driving course at westfield

[smithydar]

for years when i worked in a garage i trashed customers cars like you do(because your a mechanic and people trust you! yeah right),roadtesting etc,a lot of these being rear wheel drive !!!

after moving to plant and machinery i no longer get to drive anything other than my transit and 30ton dumptrucks(actually 6wd but sounds impressive.lol) with rear wheel drive.

so after 5 years of building my car im thinking i should do some kind of course to get familiarised with this set up again.

rather than thinking im invincible and trashing my pride and joy.

so do westfield do some kind of driving course and if so does anyone know how much???

i oughta get it free with the money ive given westfield over the years.lol (that was a joke before anyone chews my ear)  

thanks

darren

[Mark Stanton]

Nope   - not yet anyway, but after reading your post - an idea may have been suggested

However fear not there are many other avenues for ya - There is Don Palmer - well respected and recommended by various WSCC members + C Windy's current post on a half day at Millbrook - you could learn a lot from that     + various track days offer tuition by an ARDS instructor - including our own at Mallory and Cadwell  

Sprint and hillclim circuits such as Curborough, Prescott and Gurston offer driver training days        

[smithydar]

cheers mark.thanks for that.dont spose you have any phone numbers do you?

do you think its a wise thing to do?

thanks darren

ps so i should get the first course for free then for inventing the idea.

[Mark Stanton]

No phone numbers to hand ............... but a Google search will reveal a lot and if you go to www.wscc.co.uk club home page and then onto links page - there are a few there      

Tis something I think is a very wise thing to do     I've asked about Millbrook myself from Windy and also considering attending one of Don Palmers days at Bruntingthorpe    

[stubbow]

hi darren

im up for a bit of tution to after driving front wheel drive cars for the last few years. maybe we could do something together! something a bit closer to home than millbrook would be good.

Danny

[smithydar]

yeah im up for that.im only just up the road from you in axminster.but not sure where the closest place would be.i know you can go to thruxton but not sure what you drive there.except a ferrari.i'll have a mosey around the internet and see what i can find.

darren

[smithydar]

mark. the places youve listed.are they all done useing your own car or theirs?

darren

[Mark Stanton]

Except for the Millbrook all the ones I've noted you can use your own car - IMHO I reckon that's what ist all about        

Most of the UK circuits organise driver tuition days using - hot saloons and moving onto single seaters   Although they're probably very good and you can learn a great deal - the thing for me is to use my own car    

Llandow for example you can sign on for a day / half day track use and chuck your car about lap after lap and learn from your own experience      

You can't beat bum in seat track time, as much as possible, to learn control, line and approach - its something soooooooooo different to road use  and really not something to do on public highways - you gotta spin out of control to understand what, when and why       in as safe an environment as possible  

[smithydar]

thanks mark.thats the sort of thing i want when my car is finished.but just dont want to do it on the road and be totally unprepared.thanks a lot

darren

[gregh]

imho you'd be best trying to book an airfield track day with an instructor, nowt to hit and much safer than a "real" track, Elvington is a classic example, if you spin at most corners the worst you'll hit is a cone!

[smithydar]

thats another idea.and one that suits me better than a track.im going to look into it .

thanks a lot

darren

[Mark Stanton]

Bruntingthorpe that Don palmer days use has loads of run-off      

Elvington as Greg noted is good and open - but can be a tad harsh on tyres        

if you need use of an ARDS instructor for tuition - give me a shout

[CrashBangWallop]

A lot of the guys in my area have given many excellent comments for www.cadence.co.uk run by Hugh Noblett.

Neil

[smithydar]

i will do mark that would be great but wont be untill early next year when the cars done.thanks for the advice and help and thanks all.

darren

[8336]

Hi

Bit of a pain finding a suitable venue when south west based   . I've done a Don Palmer day at Bruntingthorpe, and it was geat fun and very useful. I also did an Easytrack day at Kemble, which is probably your nearest venue. I would recommend the use of an airfield day rather than track day for a start. Two reasons, airfield days are usualy cheaper, and there is usualy plenty of room for "mistakes". (Just don't drive over runway lights, they are quite tall! The don PAlmer day was an "Instructional event" i.e. organised to teach you. Whereas normal trackdays tend to be to let you enjoy your car on the safety of a track, with the option of getting instruction if you wish.  Both are very useful, you can drive the car beyond the limits (and I don't mean mph), you need to apply on the road.

I've also done a few trackdays on the se7ens.net tours, great fun touring hollidays. There are a few really competent competition drivers on the tours, who can teach you a thing or two.

John Gathard

Callington

Cornwall.