Official TM3 2012 Car Control & Track School Days w/ *ILR/CCS* [Archive]

Fobio

03-22-2012, 11:25 AM

It's that time of the year when it's starting to get warm and many of us are getting ready for the upcoming season. For those of us who are looking to start out in amatuer motorsports or just looking for a way to improve theirs skills and have fun, TM3 will again organize and offer Car Control School and Track School in 2012, hosted with Ian Law Racing/Car Control School.

For more details and dates, please check out this link, and sign yourself up for a date. If we can get 10 ppl committed to each of the 2 days we plan to host, then we will get substantial discounts as a group.

LINK: Official TM3 2012 Car Control & Track School Days (http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?61797-*ILR-CCS*-Official-TM3-2012-Car-Control-amp-Track-School-Days)

Feel free to post questions...myself and other ILR instructors will be more than happy to answer them!

MajesticBlueNTO

03-22-2012, 03:38 PM

The Car Control School (CCS) and the Track School are invaluable in the practical exercises you get with an instructor in the passenger seat - and this is speaking from personal experience having taken the schools.

Some might say "but I can watch YouTube videos that show the same concepts" or "I've read all the articles I could find on the internet or magazines and know what to do" but to really benefit, like anything else, it is better to learn when someone more experienced is there to guide you.

Also, in terms of cost, I say this every time in threads like these, people scoff at $300 for improving their driving skills ($600 or so if you decide to take both the CCS and the Track School) but will have no problem justifying up to $300 for springs (and/or sway bars) and $500-600 for shocks, thinking it will make them a better driver. In actuality, "driver mod" should be one of the first things invested when modding.

To relate, I'll give a little background on my experience with ILR CCS and Track School:

In 2002, I went to a some 1/4 mile days with my old car but, after getting a ride in MaxRPM's car at Mosport GP, I was hooked on going to the track. However, prior to going to the track myself, I decided that I should learn the skills necessary to control a car at the limit (whether it is a personal limit or vehicle limit).

I then signed up with Ian Law's Car Control School in 2003 and discovered that it provided the foundation for better driving overall. It's not just a "motorsports" oriented course. It will make you a better driver by exposing bad habits and giving you the venue to work on proactive (better!) driving habits. Some of the basic tenets are vision training and smooth inputs that apply both in the daily drive on the street and at the track (for those that decide to venture out to the track).

After taking the CCS, I decided to give lapping days a try... this didn't happen until 2006, though, when I went to Shannonville a few times. At the track, I thought I knew what I was doing; heck, I read all I could on the racing line, apex, etc but I felt like I was missing out on something. Even though more seat time is always good to learn a track, I decided to take the ILR Track School to build from a solid foundation - rather than improving upon a shaky base so to speak.

In 2007 I took the ILR Track School and learned way more there in 1 day than the few events at Shannonville. The practical, in-car time with the instructors was what proved most valuable. The real eye opener was having an instructor drive my car and, even though he may have been driving it at 6/10ths or 7/10ths, it was still far higher than I ever pushed it at a lapping day. Then it hit me, in pretty much stock form, my Mazda3 was more capable than me. I felt like I was pushing it to the limit at the track but I wasn't doing it right...I wasn't dancing with the car smoothly.

After the ILR Track School, I attended every ILR Track Day I could ... not only are they relatively cheap, you know that the other lappers have been to the school and have some modicum of skill they are improving upon - and you can pick the brains of the instructors when they aren't out with the students. The more ILR track days I attended, the greater my confidence level became in the 3. Once my driving skill matched the limit of my 3, then I changed parts and upped the limit of the car. The cycle then started anew with me trying to reach the new limit of the car at the track where it is quantifiable. It got to the point where more power was the one thing I needed in the 3 to start the improvement cycle over again. Which brought me to the MS3 where the cycle is still going on.....

Cliff's Notes:
* the Mazda3 is a very capable car in stock form
* spending money on driver mod first > spending money on mods
* don't "improve on bad habits" - gain a solid foundation first to start driver mod base
* once driver mod base established, continuous improvement happens when seat time and confidence at the track increases
* once the "person limit" equals "vehicle limit", add mods to increase "vehicle limit", then start continuous improvement over until they are equal
* repeat cycle until you're driving a Cayman S ...i keed! :)