not shy about approaching my talent limits in a car (which do NOT approach the car’s limits). I’ve run out of talent many times!

For those of you on the fence or considering not taking advantage of the school, just do it. No matter what your driving experience/skill level, you will take away valuable knowledge about your car and be a better driver. Wonderful facility and terrific staff. Roughly 45 minutes outside Vegas and the drive is very easy with little traffic and nice scenery. Great group of students and I really enjoyed spending time with like-minded, good people. Condo accommodations were very nice.

Regarding the insurance deductible, the course comes with coverage for vehicle damage that caps your deductible/out of pocket at $10k in the event you wad the car up. (At least that was my understanding.) You have the opportunity to buy down the deductible to $2k for a $250 charge, which I elected to do. (My thought process was that this would be my opportunity to explore the limits with very little downside potential.) Well, with the track configuration when I just did the school, you really can’t hit anything. Yes, you can go off track, but you will be sliding in flat desert/dirt. You will not roll and I simply don’t see how you could realistically hit something. (I’m sure they do have configurations where going off track could involve a tire barrier, but for these classes I’m pretty sure they avoid setting it up that way.). Bottom line is that it’s cheap insurance, but even though I pushed it hard and was out of control many times in the 2 days, the most that would have happened to me would have been getting a rock in the bead or damaging a couple rims sliding into the dirt. The point is, you would REALLY have to screw up to have a huge incident. We’ve all seen the videos of someone coming out of a high speed sweeper and getting on the throttle too early, leaving the track at over 100mph and getting into the tire barrier sideways at 50mph, but that isn’t this track or configuration for the school. For me, I would not buy the deductible down if I did it again. Maybe buy some extra swag in their welcome center instead.

The school is a very good mix of classroom instruction, track time, autocross, launch control runs, parking lot exercise with sunshade in front window using your vision out the side of the car to look ahead for the next cone/apex, and wet “skid pad” braking exercise. I would have liked to replace the wet skid pad exercise and parking lot cone exercise with another couple track sessions. Although most seemed to really enjoy the autocross, I like the track time much better. That being said, track time is mentally and physically exhausting, so you can’t spend near as much time on the track as you may think before needing a break.

The school is appropriate for all skill levels, as they do a very good job of separating drivers into groups based on skill/speed. The instructors will let you go as fast as you can safely get around the track. This isn’t their first rodeo and they’ve seen it all.

In my group, only one other driver in a 5 had the manual. I‘m glad I ran the manual at Spring Mountain, but it will cost you several seconds per lap compared to the A10. (With the track configuration when I was there, 3 areas of the track required me to be in second gear to keep the instructor from running away on exit from a corner, which then resulted in a couple spots making another shift to third in an area that there was a lot going on. I felt the problem was magnified by the errors I made. The frustrating thing is you start to get to the point that you’re relatively happy with your pace and limiting the errors per lap only at the very last track session. Then you go home! At the end of the school, you feel like you could shave another couple second off your lap time with another few dozen “hot laps” of experience on the same track. It is very addicting.

I know there are several Spring Mountain threads, but hopefully somebody get’s some questions answered based on my impressions.

Again, take advantage of the Spring Mountain opportunity. You will not regret it.

Great insight, glad to hear its a thumbs up! Excuse me, found some drool on the keyboard! Need my 5BW! ASAP DEALER! Gotta run a few laps! Cool update. Thank you.

 

[PrimeTime]

If anyone is truly interested send me a message and we can discuss but likely at least 50% of the cost of the course. Would allow me funds for selecting a Porsche course instead and travel/lodging since Porsche doesn't offer it

Hmm.

 

[PrimeTime]

Background: I am by no means a track rat, but have done a few track days in the past 20 years. I don’t abuse them, but I run my cars relatively hard and I’m not shy about approaching my talent limits in a car (which do NOT approach the car’s limits). I’ve run out of talent many times!

For those of you on the fence or considering not taking advantage of the school, just do it. No matter what your driving experience/skill level, you will take away valuable knowledge about your car and be a better driver. Wonderful facility and terrific staff. Roughly 45 minutes outside Vegas and the drive is very easy with little traffic and nice scenery. Great group of students and I really enjoyed spending time with like-minded, good people. Condo accommodations were very nice.

Regarding the insurance deductible, the course comes with coverage for vehicle damage that caps your deductible/out of pocket at $10k in the event you wad the car up. (At least that was my understanding.) You have the opportunity to buy down the deductible to $2k for a $250 charge, which I elected to do. (My thought process was that this would be my opportunity to explore the limits with very little downside potential.) Well, with the track configuration when I just did the school, you really can’t hit anything. Yes, you can go off track, but you will be sliding in flat desert/dirt. You will not roll and I simply don’t see how you could realistically hit something. (I’m sure they do have configurations where going off track could involve a tire barrier, but for these classes I’m pretty sure they avoid setting it up that way.). Bottom line is that it’s cheap insurance, but even though I pushed it hard and was out of control many times in the 2 days, the most that would have happened to me would have been getting a rock in the bead or damaging a couple rims sliding into the dirt. The point is, you would REALLY have to screw up to have a huge incident. We’ve all seen the videos of someone coming out of a high speed sweeper and getting on the throttle too early, leaving the track at over 100mph and getting into the tire barrier sideways at 50mph, but that isn’t this track or configuration for the school. For me, I would not buy the deductible down if I did it again. Maybe buy some extra swag in their welcome center instead.

The school is a very good mix of classroom instruction, track time, autocross, launch control runs, parking lot exercise with sunshade in front window using your vision out the side of the car to look ahead for the next cone/apex, and wet “skid pad” braking exercise. I would have liked to replace the wet skid pad exercise and parking lot cone exercise with another couple track sessions. Although most seemed to really enjoy the autocross, I like the track time much better. That being said, track time is mentally and physically exhausting, so you can’t spend near as much time on the track as you may think before needing a break.

The school is appropriate for all skill levels, as they do a very good job of separating drivers into groups based on skill/speed. The instructors will let you go as fast as you can safely get around the track. This isn’t their first rodeo and they’ve seen it all.

In my group, only one other driver in a 5 had the manual. I‘m glad I ran the manual at Spring Mountain, but it will cost you several seconds per lap compared to the A10. (With the track configuration when I was there, 3 areas of the track required me to be in second gear to keep the instructor from running away on exit from a corner, which then resulted in a couple spots making another shift to third in an area that there was a lot going on. I felt the problem was magnified by the errors I made. The frustrating thing is you start to get to the point that you’re relatively happy with your pace and limiting the errors per lap only at the very last track session. Then you go home! At the end of the school, you feel like you could shave another couple second off your lap time with another few dozen “hot laps” of experience on the same track. It is very addicting.

I know there are several Spring Mountain threads, but hopefully somebody get’s some questions answered based on my impressions.

Again, take advantage of the Spring Mountain opportunity. You will not regret it.

Not included with the buy? LOl! That fine print stuff again?

 

[Ivy1Le]

Hmm.

Not possible. Editing post now

 

[PrimeTime]

Ok so they said you can only pass your spot along to an immediate family member and it has to be approved by GM first... sorry peeps! Anyone willing to let me marry a sister to take my spot.. I like your level of determination but that seems a little less than legal

Niceee.

 

[PrimeTime]

Still wanna do laps!!! Somehow! Someway! Waiting ain't getting it done.

 

[PrimeTime]

LOL, it was worth it for father son tract time..... COOL!