Revenent

I remember reading in an Acura Canada dealership that there were these courses where Acura engineers and trained drivers came out and taught Acura owners how to take advantage of their vehicles.

I think it was in Abbotsford, and was on a track. I remember seeing a picture of a NSX doing turns on the track.

Anything like that in the Seattle area?

(Hoping to get a TSX in the very near future. Assuming the dealership will cut me some slack and give me the price I want.)

Thanks!

D_Nyholm

I am not too sure about Acura doing that, but you can contact your local SCCA and learn n=how to autocross. It is a very safe environment and a lot of fun for the day. I guarantee that you would love it.

gilboman

you can goto BMW's driving school.

bob shiftright

Suggest Skip Barber. I'd avoid a school where I need to use my own car. Besides, someone else's 450hp Viper is a lot more fun to try a 540-degree spin than your TSX.

Skip Barber

tsxer.ca

When and where in canada you read the Acura "Driving Courses". i'm in toronto, i have see nothing about Acura "Driving Courses".

Dan Martin

I don't think they offer it to the public but my Dad attended the last one they had at Mosport. It was a promotional event where they "randomly" drew names of people that had bought a new TL within a 3 month period. My Dad bought 6 TLs (one for each of his district managers) and the dealer just gave him a spot in the school as a bonus. Apparently the school was really well run. They brought in a car carrier of Type-S cars (RSX, CL and TL) and gave them a full day at Mosport with instructors. Since it was a promotional event, the marketing staff for Acura Canada attended.

ricecake

Since Honda sponsors the Mid-Ohio School (which is obviously based at the Mid-Ohio Raceway, relatively close to Honda's Marysville plant), the school has the RSX Type S and Civic as its training cars:
http://www.midohio.com/school/cars/

I think there are a range of different courses. Also, it wouldn't be surprising if they had some of the types of courses you were talking about at Mid-Ohio, since I believe that they use the track as testing grounds for models. hope this helps.

Revenent

Thanks for all the responses.

In regards to those who suggested things like BMW driving schools and other similar things, the whole point was for you to drive your own car and learn to handle it better.

Thus, taking a BMW driving school would be somewhat pointless since a lot of the more exacting skills would require your own car's fundamental handling characteristics.

But thanks for the suggestions anyways.

I'll have to hunt up that magazine. I know I have it in the apartment somewhere.

D_Nyholm

THat is another reason to check out your local SCCA. YOu may be surprised what they have to offer. It isn't really that much wear and tear on your car and you will learn YOUR car so much more than you ever could on the street. If you can't find anything, I suggest you at least attend an SCCA event as a spectator to get an idea of what they have to offer.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

I have attended a driving school at the local track a few years ago. Let me tell ya, using your own car is the best way to learn. It's a little pricey but well worth it. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's serious about driving.

http://www.proformanceraceschool.com/

Dan Martin

<--------------------- Notice the M3 in the avatar



I've done level 1 & 2 of the BMW driving school and can honestly say it is outstanding value for money. The fundamentals of car control can easily be adapted from the bimmers to our TSX. VSA is very similar to DSC and the ABS feels almost identical. When it's not your car you can feel free to try things you wouldn't want to do in your car.

Revenent

I knew I had the magazine somewhere. It was in expressions: Inspired by Acura's spring/summer 2003 edition. I picked it up when I was browsing through a Richmond, BC Acura dealership.

It's called the "Acura Performance Experience" and it was in Mission Raceway, in the Vancouver area.

According to the magazine, that was the second (at that time) VIP driving event put out by Acura of Canada (doh!), the first being in Toronto.

I don't have a colour scanner, else I would scan the article in. If anybody wants, I could spend the 30 or so minutes typing in the entire article - dunno if it'll be a violation or anything of the forum rules.

But if you're living in Canada, you might want to send out some feelers about this event. It's nearing spring time, so they might run it again.

Revenent

Just hunted around - Toronto's even was back in late May. Some people didn't even get invites until mid May.

Also, some people had to pay $100, while others had their invites paid by the dealership.

If you're living in either Toronto or Vancouver, now would probably be a good time to start bugging the dealerships. See if you can get an invite (and get pictures for us!).

tsxer.ca

"Acura Performance Experience" course.. you must have dealer invitation.. not some thing you can sigh up..

kurt_bradley

You can do one of 2 things: Go to Bondurant, like I did (twice) and get a serious education in driving (that isn't cheap...far from it). Or you can come down to Austin, hang out with me for about 2 days, feed me, and I'll teach you everything I know. Though I don't issue certificates for my instruction, I'll teach you how to do cool things with normal cars. It's fun to do that on test drives when people really want to see what the car has.

Side note: I have 5 years experience with SCCA (in auto-x and pro racing), a few local titles with our local auto-x chapter, a pair of certificates from Bondurant (one for the completetion of their primary course "High Performance Driving" and also for "Advanced Road Racing," nothing to lose when it comes to driving on the edge (no kids, and Ami likes the way I drive), and just happen to like driving a whole lot.

www.bondurant.com

They're my favorite mod to any car I've driven. If that isn't an endorsement, I don't know what is.

Revenent

Lemme see... *Fires up Street & Trips...*

Seattle to Austin - total miles: 2382.8 miles (4 days, 5 hours, 9 minutes).

Car being used: Acura TSX 5AT w/ < 50 miles.

Result: Ummmmm - thanks for the offer, but I think I'll have to decline.

TSXautoXer

Try this:
http://www.autocross.com/evolution/

It will be in Seattle this July I think, check the calendar, and it suppose to be a very good training in driver's skill.

kurt_bradley

That's not that long of a drive. :P I was being fecicious anyway from the start. Though I have no problem giving someone a little in-car instruction. Best of luck in your quest to become a more complete driver. It is a fun process.

Revenent

He he he - I figured as much, but I thought it'd be rude to leave an offer like that dangling.

And yes, I definitely want to learn to be a more complete driver. I also need to learn to be a better car maintainer. First car and all that.

35kcdn

This event was In Calgary last Summer. I was invited and actually posted here, but can't link it to here.

Anyways do a search under my name or Canada West Forum and you'll see. Unfortunately they hosted it on a long week-end and I had other plans