BIR Driving School (long post)

[Jenny Curtis]

Hey Q-list:

Just settling back into normal life after the BIR Driving School.
What a fun couple of days.   I was really amazed at how fast and
sure-footed my car performed.  The Princess kicked ass when driven by
seasoned drivers and did pretty well with me behind the wheel.  She
may not have a lot of top-end speed but the low-end torque really is
useful on a curvy track where you have to slow down a lot.  The only
tense moment was at the end of the lane-toss exercise when I went to
start my car and it wouldn't turn over.  Chris from Anderson fixed it
by giving it a good whack with his hand in the vicinity of the fuel
pump.  I guess a Qclub driving school is a good place to have a
break-down.

Not only did I learn alot about my car's abilities, but I also learned
alot about myself.  I really felt alot more confident and steady
driving home then I ever have before.  I've always been a really
nervous freeway driver, especially when it gets crowded with lots of
idiots dashing between lanes and cutting your following distance.  But
after two days of tobserving the track rules (don't tailgate--it's not
a race and only pass in the appropriate zones) I just transferred
those to the world at large.  It was so much easier to let the yahoos
go and pass only the people I was creeping up on when I kept a steady
speed.  I also found out that all these years I've been cornering all
wrong.  At higher speeds I would brake and turn the wheel at the same
time, which made things feel really scary.  By using the things I
learned about cornering on the track, I went the Hennepin Ave. tunnel
on 94 for the first time without white knuckles.

Not only did I learn alot, but I have to say, driving on a race track
is just really, really fun!  It was a bit scary at first, but the
instructors were great and it didn't take long before I felt
comfortable going through the first turn at 110.  My favorite bits
were going out of turn 1 into turn 2 (whoosh you fly to the top of
track, a very cool sensation) the pendulum effect between turns 7 and
8, which my car seemed to totally love and turn 9 which my instructors
said I nailed everytime.

I also have a totally different opinion of car mods now.  Mods are
nothing.  Driving ability is everything.  When my little 4kQ can keep
up with cars that are way more powerful, or tricked out, it tells you
something.  At least in the case of BIR, where most of the track is
turns and there is one real straight away, I really felt appreciative
of the Quattro system.   My car confidently powered out of almost
every corner on the track at full throttle.  I'm sure when you get to
a level of driving ability where everyone is nearly the same, mods
might make a difference and they might make you feel like you have an
edge.  OK, I admit it, I'm already pricing suspension mods.  But I
might just hang onto my money for a while and buy a helmet instead.

See you in St. Cloud!

Jenny
'86 4kcsQ: Eurotrash Princess