Ron Fellows Performance Driving School a Must For New Corvette Owners

CLASSROOM SESSIONS

Classroom sessions are run at about a 30/70 split with the majority of the time experiencing hands-on training.  Class sessions are very well laid out and the instructors are very knowledgeable. Initial sessions start out very basic where the instructors describe Corvette features first hand.

As class progresses, lessons in such things as Performance Traction Management, Drive Modes, Launch Control, and Performance Data Recorder use are explained in detail.

Next up, the tools to properly driving your car on a track are taught, during which most people realize how valuable these are in typical Vette driving.  These run into what more experienced drivers seek and include an understanding of visual scanning, downshifting, braking to slow down, turn-in, balance and an understanding of the apex and proper completion of turns.

The PDR in new Corvettes adds a valuable tool to the classroom as students frequently watched actual video of the maneuver on the track they were driving.

SKIDPAD TRAINING

As well as inside instruction, there was also skid pad exercises aside from track runs.  For the most part, these included effective braking and maintaining control with ABS, visual scanning through peripheral vision, and the importance of Performance Traction Management through ‘Weather Mode’.  This is a great shot of me trying to maneuver a serpentine course with my front windshield completely blocked during the visual scanning component; the less I am seen the better.

As easy as it sounds to pickup the next cone in your peripheral vision and cut your turn very close through the serpentine course, it is not. Once a cone is missed, pulling the car back into place for the next is very difficult, making it pretty much impossible as the course progresses, all the while there is absolutely no vision to the front.

Without a doubt, the PTM hands-on demonstration with ‘Weather Mode’ was the biggest eye opener for me personally, remembering of course that I had tallied 15,000 miles in my Z06 in less than 6 months with inclement weather becoming almost second nature.  This video of us driving the Z06 in a downpour during our trip is a great example. In this exercise, we were first asked to negotiate the Figure-8 with PTM and Weather mode disabled.

Students were told to negotiate the course as best they could without losing control. In  other words, it was doughnut time.  After doing it a few times, Weather Mode and PTM were enabled we were encouraged to try our best to break traction where control was lost, even flooring the gas around corners.  It couldn’t be done and some form of control was always maintained. This was an incredible lesson as, previous to the school, I felt ‘Weather Mode’ to be much like Eco Mode where it was no more than a great novelty available through the Drive Mode Selector; good for sales right? VERY IMPRESSIVE!

Last but not least, here is a bit of a video from the PDR while stopping with ABS.   It was a very basic exercise that later saw us hitting the brake hard in the slick and changing our lane of travel while still braking.  This demonstrated the effectiveness of ABS very well.