Would You Support An Official Chevrolet Corvette Driving School?

[Tuna]

I think it's a great idea. With so many people taking the Museum delivery option, a driving school in the Bowling Green area would be great. Alas, no race track except a drag strip, so the school would be parking lot (autocross) limited.

If GM does something like this, I'd try to support it.

 

[corvettecrazy]

personally(being 16) I think a class like this would not only be extremely awsome but also very helpful.

1) having a professional teach my how to properly shift and the differnt ways to do it and even in varying types of cars wold be nice.

2) being about to get that new drive need for speed out on a closed corse with someone to instruct how to not kill your self while doing it would also be nice

3) eduaction aoubt driving to the limit on varying surfaces(sandy road, grippy road, crappy eastern PA streets, to anything else) might be helpful to cause the roads change from town to town and state to state

4) autocross type driving instruction would be really good

5) general saftey such as: slides(power and loss of control), loss of power, no brakes, avoiding major hazzards, etc

6) for an exta sum (not anohter full course price) repair of your specified generation (c1-5) would be nice. especially since many of us do our own work when possible.

7) a corvette care section for 1/2 day might be interesting and helpful also.

8) defensive and agressive driving edu

9)stunts(reverse 180, etc(you know the rest))

10) burn out control circular, straight, and or not moving burn out


just some of my thoughts and ideas of what should be included in a driving school. I would definately support a corvette driving school and attend.

BTW the action character drving school would be really cool

 

[LMN8R]

Sign me up. Now. Dotted line? Where? Antarctica? Doesn't matter. Lets go.

 

[RedRagTop]

I think the concept is a good one, and should be promoted by GM. My first ride out in this particular vette I almost looped it when it shifted hard into second and the rear went way out, just because I didn't expect that kind of power from one of these year cars. Sorry Rob, but I think you'll find that the vette is actually one of the highest fatality cars in the world, and likely based on drivers who get surprised plus the high number of verts. I may be wrong though, I read that statistic in a car mag some years back...
Best thing about the course is to find your spin limits in a safe environment instead of in traffic and to demonstrate the fun of using the car on a closed course to play like the guys I know that rent a strip from the local airport to ralley on.

 

[Dreamin]

Yes. I have been looking for something locally (in Canada). It would be fun (and a great experience) to see exactly what the Vette is capable of - not to mention the one doing it!

In case you didn't get my answer, YES, YES, YES!!!!!

 

[MM-C5]

Or....say you just want to plan a trip to Bowling Green to visit the National Corvette Museum and take a tour of the plant. Why not enjoy yourself a litte more, and take advantage of an official Corvette Driving School program while you're there?

The first time I visited The Museum I thought, ‘These guys have really missed the boat! What Corvette owner WOULDN'T want to bring their car here to learn how to drive it?”

…and I didn’t even have a Vette at the time!

The first thought I had after 17 years of low performance driving and stepping into my C5 was, “Damn, I wish there was someplace I could take this to learn what this thing can do.”

My guess is that GM would be absolutely stunned by the reception, so much so that having a school only in BG would not be enough…although BG would – and should – be the first choice. After all, you can “Be Petty” at a ton of tracks, but if you want to do it right, Charlotte is where you go.

Rob, I believe you have a wonderful idea and can be the catalyst to make this happen! I gotta believe that all this positive feedback should somehow find a willing ear.

Maybe there’s a CAC member who has an inside track to the Marketing department.

This time Rob -- “Trust Your Cape!”

Tom

 

[Rob]

This time Rob -- “Trust Your Cape!”

Tom

 

[Rob]

I decided to move this thread I started a little over a year ago, into this forum for some different exposure.

If GM were to offer such a program as an option with the purchase of a C6, would it be something you would be interested in?

 

[MM-C5]

Sure, but a C-6 probably isn't in my equasion until the late C-7s :cry

So the real question or "project" is...how do we get GM's attention to develop a performance driving experience??


Go For It, Rob!

T

 

[StillDreaming]

Awesome idea!!!!!! I would love the entire idea, driving, part of purchase, tech class, everything. I need a Corvette first, but when that day finally comes and I hope that it does, I would do it all, and love every minute of it.

 

[vetteZ06dream]

I don't think I live that far from the BMW
track in S. Carolina. Maybe I need to go
down there and thrash a beemer around!

farout

i say u go down there in ur vette and show those beemers what a real car is!!:bash :booty

 

[corvettecrazy]

although I think a vette driving school is very fun a beemer one would be just as if not more important, this is because the beemers actions are going to much closer to what your car is going to do than to what a corvette would do. AND those little 325i's are a BLAST to drive (point made from someone who has driven about 3 cars (tahoe bonniville and 325i, i've moved outher cars but I dont think that counts as driving))

 

[vettepilot]

I would like to see GM sponser a driving school, as long as it consists of phases such as the following:

Phase 1: Defensive driving techniques, most drivers are not fully aware of what is going on around them, and fail to anticipate the consequences of not just their actions, but those of the drivers around them, thereby failing to avoid an accident.

Phase 2: Inclement weather driving, sound silly right? But many accidents happen because people just don't think about, or understand the vast differances in road adhesion when the road surface is wet, snow covered, iced over, or has loose gravel sand, or other foreign material that reduces traction during cornering, braking, and turning.

Phase 3: High speed maneuvering, covering the dynamics of vehicle motion , reaction, and corrections needed in high speed maneuvering vs low speed maneuvering.

Phase 4: Advanced maneuvers, this would cover 180s, forward, reverse, intentional spins, and other anti-terrorist maneuvers.

Phase 5: The high speed track, putting it all together for a fun/educational "final exam".

vettepilot

 

[LongTimer]

Re: A Bit Cavalierly

A driving course that weighs heavily on defensive driving tactics and touches on specific, high speed/preformance handling characteristics of Corvettes, is a plus not a minus.

Schools are all about understanding limitations (abilities), your's and the car's. Overstepping safety limits is contrary to the driving schools I've attended. In fact, any display of disregard for safety and you're promptly kicked out of class.

Given the choice, I'd certainly rather share the road with an educated "bad" driver, who at least has been through the basics and knows he has certain options besides a straight line skid into trouble, rather than a completely clueless "good" driver who can't park his car without hitting something.

Fact of life, Corvettes are above most people's driving ability. A GM sponsored school could be a huge benefit.

C'ya
D

YUP!

 

[97RedCorvette]

I’m not sure. If Chevrolet offered a high-performance driving school for Corvette owners, the first thing they would need to do is hire highly skilled people employed by the likes of Justin Bell or Skip Barber to run things. I’m not sure what the advantage would be since these road schools already exist, with some, like Justin Bell, putting people behind the wheel of a Z06. The Chevrolet school would have to be unique in some way – not just a duplicate of the other schools out there.

 

[jimxo]

I would go even if I dont have my C6 yet.

I did a Lexus driving school a few months back in ElkHart Lake, WI.-What a blast!


http://www.lexusdrivingschool.com

 

[ROCKETBLOCK]

No I don't think chevy should do it and here's my reasoning. there are enough idiots on the road now that thinking they can handle a car at a buck 30 , this would only make more people who are not qualified to drive faster than their ability. I have been to a couple Skip Barber classes, but that was strickly for track racing not performance driving on the street. Most people won't shell out the 3-5 grand that these courses require, but if it was offered as and RPO code it could be financed along with the car and as human nature most people will think that now they have taken this course, that they can handle driving at excessive speeds. There was a comment made about having the class "help a new vette owner to not destroy their 50 k sports car on the first exit ramp in a rain storm ", I'll save ya some money here..slow the hell down.. if you can't figure out that you need to drive slower in the rain and even slower in corners then all the driving classes won't help. I also see a big liability issue for GM the first time someone takes this course and crashes and kills someone, there going to go right after GM for promoting this type of driving. Driving a Corvette is just like driving any other car, if you pay attention to what your doing and what other people are doing you shouldn't have a problem

I have to agree with most of this, even though I have raced cars for over 30 years and have enjoyed it. The buck 30 has no place on 99% of public roads! I love Corvettes, I love speed and I love horsepower. Defensive driving, vehicle dynamics, limitations of your vehicle in different conditions and paying attention (no cell phone) are the most important issues IMO.

 

[justafamilyman]

Hi Rob,
First......of course!!!!!!!!!!! Take a week of vacation to learn how to open up the Vette. The info learned would also be valuable on the other cars.
Second.....why is this on the C6 site?
A collective Vette peace to all.
Blue Borg Brian 1 of 58

 

[cntrhub]

A driving school is fine for a weekend romp. You get to squirt the tires, tweak the chassis, and learn a few tricks along the way. Will this make you handle that Vette any better? I doubt it.
There is no way to learn what your limits are with a few hours of extreme time. And I don't think the schools (most of them) will let lose the rains, so you can drive over your head. The only way you will drive over your head and really learn car control, is to enter a closed course track and race with others. This is where you learn your driving skills the hard way. This is where you walk away and know you can handle most anything on the street.
It takes literally years to master car control and become a smooth driver.
Those driving classes are like being teased by a hooker. They press up against you, tell you how nice you look, maybe grab you once or twice, but you never seem to go upstairs and take a few laps.

And really, what would a 1 or 3 day driving student do with someone like me? One who slowly builds speed, and pulls you faster into a turn, so I can watch you in my rear view mirror back off, or spin out, because you thought you could follow me in that deep? Or how about me in back of you, pushing you faster to either get out of the way, or "let's see what you got?" I do this on the street many times. There's plenty of people like that on the road to play with. They learn real quick......less than 5 minutes!

If you really want to learn how to drive, go racing. I don't think Chevy wouldn't help you at all if they came up with a driving school. How will that class prepare you for an idiot like me in 1 day?

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

Rob, I think most of the members have seen my Rants about driving schools. GM should be obligated to offer this school. I continue my campaign for multi-level driving license and a Hi-Performance license required of anyone driving a vehicle with a power to weight ratio better than 1:10.

The improvement in my Wife’s driving after her week long Hi-Performance school last summer is a 1000%. This is the best money I have ever spent. No she does not drive more aggressively. She drives with more skill and confidence. If some Jackass bullies her on the road she does NOT react and take the bait. She allows the Fool to pass or do whatever it is that his Oversized ego demands.

If anybody wants the real thing, the team owner has decided to stretch one of the BAR (F-1) chassis and make a 2 place / dual control car. The official dialogue is ¨We will use the car to give a ¨Real Race Car¨ experience to people who would otherwise never have the opportunity¨. I call it, ¨Slide, Spin, Puke¨. The price per lap will be about $1000. This reminds me of the old days when we took VIPs and members of the Press for joyrides in the F-4s. You have to be in good shape to pull Gs and do unusual attitudes or