I am considering doing a 2d Evo autocross school vs 2d BMW track driving school. I have 25 track track days so far over a 6yr time frame with no autocross experience. I am not interested in racing or doing autocross competitively. I am wondering which of these will translate more into improving my driving skills?? The track days in my experience are variable in terms of my learning experience. Sometimes I am more on or have a great instructor and improve. Other times this does not happen. I was thinking that slowing things down via autocross could help me work more on car control?? Any thoughts are much appreciated.

 

I autocrossed for a number of years before my first track days. My first impression of track driving was that things took an eternity to execute compared to autocross. Autocross happens so much quicker and to me was a greater aid as far as improving my driving skill because it has to become second nature much like dealing with an unexpected situation on the road. I find track driving to more calculated and deliberate. That being said the speed of track driving along with the much greater seat time makes it much more of a thrilling day for me than autocross. I will continue to do both as in a lot of ways they compliment different aspects of driving. It is great to have a car that can be really enjoyed in multiple venues!!

 

You'll get more applicable knowledge from an autocross in my opinion.

The percentage of time spent at street/highway legal speeds on a road race track is so small, that the bang for buck (for street driving skills) is better spent on autox in my experience.

If anything, autox will speed things up. lots of hustle and bustle! just like the street.

 

Autocross will definitely sharpen your skills. There seems to be more technique involved to me plus its so cheap to do. I've always enjoyed riding with other people too during autocrosses. Try it.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am going to give it a try. I hope I will be able to work on my car control skills at a more moderate speed to help improve my driving both on the road and track.

 

The speeds are slower for sure, but the turns come up 10X faster. A 1.5 mile autocross may have 60-90 turns in it and some at highway speeds. You can learn how to handle your car at the very edge without worry of hitting solid objects (depending on course design). You can even drive over the limit and learn how to bring it back.

 

AX is very valuable for learning car control. The only caveat, and it's a very minor one, is that you tend to have to deal primarily with understeer (sharper turns, slower speeds, more steering angle) in an AX and oversteer (less steering angle, much more speed) at the track.

 

Agreed.

Given the OP has a lot of track experience already, I think it's good to try AX. It's cheap and requires minimal prep.

I personally dont enjoy AX much. It's a lot of waiting for 2 mins of run. At least on track you stay out 15-20mins each run session.

 

I don't care for autocross myself. It's great to explore the limits of your car's handling and find out where the edges are but: working for three hours for three minutes track time is, for me, a waste of my time - well maybe not a waste but certainly heavy on investment but short on return. I'd rather spend the day at a DE. Also I find autocross to be more of an obstacle course than a race track. Compressing a track down to autocross size has its limitations in comparison to a full size track.

And then there is the goofy hat guy - you've probably seen him: go to any club meeting, doesn't matter what kind of club, and there is always one guy, usually a real character, who wears a goofy hat that he got from who knows where...