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Textbook Techniques for All
It was a mild, sunny day in Spartansburg, South Carolina, where I traveled to improve my skills behind the wheel. The BMW Performance Center Driving School (PCDS) would be my personal trainer for a two-day learning session. You would think a person who test drives automobiles for a living needs no training, but the BMW PCDS proved that theory incorrect.
Today's automobiles are enhanced with advanced safety and control mechanisms, so as the ever-so-changing needs of drivers escalate, so too must awareness increase on proper driving techniques. BMW recognized this phenomenon and literally took matters into their own hands. The BMW Performance Center Driving School debuted in 1999, and plays host to several varied driver training programs. Available classes range from the M School, New Driver's School and New Driver's Camp, Women-Only Car Control Clinics, One and Two Day Car Control Clinics and Other Roads (off road) Course. The versatility of the facility is conveyed in its ability to fabricate 35 real-world driving environments.
I opted to go through the Two-day Car Control Clinic.
Day one kicked off with an early morning chalkboard session. Among the students were a diverse pool of younger and older drivers who traveled from as far away as St. Louis and Maine, all eager about learning to exploit the serious performance attributes of BMW automobiles. As enthused as they all were about their own BMW's, no personal cars were allowed on the track. All training vehicles were provided by the Performance Center.
Needless to say, the prep session really got us ready for the enlightening driving sessions. Our instructor, Jim Millard, laid down the laws which we were to follow. "Your eyes are the number one sensory tool,” Jim said. "Look to where you want to go.” As he explained, the faster you travel the farther down the road you need to look. Your hands then take you where your eyes want to go. "You have to get your eyes and hands in sync to be a better driver,” Jim further clarified. Other topics such as how to properly use anti-lock brakes were also discussed.
 
 
Then came the fun part. Driving was done mostly in BMW's 330i models. We also did a few laps on the 1.7 mile road course in a 745i, M3, Z4 and 5-Series. Boy did we wear out those Bimmers! Next the group went over the exercises from class for a few hours. There was the wet course to learn more about the limits of anti-lock brakes, a slalom course to practice eye-to-hand coordination, and an autocross course to evaluate the 330i's all-out abilities.
One of the most interesting exercises we completed was a "driving while on the cell-phone” simulation. With the steering wheel in one hand, and a walkie-talkie in the other, we had to constantly try to avoid objects tossed in our path while answering questions from the instructor on the walkie-talkies À a pretty good simulation of using a real cell phone. This "cell-phone” factor had all students crashing in to the objects! Why? Because our perception and attentiveness was distracted by the questions and our maneuverability was limited because we had only one hand on the wheel.
During the latter half of the day one we studied the dynamics of steering. A wet skid-pad was utilized to demonstrate Understeer (the tendency of a vehicle to turn less sharply) and Oversteer (the tendency of the vehicle to turn more than needed). As Jim Millard explained, "tires can only do 100% of one thing. So drivers must learn when, and when not to use braking in a turn. For instance, you don't want to apply too much power going into a corner, you want to apply the power coming out of one. Sharp turns are about patience! ”
Day two was greeted with more excitement, delivered by way of a simulated off-road course with the X5 Sport Activity Vehicle. Up and down hills we went À an opportunity for BMW to showcase the X5's Hill Descent Control (HDC) feature. HDC uses engine compression and selective braking to allow the X5 to crawl slowly down hills with no input from the driver (other than steering).
Our clinic ended with an exciting 8-man relay competition in the Z4. Team two ousted my squad by a half of second. Nevertheless, we all earned a degree from the BMW Advanced Two-Day Car Clinic. You need not be a pro to take on the Performance Center. Every need has an ego to feed, and in this case, that need is about patience and self-confidence--smooth is fast! Call the BMW PCDS at 1-888-345-4BMW for pricing and scheduling.
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