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Skip Barber, worth it?

wooflepoof

wooflepoof

WoofleDay
Joined
Jul 18, 2005
Messages
5,050
Location
Los Angeles
Car(s)
Genesis Sedan 3.8
Im sure you've heard of the Skip Barber Racing School or at least you Americans (www.skipbarber.com/). But has any of you actually taken a course tehre, i'm thinking about it but 2k is alot of money so im wondering if it would be totally worth it. I've read their book which is fantastic; its actually helped me lover my GT4 times by about 15 seconds to a minute on average.
 
IMO, it can't be worth that much.

I'm sure you'd learn as much from let's say... 2 or 3 classes of BMW driving school.

You don't need Vipers and single seaters to learn, and that's what makes SB so expensive.
 
All the people that went said it was worth the money they payed, so basicaly you get what you pay for.
They say that the coaches were all nice and they did learn a lot from it but the bottom line was always...2,000...are you willing to spend it?

EDIT: however if u have a lot of money laying around....try Speed Secrets...they are even better then skippy
http://www.speed-secrets.com/
 
Two questions:
Are both Skip Barber and BMW schools SCCA certified? I.E. can they go toward a Competition License?*

How much does the BMW school cost? I'd love to go there and give the M's a fling. :drool:

*Probably showing off my blatant ignorance/stupidity here.
 
Well i dont have 2k to blow, but if it'd be a good experience i'll be willing to spend it(still have to save up a couple hundred that would otherwise be used as spending money when i go to europe next summer.
 
BlaRo said:
Two questions:
Are both Skip Barber and BMW schools SCCA certified? I.E. can they go toward a Competition License?*

How much does the BMW school cost? I'd love to go there and give the M's a fling. :drool:

*Probably showing off my blatant ignorance/stupidity here.
Click to expand...

price and info there:

http://www.bmw.ca/drivertraining/dt_fs.asp?lang=en


Seems much better than what they offer in USA (complete lack of information!)
 
Well it says there Speed Secrets is 6 grand and thats just out of my price range but it looks like i could do SB and get something out of it. BMW looks really tempting but i'd want to do up to the Fascination II course, which addded up would cost me an awful lot of money.
 
i am looking into these racing schools and my plan
is to go to montreal and spend 3grand for 3 days of
formula driving

skip barber is overpriced and not enough driving hours...
 
wooflepoof said:
Well it says there Speed Secrets is 6 grand and thats just out of my price range but it looks like i could do SB and get something out of it. BMW looks really tempting but i'd want to do up to the Fascination II course, which addded up would cost me an awful lot of money.
Click to expand...

Go up to perfection, it lets you drive the M3.
 
Wow, that 2 day M3 thing costs a lot... Its only 1095 Euro in Germany...

And the 1 day M3 on the Nordschleife is 795 Euros... ;-)

Buba
 
On September 11 I'm taking the Advanced I Course for BMW Driver Training and I'll work my way through it. I think it will be worth it.
 
wooflepoof said:
Well it says there Speed Secrets is 6 grand and thats just out of my price range but it looks like i could do SB and get something out of it. BMW looks really tempting but i'd want to do up to the Fascination II course, which addded up would cost me an awful lot of money.
Click to expand...

accutally if you can, i recomned a shifter kart rental/class for a day just as a cheap sample to the skippy class. (they run around 300 a day)

i went just yesterday and drove a direct drive ICA kart for one day and its extremely fast. the one i drove had around 35hp and no gears and i was doing 60-70+mph down a short strait and the corners were crazy, step on the gas early and u get power oversteer right away. Also, think 3gs or more cornering, depending on how good you are. Just think about it..35hp with under 300lbs to carry...thats crazy power-to-weight ratio. ;) And shifters are even faster with upwards of 40hp and 6 gears for better acclelration (but they require a lot more driver skill, i was chasing down shifters the entire day with my ICA because the people in shifters were not quite there yet ;) )
 
Haha... Funny to pay money for that, a friend of mine has a cart of his own with more than 30 hp.... ;-)

Buba
 
Buba said:
Haha... Funny to pay money for that, a friend of mine has a cart of his own with more than 30 hp.... ;-)

Buba
Click to expand...
well he had to go buy it didnt he? :p

a competitive kart (non-shifter) runs around four to five thousand and a competitive shifter can run for up to ten thousand :? :cry:
 
BlaRo said:
Two questions:
Are both Skip Barber and BMW schools SCCA certified? I.E. can they go toward a Competition License?*

How much does the BMW school cost? I'd love to go there and give the M's a fling. :drool:

*Probably showing off my blatant ignorance/stupidity here.
Click to expand...

I do believe that Skip Barber does count toward your Competition License. I was looking into the SCCA awhile back and I think I saw something about it in there (I still need to get hooked up with the central FL chapter so I can start taking my car to Solo II meets)
 
p0w3r said:
Buba said:
Haha... Funny to pay money for that, a friend of mine has a cart of his own with more than 30 hp.... ;-)

Buba
Click to expand...
well he had to go buy it didnt he? :p

a competitive kart (non-shifter) runs around four to five thousand and a competitive shifter can run for up to ten thousand :? :cry:
Click to expand...

You got a very good point there, but it wasn't me who had to pay for it... ;-)

And I think that 5000 bucks (4000 Euros, which I guess this thing had cost...) aren't that much for a hobby... They have it at a cart track, and drive quite often (he, his brother and dad...) so the money is well spent, IMO...
 
Buba said:
p0w3r said:
Buba said:
Haha... Funny to pay money for that, a friend of mine has a cart of his own with more than 30 hp.... ;-)

Buba
Click to expand...
well he had to go buy it didnt he? :p

a competitive kart (non-shifter) runs around four to five thousand and a competitive shifter can run for up to ten thousand :? :cry:
Click to expand...

You got a very good point there, but it wasn't me who had to pay for it... ;-)

And I think that 5000 bucks (4000 Euros, which I guess this thing had cost...) aren't that much for a hobby... They have it at a cart track, and drive quite often (he, his brother and dad...) so the money is well spent, IMO...
Click to expand...

I was once very close to buy a used one for 2500?. It had a motocross bike engine/gearbox, so it was a pretty strong setup. A friend of mine has one that can reach 150+ kph, iirc. A 125cc six shifter. His brother has a 100cc non-shifter.
 
^but u always have to factor in the maintiance costs, especialy for the used one. The one i drove broke down in the middle of a pratice session, but luckily it was a minor thing (the screws holding the carb came off). But im thinking, with this happening so easily, wat are the chances of something big? :?
 
p0w3r said:
^but u always have to factor in the maintiance costs, especialy for the used one. The one i drove broke down in the middle of a pratice session, but luckily it was a minor thing (the screws holding the carb came off). But im thinking, with this happening so easily, wat are the chances of something big? :?
Click to expand...

He can't use the kart too many times without taking it to the mechanic.
A set of (used) tires usually last for about 8~10 afternoons. But it is such a blast, as you noticed yourself. Power oversteer in every corner. Makes it seem easy to control...
 
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