Improving Driving Skills

[GTS500]

So I got another car, 2011 mustang shelby gt500 convertable with the SVT package, and I want to improve my skills with this horse. I would like to run it at Lyme Rock and am looking for some sessions that might be available to do so?

I have had some older mustangs(2007 and late 60's early 70's versions) but this new one out does them in many ways. It is much better balanced, less front heavy with the alloy engine, and the suspension & brakes also are improved. It still is difficult to get out of the hole without heavy wheel spin like the older ones, but even the brute it is it is easy to drive day to day as the clutch is light, short shifter is smooth and electric power steering is soft but with good road feel. Seats are also comfortable and steering wheel has a good feel. It has great torque and is easy to boast up the HP with smaller pulley and idler, plugs, tuning and throttle body changes etc. I have a trinity tuner and have done some tech stuff like cameras front and rear(lock picked factory nav). The SVT tire package is good but the tires are slippery till they are warmed up. As far as handleing it is much better than past ones yet it still is of course tuff to handle on bumps, harsh with the old straight axel which hops & moves. By the way I tried the GT 5.0 but missed the torque, the look and the great 5.4 full alloy GT40 motor which will probably disappear soon as it is $$.

So does skip have any use your own car sessions?

[oldredracer]

They did at least one on an experimental basis at the end of last season, but I don't remember hearing much about it.

Guys??????

[Ryan Hall]

Welcome!!

We did have an Advanced High Performance school at Lime Rock last year and there have been a few at Road Atlanta this year where you drive your own car. I dont know what they have planned for this year but i would think they would try it again at Lime Rock.

If you do a 2 Day High Performance School, there are some opportunities to drive you own car on the Auto X and the race track, you would have to get you car signed off by your mechanic before the event and bring the paper with your when you show up.

To get a convertible on track at Lime Rock you would need to get a roll bar or a hard top installed.

The GT 500 is an awesome car and a lot of fun, make sure you sign up for a school that I'm working


Ryan

[GTS500]

Please let me know if there are any high performance classes at Lyme Rock where you can drive your own car! I do have a roll bar which I can install but it is pretty ugly so I don't keep it on. I have done some classes/racing in company cars(Mazda MX-5's, my wife even has a 2010 mazda) while in CA. It was great fun. Those MX-5's stick like glue unlike my GT500 which is also almost over powered if there is such a thing. I also have the desire to race classic mustangs(I like american cars!) maybe older boss or GT 350 in vintage class. I am semi retired so I have more time....

[cdh]

Originally Posted by GTS500

Please let me know if there are any high performance classes at Lyme Rock where you can drive your own car!

my GT500 which is also almost over powered if there is such a thing.....

Check Mustang clubs or Lime Rock, prob best bet, don't think SB does driver your own, I may be wrong. The hi-perf driving schools will teach you what you need to know to get the most out of your GT-500. Be very wary of bolt-on roll bars, only as good as what they are bolted onto. Notice the base of this cage popped right the thru floor -



On HP - "If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next,
you have enough horsepower." – Mark Donohue

[Gerardo]

Doug, did you read Ryan's post?

GTS500,
Ryan pretty much covered the options of bring your own car with Skip. If you want to go further, and keep the risk low, I'm sure you know all about autocrossing by now. Find a local SCCA chapter or similar car club that hosts Solo 2 or other similar parking lot autocrosses. Don't worry about the fact you get only 4 to 6 runs. You can learn a lot for very low cost in those runs. Some clubs allow you to ride with other competitors during their runs, increasing your learning. Plus you can have novice instructors ride with you, even if you are not a novice.

But, if the title of your thread, Improving Driving Skills, is the real meat of your question, any Skip Barber class will help you. The fundamentals are the same, although the focus varies.

Lots of threads on this forum on the different school types. Have a few searches, then when you have more questions, give the office a call. 800-221-1131. They can also tell you when the next High Performance schools will be at Lime Rock, as that answer tends to change.

Best of luck to you,

[Rosso]

That's a really nice car. Personally, unless I was completely at ease with the concept of writing the car off as a total, uninsured loss, I would not drive any street car on a race track. Write-offs can, and do, happen with very regular predictability. It would be hard to count the threads we have here that contain photos of someone's formerly immaculate Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, et al that was demolished at a track day. Renting your track obsession from Skippy, while not cheap, is one of the biggest bargains in motorsports. Just my opinion.

[dalyduo]

These are wise words.

There's an old thread somewhere on this site with a picture of a Ferrari taken at Lime Rock Park with it's nose carefully painter taped so nothing would chip its perfect red paint. The Ferrari is sitting on a flatbed having just been retrieved from the inside downhill retaining wall where the owner had a big classic trailing throttle oversteer slide that ended with a rapid deceleration into the wall hard enough to rumple every body panel on the left side of the car and tear off the left front suspension. One very brief bad moment that surely cost tens of thousands of dollars to make right. The painters tape was exquisite visual irony to the damage he never thought would happen.

As a sidebar, if you ball up a Skippy car you can usually jump into another one with limited liability and an optional insurance plan that lowers the liability further. The more you crash the more it costs but its way less than crashing and repairing your own car.

Originally Posted by Rosso

That's a really nice car. Personally, unless I was completely at ease with the concept of writing the car off as a total, uninsured loss, I would not drive any street car on a race track. Write-offs can, and do, happen with very regular predictability. It would be hard to count the threads we have here that contain photos of someone's formerly immaculate Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, et al that was demolished at a track day. Renting your track obsession from Skippy, while not cheap, is one of the biggest bargains in motorsports. Just my opinion.

[Slowhands]

Originally Posted by dalyduo

As a sidebar, if you ball up a Skippy car you can usually jump into another one with limited liability and an optional insurance plan that lowers the liability further. The more you crash the more it costs but its way less than crashing and repairing your own car.

Not to mention the emotional pain of balling up your pride and joy. No way I would take a car like that on the track.

[GTS500]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, you all seem to be giving me similar threads. I think driving my car on the track would be fun but I agree not racing it. The roll bar I have doesn't seem to be mounted in the greatest way either. A high performance class using skippy cars seems to be the best bet for general skill improvement with my car. I hadn't thought about the insurance issue if getting into a scrape on a track either. I also am thinking about setting up an older mustang for racing in SCCA.

With your feedback and thinking more about it my 2011 GT500 convertable is best suited for street cruising and some red light action...

Thanks

[Rosso]

Originally Posted by cdh

Check Mustang clubs or Lime Rock, prob best bet, don't think SB does driver your own, I may be wrong. The hi-perf driving schools will teach you what you need to know to get the most out of your GT-500. Be very wary of bolt-on roll bars, only as good as what they are bolted onto. Notice the base of this cage popped right the thru floor -



On HP - "If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next,
you have enough horsepower." – Mark Donohue

This was from the same thread that had the photo from Nurburgring of the M-spec BMW Z3 coupe? The car was almost completely obliterated - except for the roll cage and the engine.

[cdh]

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Doug, did you read Ryan's post?

Nope, my memory is bad, but I can still retain what I've read, for 10 minutes anyway

Originally Posted by Rosso

This was from the same thread that had the photo from Nurburgring of the M-spec BMW Z3 coupe? The car was almost completely obliterated - except for the roll cage and the engine.

Yep, it was in a thread on the RHR - post here - although I remembered a different pic (selective memory)

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Doug, did you read Ryan's post?

Nope, my memory is bad, but I can still retain what I've read, for 10 minutes anyway

[GregS]

Originally Posted by GTS500

So I got another car, 2011 mustang shelby gt500 convertable with the SVT package, and I want to improve my skills with this horse. I would like to run it at Lyme Rock and am looking for some sessions that might be available to do so?
?

One other thing to cover besides the crashing already covered is chips.

I had my porsche gt3 windshield cracked in a session where I was trailing behind a car, and he just put one wheel off at an exit and it was like I was behind a machine gun of small stone chips. It also peppered the nose of the car as well with scratches.

a good street car, if you want to play with it = autocross - a wonderful and safe way to play with the handling.

if you want track time, rent a race car, its overall the cheapest, safest and funnest way to go.