Many car enthusiasts dream about pushing their car to its limits on a racetrack, but there's a lot you need to know before you can get to that point. Luckily, there are several performance driving schools around the country where you can learn. Motor Trend was recently invited to experience one of them: the Ford Performance Racing School just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Formerly known simply as Ford Racing School, the name changed when Ford consolidated its many performance brands, including Ford Racing and SVT, into one global Ford Performance identity. Although the name is different, the school still operates out of Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, roughly 30 minutes from Salt Lake. Yes, the track that recently announced it's closing. (More on that later.) I was enrolled in the two-day Performance School, which uses modified 2015 Ford Mustang GT coupes. Students also have the option of upgrading to higher-spec, last-gen Boss 302 Mustangs, which are essentially full-blown race cars.
The first day started off as most driving schools do: in the classroom. I was fortunate enough to be in a small group of just three students my first day. With two instructors, we were able to work nearly one-on-one in most exercises. After about 30 minutes of going over the basics of car control, weight transfer, and the racing line, we donned our fire suits and open-face helmets and left the classroom for our first in-car lesson. The first exercise didn't involve the Mustangs; instead we were in a beat-up old Ford Fusion. Known as a "skid car," the Fusion features a set of training wheels and a hydraulically controlled suspension that allows the instructor to raise or lower one part of the vehicle in order to simulate understeer or oversteer. Correcting understeer is mostly about patience. You slow the car down, take out some steering, and steer back into the turn once you feel the car starting to regain front grip. Having gone through the Bob Bondurant school previously, I had some experience with the skid car already. But that didn't prepare me for the oversteer half of the exercise, seeing as I kept spinning out with the rear lifted. Eventually I got the hang of it, but a lot of it is seat-of-the-pants feel and intuition, which is hard to learn in a day. One fellow student, a native Utahan, had the countersteering down pat thanks in large part to his experience driving in the snow. The two Californians had a harder time mastering the art of the slide.
More on Motortrend.com:
We Hear: 2016 Ford Shelby GT350 Priced at $49,995
Formerly known simply as Ford Racing School, the name changed when Ford consolidated its many performance brands, including Ford Racing and SVT, into one global Ford Performance identity. Although the name is different, the school still operates out of Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, roughly 30 minutes from Salt Lake. Yes, the track that recently announced it's closing. (More on that later.) I was enrolled in the two-day Performance School, which uses modified 2015 Ford Mustang GT coupes. Students also have the option of upgrading to higher-spec, last-gen Boss 302 Mustangs, which are essentially full-blown race cars.
The first day started off as most driving schools do: in the classroom. I was fortunate enough to be in a small group of just three students my first day. With two instructors, we were able to work nearly one-on-one in most exercises. After about 30 minutes of going over the basics of car control, weight transfer, and the racing line, we donned our fire suits and open-face helmets and left the classroom for our first in-car lesson. The first exercise didn't involve the Mustangs; instead we were in a beat-up old Ford Fusion. Known as a "skid car," the Fusion features a set of training wheels and a hydraulically controlled suspension that allows the instructor to raise or lower one part of the vehicle in order to simulate understeer or oversteer. Correcting understeer is mostly about patience. You slow the car down, take out some steering, and steer back into the turn once you feel the car starting to regain front grip. Having gone through the Bob Bondurant school previously, I had some experience with the skid car already. But that didn't prepare me for the oversteer half of the exercise, seeing as I kept spinning out with the rear lifted. Eventually I got the hang of it, but a lot of it is seat-of-the-pants feel and intuition, which is hard to learn in a day. One fellow student, a native Utahan, had the countersteering down pat thanks in large part to his experience driving in the snow. The two Californians had a harder time mastering the art of the slide.
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