M Performance School at Thermal one day class

[Duder]

so I got to do the M performance driving school today at Thermal in California. WOW. unreal experience. I had the time of my life. man, did it ever give me a better appreciation for my M4. this car was built for that kind of driving. it was such an unreal experience. unfortunately I didn't have the time to do much video taking or picture taking cuz you're kinda busy driving the whole time. but I have a couple videos I'll post and a few pictures. we only got to drive M3's and M4's which was a little disappointing..... but it was still fun. would have loved to have been able to drive the M5 and M6 as well though. and the instructors were FANTASTIC! man were they good drivers. I think some of the funnest parts of the day were getting to just be a passenger when they were driving.

so we started the day on the skid track. it was just a super slick surface circle. they taught us how to drift a little and correct it. that was probably my favorite part of the day doing that. hahaha I wasn't the best at it, but man was it fun. but by the second half of the day when we hit that again to do the races against each other we all were pretty flawless at it that time around.

but anyways, next we did some acceleration and breaking into cornering exercises. this wasn't that difficult, but you just had to put a lot of trust into the breaks! hahaha the carbon ceramic breaks are FANTASTIC though by the way. then after doing that a few times we did a little circuit around the track. then off to lunch and a little break.

we returned after lunch to do the slick track again and this was the races against each other. we would start on opposite sides of the circle and try to catch up to the other car. after like 4 laps they'd see who caught up the farthest. again, I wasn't the best at this but we all were like completely different drivers this time around already. none of us spun out and we all were able to correct the drifts really well as to not spin out. it was so fun!

then we did a good 30-45 minutes on a different circuit. this was a LOT of fun! but man..... driving those cars that hard for that long was so tough. you get so exhausted. it's both physically and mentally exhausting. we all started getting a bit sloppy by the end. it was also about 105 degrees out so the tires got pretty slick by the end of it. I was finding that breaking wasn't working nearly as well for me by the end as it did for the first half and they told me it was cuz the tires were pretty slick.

we then did some timed laps on a shorter circuit. this was fun, but really hard. we not only had to try and go as fast as possible, but we had to then stop inside a box. all of our times were really close. although the guy that won had some freakish lap on one of his runs that was like a whole 2 seconds faster than any other lap times we all had.

to end the day the instructors then took us out for a really long lap and just pushed the crap out of the cars! it was a BLAST! man those instructors knew how to drive! it was unreal. they both completely turned traction control off and just had fun sliding around and what-not. the precision those guys had was unreal. you knew at any moment the car would spin out of control but they had so much skill that they kept those things under complete control the entire time. you really got a good feel for what those cars can really do and what they're meant to do!

if you have been thinking about doing one of these classes I highly recommend it. it is a LOT of money though......

this guy was one of the instructors: https://www.facebook.com/hillracing

[Duder]

more pics

[Duder]

some videos in 1080p 60fps. i wish i could have gotten videos of our actual circuit laps but you can't really record on an iphone while driving hahaha. you know, for $1550 they really should be providing you videos and photography and what-not to document the day. it's a little weird that they don't do this.

[Untouchable]

Is that first car in the line up Tanzanite Blue?

[Duder]

Originally Posted by Untouchable

Is that first car in the line up Tanzanite Blue?

i think so. it's also a M6

[Untouchable]

Hmmm, you are right about it being an M6, it must be San Marino blue though

[to_riffic]

Did you do the 1 day or 2 day?

[Duder]

Originally Posted by ra2fanatic

Did you do the 1 day or 2 day?

just the one day. that two day is PRICEY! hahahaha

[Donger Kim]

Do you bring your own vehicles? the only reason I didn't do PCD is that I live on the west coast (WA) and thought it would be a hassle to go there after ED just for a day only to arrange a transport back home. I would like to go to one of these if you don't need to bring a car

[Duder]

Originally Posted by Donger Kim

Do you bring your own vehicles? the only reason I didn't do PCD is that I live on the west coast (WA) and thought it would be a hassle to go there after ED just for a day only to arrange a transport back home. I would like to go to one of these if you don't need to bring a car

oh no, it's all their cars. you get to beat the hell out of them and it's so fun to do that in someone else's car!

[GOLFFRR]

very cool!

[Demxsr]

Damn I really want to do this.

[RickFLM4]

When I had an Audi I kept thinking about doing their school. Now that I have an M4 and the BMW school is in South Carolina, I really want to do this. I understand there is a discount if you are a member of BMWCCA.

[///bproden]

Looks like a great time!

[Duder]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

When I had an Audi I kept thinking about doing their school. Now that I have an M4 and the BMW school is in South Carolina, I really want to do this. I understand there is a discount if you are a member of BMWCCA.

you should really think about doing it. it was a great time. it really gives you such a good appreciation for what your car can really do. i mean, we all know they're fast.... we can easily do that when we want, but to get to see how these things handle around corners and how well the brakes work and all that.... man, these cars are absolutely amazing. you really get the feel for how much power and how amazingly balanced these cars are. they're such great track day cars! i want to now take my own out and do this at some point. the only thing holding me back somewhat is knowing what it'll do to my tires! hahahaha these tires aren't cheap! they said they have to replace tires on the cars at least once a week if not twice a week! so crazy!

[TonySCV]

I'll be doing this in November. Can't wait!

I was told they are no longer giving attendees helmets as gifts. Did you receive one?

[Duder]

Originally Posted by TonySCV

I'll be doing this in November. Can't wait!

I was told they are no longer giving attendees helmets as gifts. Did you receive one?

nope.... i mean i had a BLAST, don't get me wrong. but that being said, with how incredibly expensive this experience is, they really should throw in more than they do. i wouldn't care about the helmet, but it would have been nice for them to have filmed the experience and taken professional photos for you and what-not. it's a little weird that they don't do this.

[TonySCV]

Originally Posted by Duder

nope.... i mean i had a BLAST, don't get me wrong. but that being said, with how incredibly expensive this experience is, they really should throw in more than they do. i wouldn't care about the helmet, but it would have been nice for them to have filmed the experience and taken professional photos for you and what-not. it's a little weird that they don't do this.

I know for the longest time they gave you a helmet if you took the 2 day course, not sure about the one day, but yeah, for the cost I was really bummed when I heard they'd stopped doing that.

Thankfully they have the 15% off BMWCCA discount you can use or it'd probably be too expensive.

[RickFLM4]

Is there anything for a spouse / significant other to do on-site while you are completing the course?

[Duder]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Is there anything for a spouse / significant other to do on-site while you are completing the course?

no.... my wife was wanting to come and at the last minute decided not to go. I was glad. she would have been bored to tears.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Duder

no.... my wife was wanting to come and at the last minute decided not to go. I was glad. she would have been bored to tears.

Good information to have. Thanks.

[Duder]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Good information to have. Thanks.

I would call and ask about it though. I wonder if they'd let her drive along? I didn't even think to ask yesterday.