UP2MTNS
03-31-2007, 11:36 AM
I actually had the benefit to attend both the CRS Rally School (Ridgecrest) and Paul Eklund's school in Porland, OR. I'll talk mostly of Paul's school, but will compare the two.
Primitive Rally School details:
http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/nwrallyschool.htm
Class Time:
The two classes are very similar. Actually, Paul currently uses the same slides the CRS guys use. The class is Friday night at a hotel next to the Fairgrounds where all the driving is done. The class is pretty informal (we ate dinner in the middle of class, I even had a few beers...which I needed after driving all day, ha!)
Most of the class time was spend answering questions and telling relevant driving stories. We spent less time on the Stage Rally information, and more time on driving technique.
I liked it becuase the CRS school went over everything in detail, so a lot of it was review for me.
Seat Time:
This is the main benefit Paul's school has over the CRS school. They limit the class to 35 students, and they have at least 10 instructors, so that's a pretty nice ratio. Also, you stay in your small group with the same instructor through each excersise, so the learning curve is shorter and it allows you to connect any lessons learned from earlier excercises.
Lets see if I can remember the courses:
Skid pad
Slalom w/180 turn and slalom back
Mini rally w/transitions, sweeper turn and a 'tightens' turn
90 degree braking excercise
I think there was another one, but can't recall...
There was a 2 hr break for lunch and they send you off on a TSD (Time Speed Distance) rally on some local backroads. This was pretty fun (we got lost) and it gives you a good idea of what its like to actually be in the car, trying to line up your times and disances with what you're expected to do.
The afternoon was a continuation of the excercises above, followed by a full rally cross set up, where Paul connected a few of the courses together and everyone ran with some informal (stopwatches) timing.
Conditions:
WET. VERY wet. Top speed was around 20mph probably. Every corner was slick, and power meant nothing. The 2wd cars were having a rough time, and it was the worst for the RWD guys. That didn't change the lessons or learning though...in fact, it made it very easy to practice full drifting around corners at a mere 15mph.
The slick conditions made practicing driving skills like the scandinavian flick, throttle modulation and LFB very easy and any mistakes were amplified, but if you did it right, it was realllyyyy fun. Well, sliding off the course was fun to.
Overall:
Was it worth the $$? The travel time, etc?
YES (one woman there flew in from NY for the class)
Was it fun?
YES
If I had to choose one, which is better?
Don't choose, do both. Its all about seat time.
Fringe Benefits:
Paul's pretty well known, so meeting a local celebrity is cool.
I also met 'Subie Gal' Jamie Thomas (if you've ever bought anything from www.subarugenuineparts.com, you've bought from her)
All of the instructors were very experienced rally drivers, so the networking, story telling at the bar, etc was a great part of it.
For example, I also met a pretty good driver, Steve Carper, who was in my class (and I hung out at his brother's house playing poker 'till 2am Sat night). Steve has a modified EVO 8RS, and he's doing the Alcan 5000 (www.alcan5000.com) and he asked me to be his co-driver, so I'm pretty psyched about that. I'll eventually post up another thread on that whole deal in the non-suby section soon.
any other questions? post up!
Primitive Rally School details:
http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/nwrallyschool.htm
Class Time:
The two classes are very similar. Actually, Paul currently uses the same slides the CRS guys use. The class is Friday night at a hotel next to the Fairgrounds where all the driving is done. The class is pretty informal (we ate dinner in the middle of class, I even had a few beers...which I needed after driving all day, ha!)
Most of the class time was spend answering questions and telling relevant driving stories. We spent less time on the Stage Rally information, and more time on driving technique.
I liked it becuase the CRS school went over everything in detail, so a lot of it was review for me.
Seat Time:
This is the main benefit Paul's school has over the CRS school. They limit the class to 35 students, and they have at least 10 instructors, so that's a pretty nice ratio. Also, you stay in your small group with the same instructor through each excersise, so the learning curve is shorter and it allows you to connect any lessons learned from earlier excercises.
Lets see if I can remember the courses:
Skid pad
Slalom w/180 turn and slalom back
Mini rally w/transitions, sweeper turn and a 'tightens' turn
90 degree braking excercise
I think there was another one, but can't recall...
There was a 2 hr break for lunch and they send you off on a TSD (Time Speed Distance) rally on some local backroads. This was pretty fun (we got lost) and it gives you a good idea of what its like to actually be in the car, trying to line up your times and disances with what you're expected to do.
The afternoon was a continuation of the excercises above, followed by a full rally cross set up, where Paul connected a few of the courses together and everyone ran with some informal (stopwatches) timing.
Conditions:
WET. VERY wet. Top speed was around 20mph probably. Every corner was slick, and power meant nothing. The 2wd cars were having a rough time, and it was the worst for the RWD guys. That didn't change the lessons or learning though...in fact, it made it very easy to practice full drifting around corners at a mere 15mph.
The slick conditions made practicing driving skills like the scandinavian flick, throttle modulation and LFB very easy and any mistakes were amplified, but if you did it right, it was realllyyyy fun. Well, sliding off the course was fun to.
Overall:
Was it worth the $$? The travel time, etc?
YES (one woman there flew in from NY for the class)
Was it fun?
YES
If I had to choose one, which is better?
Don't choose, do both. Its all about seat time.
Fringe Benefits:
Paul's pretty well known, so meeting a local celebrity is cool.
I also met 'Subie Gal' Jamie Thomas (if you've ever bought anything from www.subarugenuineparts.com, you've bought from her)
All of the instructors were very experienced rally drivers, so the networking, story telling at the bar, etc was a great part of it.
For example, I also met a pretty good driver, Steve Carper, who was in my class (and I hung out at his brother's house playing poker 'till 2am Sat night). Steve has a modified EVO 8RS, and he's doing the Alcan 5000 (www.alcan5000.com) and he asked me to be his co-driver, so I'm pretty psyched about that. I'll eventually post up another thread on that whole deal in the non-suby section soon.
any other questions? post up!