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CAR CONTROL CLINIC

Supported by the White Mountain Chapter

Chairperson: Bruce Smith

Our Car Control Clinic is a non-competitive event intended to allow drivers to experience the attributes of car control at and beyond the limit, in a safe and controlled environment. The Clinic will help you improve your driving skills while learning about car dynamics. The Clinics dual purpose is to prepare students for our high-performance driving schools plus teach skills useful in everyday driving situations. The school is held in a large parking lot, using plastic cones, to provide a safe learning environment for these low-to-moderate-speed maneuvers.

The day begins with a "chalk talk," where our expert instructors explain about vehicle dynamics, the techniques students will be taught, and summarize the exercises for the day. Discussion will include vehicle dynamics (acceleration/brake/turn), tire performance, driver inputs and responses, and management of the process.

Then students will perform a series of exercises to demonstrate the elements of the lecture in the car, permitting participants a direct connection to the discussion, with real-world feedback. These exercises include braking exercises, which allow students to learn braking with ABS, threshold braking, braking and turning, and one and two lane emergency lane changes. These life-saving accident avoidance maneuvers prepare students for numerous real-world situations.

Students will also spend time on our skid pad and figure-eight course, learning about understeer, oversteer, steering with the throttle, secondary effects, "the line," and power-slides. These basic building blocks are key to learning how to bring you car under control, when the unexpected happens. Each element is isolated in the exercise to make the lesson as direct as possible

At the end of the day, the students get to put together all the skills that they have learned, through numerous fun-filled runs through our autocross course. Students demonstrate braking while turning, inducing rotation, countering oversteer, and other techniques by navigating through a challenging course. The goal is to remove misconceptions, and promote confidence and understanding of what the car and driver are capable of accomplishing, as well as understanding and respect for the limits of car control.

Although this is not a racing school, you will learn to drive your car better at its limits, and increase your ability to brake, corner, and accelerate quickly and precisely without losing control of your car—skills that can be life-saving in an emergency. We emphasize skills and knowledge to make better drivers—on the course, and on the road.

TO PARTICIPATE

You must be a licensed driver to participate.

Your car must be in sound mechanical condition (if you drove a couple hundred miles to O’fest—you should be good to go) with competent seatbelts for the driver and front seat passenger (your coach).

Check the air pressure in your tires. Pressures should each be increased to two pounds more than that recommended in your owner’s manual, or listed on the plate on the driver’s door frame. (Check pressures when the tires are “cold.”)
You will need to remove all “loose stuff” from your car prior to doing the driving exercises. (Floor mats, garage door openers, CD holders, loose change, etc.) Your best bet is, while you are still at your hotel, to remove all the stuff you won’t need during the drive there and back. Bring a Rubbermaid Roughneck or plastic garbage bag to protect the remainder of your glove box contents and “trunk junk” from any rain—which may decide to fall.

You will not need a helmet.

We run rain or shine—bring rain gear, sunglasses, a hat, etc. We’ll be outside for most of the day—so plan for the worst.