Bombay Jay
01-09-2008, 12:16 PM
I attended the two day driving school at the Performance Delivery Center. What a trip this was.
This was a great gift from my wife, she caught word that I was preparing a very nice surprise for our anniversary and she was a bit unsure of what to get me. There is nothing like planting a seed and six months later see the fruits of your subtle hint come to fruition. I had placed a performance center pamphlet and 10% off coupon on her night stand this past spring. Low and behold I open my gift and it is a piece of paper, which states that I am enrolled in the two day class the weekend after Thanksgiving.
At first she wanted me to go alone, but it turns out there were some things that she wanted to see and do in the Greenville/Spartanburg area. So we drove down on black Friday after a small bit of shopping.
BMW recommends the Marriott chain of hotels in the area; they have three that they suggest. We did not take advantage of this, which is neither here nor there, but these Marriott’s have BMW sedans for their use to shuttle PCD/School/Important Visitors anywhere you want to go. Then you call them and they will come and pick you up. It is only about 20 minutes to Downtown Greenville, which is a cool little town.
On the first morning of class I showed up to a friendly greeting by one of the instructors and was directed to the cafeteria. I sat down had my energy drink and signed the waiver, and introduced myself to the people sitting at the table. I was surprised by the number of people in the cafeteria, but it turns out that there were three classes going on during this weekend, the two day school, a teen school and a motorcycle school. Shortly thereafter they divided us into the appropriate groups and we went to our separate classrooms to start the school.
Once in the classrooms they give a brief introduction, go over the basics, explain what we will be doing during the day and then ask us to introduce ourselves. At this time they pair up the people in the class. There were 12 people in the class and they divide us into 6 groups. Most of the people in the class were Father/Son or Husband/Wife. There were two women in the class. I was paired up with another guy whose wife signed him up.
At the beginning of the classroom time the instructor told us that there was a small problem with the logistics with the other class. He stated that we would not be driving 335’s for the class but instead would be left to drive 650’s and Z4’s (Talk about a real let down! J/K)
After a short briefing it was out to the cars, started in the 650’s. We went through a slalom course and through a sharp turn at the end.
The way the class works is you the first team member drives while the other person rides shotgun. The instructors are on radios that are in each car. You can hear the instructors evaluating each driver, so you learn from their mistakes. Halfway through the exercise the driver and passenger switch and you go through the exercise again. The second driver does not take over where the first driver finished but starts the process again working up in speed.
Just a few notes about the class, it is important to stay hydrated and they offer free water and take breaks a couple times before lunch and a couple times before the end of the day. They also let anyone who is not a very good passenger stand with the instructor or sit in the instructors’ car. There were a few people that took advantage of that.
The class is broken up into different section. You have one lead instruction and to additional instructors. And in some events all 12 people go and do one exercise in 6 cars. In other events they split the class into 2 groups, 3 cars in each group.
We started on the slalom in the 650’s to get warmed up and get your eyes working the way they want them to. Then it is off the emergency lane change with the Z4 in a limited area, talk about throwing the car around!! Then you go to the ABS breaking exercise with speeds up to 45 mph with the pavement wet (Z4)! From there you go to the skid pad where it is soaked and you practice car control while inducing over steer and under steer in the 650’s (one very short blip of the throttle and get it under control, man this car has power). By now you have the confidence to do the rat race against the other drivers with a wet oval and three lap shootouts with DSC off (I managed to be runner up). Then to finish out the first day we all went to a timed autocross area in the 650’s. They were not looking for the quickest lap necessarily but a good progression cutting off time each lap. That was the end of the first day. We headed into Greenville and got something to eat and that was about it, except a short walk down Main Street. The day of class really takes it out of you.
The next day we started off with slalom again in the 650’s, amazing how much quicker you can go after a day of school and some rest. Then you go to a slalom course with a turnaround and back through the slalom in the Z4’s. This event is timed and you get three shots at it, again they want to see a continual improvement in time. We decided to make two passes without our passenger; it did seem to make a small difference. At this point things were getting more difficult but by now we were really having fun. Now it was time for the double emergency lane change in the Z4’s. This was basically like avoiding something in the highway, a tire tread or dead animal. Swerve out and back within the confines of two lanes. Back to the wet skid pad with the 650’s, we got a show from our instructors after we finished our time on the skid pad, they took us out on the skid pad and drifted all the way around it a number of times without quitting. By now it was time for a bit of a break from the norm, we jumped in X5’s and went to the off-road course. This was very cool and we were not even really pushing the vehicles that much for what they were designed for.
To finish off the class we got a real treat, I believe every class gets to do this. We finished off at the Autocross portion of the track. Here we got to drive the 335, X5 and M5 through the course. They were trying to show us how different each car is but how they do have similar driving characteristics, to some degree. The X5 was pretty impressive; I believe it was the 4.4. It handled pretty well through the course, you could tell it had a higher center of gravity but did not act top heavy and had impressive power. The M5 was really unbelievable, very comfortable, side bolsters that inflate when you go around corners and through the slalom portion of the autocross, unbelievable power and a totally awesome exhaust melody. You could tell we were not at all reaching the potential of this car; it is designed more for a large course or higher speeds. It seemed that we were not in the sweet spot of the power band before we had to break to go into a corner. But it is a totally awesome car. We were totally blown away by the performance of the 335. The sweet spot of the power band of the 335 is from the time you hit the accelerator until you let off. This car was unbelievably quick. You had to be very careful so this would not get away from you. The other cars you could stay in the gas up to the corner and then break hard, but the 335 you had to break quite a bit before the corner, you amassed so much speed it was amazing.
All in all I recommend the driving school for anyone who can or want to attend. It teaches you many small things that you can use in daily driving and things to prepare you for an emergency on the road. Seating position, mirror position, controlled driving, safe emergency action and most importantly where to keep looking with your eyes! Plus, Greenville is a very nice area. Main Steet is loaded with great restaurants, bars and shops and there is a great city park right off of mainstreet.
This was a great gift from my wife, she caught word that I was preparing a very nice surprise for our anniversary and she was a bit unsure of what to get me. There is nothing like planting a seed and six months later see the fruits of your subtle hint come to fruition. I had placed a performance center pamphlet and 10% off coupon on her night stand this past spring. Low and behold I open my gift and it is a piece of paper, which states that I am enrolled in the two day class the weekend after Thanksgiving.
At first she wanted me to go alone, but it turns out there were some things that she wanted to see and do in the Greenville/Spartanburg area. So we drove down on black Friday after a small bit of shopping.
BMW recommends the Marriott chain of hotels in the area; they have three that they suggest. We did not take advantage of this, which is neither here nor there, but these Marriott’s have BMW sedans for their use to shuttle PCD/School/Important Visitors anywhere you want to go. Then you call them and they will come and pick you up. It is only about 20 minutes to Downtown Greenville, which is a cool little town.
On the first morning of class I showed up to a friendly greeting by one of the instructors and was directed to the cafeteria. I sat down had my energy drink and signed the waiver, and introduced myself to the people sitting at the table. I was surprised by the number of people in the cafeteria, but it turns out that there were three classes going on during this weekend, the two day school, a teen school and a motorcycle school. Shortly thereafter they divided us into the appropriate groups and we went to our separate classrooms to start the school.
Once in the classrooms they give a brief introduction, go over the basics, explain what we will be doing during the day and then ask us to introduce ourselves. At this time they pair up the people in the class. There were 12 people in the class and they divide us into 6 groups. Most of the people in the class were Father/Son or Husband/Wife. There were two women in the class. I was paired up with another guy whose wife signed him up.
At the beginning of the classroom time the instructor told us that there was a small problem with the logistics with the other class. He stated that we would not be driving 335’s for the class but instead would be left to drive 650’s and Z4’s (Talk about a real let down! J/K)
After a short briefing it was out to the cars, started in the 650’s. We went through a slalom course and through a sharp turn at the end.
The way the class works is you the first team member drives while the other person rides shotgun. The instructors are on radios that are in each car. You can hear the instructors evaluating each driver, so you learn from their mistakes. Halfway through the exercise the driver and passenger switch and you go through the exercise again. The second driver does not take over where the first driver finished but starts the process again working up in speed.
Just a few notes about the class, it is important to stay hydrated and they offer free water and take breaks a couple times before lunch and a couple times before the end of the day. They also let anyone who is not a very good passenger stand with the instructor or sit in the instructors’ car. There were a few people that took advantage of that.
The class is broken up into different section. You have one lead instruction and to additional instructors. And in some events all 12 people go and do one exercise in 6 cars. In other events they split the class into 2 groups, 3 cars in each group.
We started on the slalom in the 650’s to get warmed up and get your eyes working the way they want them to. Then it is off the emergency lane change with the Z4 in a limited area, talk about throwing the car around!! Then you go to the ABS breaking exercise with speeds up to 45 mph with the pavement wet (Z4)! From there you go to the skid pad where it is soaked and you practice car control while inducing over steer and under steer in the 650’s (one very short blip of the throttle and get it under control, man this car has power). By now you have the confidence to do the rat race against the other drivers with a wet oval and three lap shootouts with DSC off (I managed to be runner up). Then to finish out the first day we all went to a timed autocross area in the 650’s. They were not looking for the quickest lap necessarily but a good progression cutting off time each lap. That was the end of the first day. We headed into Greenville and got something to eat and that was about it, except a short walk down Main Street. The day of class really takes it out of you.
The next day we started off with slalom again in the 650’s, amazing how much quicker you can go after a day of school and some rest. Then you go to a slalom course with a turnaround and back through the slalom in the Z4’s. This event is timed and you get three shots at it, again they want to see a continual improvement in time. We decided to make two passes without our passenger; it did seem to make a small difference. At this point things were getting more difficult but by now we were really having fun. Now it was time for the double emergency lane change in the Z4’s. This was basically like avoiding something in the highway, a tire tread or dead animal. Swerve out and back within the confines of two lanes. Back to the wet skid pad with the 650’s, we got a show from our instructors after we finished our time on the skid pad, they took us out on the skid pad and drifted all the way around it a number of times without quitting. By now it was time for a bit of a break from the norm, we jumped in X5’s and went to the off-road course. This was very cool and we were not even really pushing the vehicles that much for what they were designed for.
To finish off the class we got a real treat, I believe every class gets to do this. We finished off at the Autocross portion of the track. Here we got to drive the 335, X5 and M5 through the course. They were trying to show us how different each car is but how they do have similar driving characteristics, to some degree. The X5 was pretty impressive; I believe it was the 4.4. It handled pretty well through the course, you could tell it had a higher center of gravity but did not act top heavy and had impressive power. The M5 was really unbelievable, very comfortable, side bolsters that inflate when you go around corners and through the slalom portion of the autocross, unbelievable power and a totally awesome exhaust melody. You could tell we were not at all reaching the potential of this car; it is designed more for a large course or higher speeds. It seemed that we were not in the sweet spot of the power band before we had to break to go into a corner. But it is a totally awesome car. We were totally blown away by the performance of the 335. The sweet spot of the power band of the 335 is from the time you hit the accelerator until you let off. This car was unbelievably quick. You had to be very careful so this would not get away from you. The other cars you could stay in the gas up to the corner and then break hard, but the 335 you had to break quite a bit before the corner, you amassed so much speed it was amazing.
All in all I recommend the driving school for anyone who can or want to attend. It teaches you many small things that you can use in daily driving and things to prepare you for an emergency on the road. Seating position, mirror position, controlled driving, safe emergency action and most importantly where to keep looking with your eyes! Plus, Greenville is a very nice area. Main Steet is loaded with great restaurants, bars and shops and there is a great city park right off of mainstreet.