Miata Mailing List: August 1995, Message #119
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   From: ebersolr@mindspring.com (Rob Ebersol)
Subject: Re: Mid Ohio Driving school (lengthy)
   Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 15:03:33 -0400

Forgive the length, but this school is still fresh in the blood. Definitely
a rush that's becoming difficult to come down from.

At 7:51 PM 8/1/95, Elham Alyan wrote:
>Hello mia surfers..
>
>Just wondered if any of you outthere who have been to driving schools could
>give me any feedback on thier experiences
I just completed the PeachState Porsche Club School at Road Atlanta last
weekend. I have been to other schools at flat tracks, but they did not
offer near the instruction I received last weekend. The instructor went
along for every lap and coached me thru a headset. It was much more
effective than having to figure out mistakes and the line/accel/brake
points myself. Sun a.m. I was turning 2:00, which is quite sluggish, but
this was my first run on a hilled fast track. After riding with two
experienced drivers and in-depth discussion on what I was doing, I managed
to get down to a hi 1:53. There's nothing like running up on cars with 2
and 3 times your horsepower in a hiG turn at 100mph. One tip: if you go,
ask mucho questions especially to the guys driving the low h.p. cars. I
learned more in this school than the other three combined and mostly
attribute that to a continuous on-board instructor.

>and the miata performance..
When you start out you realize how slow the miata and driver can be. As
your line improves the car gets faster. I think the miata was an advantage
over the hi-hp cars because I couldn't use the additional h.p. to sooth my
mistakes. When I screwed up, it was obvious ie: until I got the esses right
going down hill getting up the other side was all I could do. Once I got it
right, the hill all but dissappeared. The same goes for the rest of the
track. The miata's other advantage is its neutral handling characteristics.
I apexed turn 11 too early, came thru the bridge and found myself going
towards the dirt. I managed to get the car settled down thru some hasty
turning in. Many other cars would have swapped ends or would have gone off
in the hands of an ameteur. The only disadvantage was the additional 200lbs
of instructor. Although it could be argued that he was on the inside
balancing the car. In conclusion, the miata makes your performance obvious;
when your slow-your the slowest, when your fast-your flying.

>I'm thinking of joinning the mid-ohio driving school in September, I
>heard the mid-ohio track was pretty famous.. I am by no means a good
>driver, but that's why I need to go to the school! :))
Start at the bottom and work your way up. That way you don't miss anything.
Most of these schools have a group for every skill level. After all that's
why your there-to learn, and the mistakes hurt alot less in the class room
than on the track.

>I understand I need to get a SCCA approved roll bar.. and I liked the
>single ones that go on behind each seat..Any suggestions of that?
I think this all falls back to the comfort of safety for the driver. I hate
to say it, but any convertible has a much higher risk level of injury to
the occupants without a rollbar. I have chosen to risk as little as
possible, spending a large sum of cash on my helmet, harness and choosing a
four-pt plus diag. roll bar. A cage may be in the future if I continue to
improve. The majority of skilled drivers had cages in their cars. I don't
think I would instill much confidence in any of the "style" bars. Your bar
needs to be engineered for multiple forces, not just a straight drop on the
top. If you go for the bar, I know that Brain-Storm and Hard-Dog both have
SCCA Solo I legal bars.

Good luck,

Rob Ebersol

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