VW Club Driver School Event at Road Atlanta

by: Karen Tyler

BRASELTON, Georgia - The third installment of the VW Club Drivers School was held at Road Atlanta Raceway (www.roadatlanta.com) and nearly 70 cars showed up from as far away as Cleveland, Ohio and Mobile, Alabama. The entire day was reserved for VW Club members only and at the bargain price of $29 to attend. We all had a long but much anticipated day ahead of us as the tech inspection of our VW's started at 7:00am. The primary VW's there were the New Beetle's but there were a few late model and older GTI's, Passat's, Jetta's and Golf's. It was a veritable "Beetlemania" as this was the first time many of us had been around so many other New Beetle's and New Beetle owners. The excitement and giddiness of it all at times seemed overwhelming. We all exclaimed in delight over each other's additions to their stock models. Being a New Beetle owner myself it was great to see some of the things that could and wouldn't be done to mine. 

It didn't matter your skill level or whether you were going to be a racecar driver when you "grew up". We were all welcome to learn, practice, make fools of ourselves and watch others do the same! The school included four different sessions with several instructors including some of the drivers for the New Beetle Cup race. The 60+ cars were separated into four groups and each then starting out at a different session, which we would be rotating throughout during the day. Once we all got to our respective session and parked our VW's we went to a centralized location for teaching about that particular session and a question answer session before we moved on to the actual driving part of the learning experience.

Dynamics of Cornering 
A circuit pylon track was set up in the Road Atlanta parking lot with apex points and "gateways". The point of this exercise was so that as a driver we could learn the proper way to enter a turn, exit a turn, steer and throttle throughout that turn. Very important in this exercise was the ability to understand how a car's weight distribution (transfer) and physics alter the car and its performance through a circuit or turn. This was especially important to me as it was something that I had never heard of or thought of in driving the New Beetle or any car for that matter. Our next step was to actually take our cars out one by one with all the others watching onto the circuit. Not knowing what to do at all and as the third car out I was a little timid. But it's amazing how much better one can handle a car when both hands are properly placed on the steering wheel and the seat is at its proper alignment. Richard Laporte, an endurance racer, and champion of the Quebec Motocross Race as well as other Formula 2000 races decided to take a little ride in Hi Ho Silver (that would be my 2000 New Beetle in Silver) to instruct me on the proper way to enter and exit these turns. These instructors took the time to get in each and every car to make sure that we were doing everything in the correct way as we took about 10 different laps around the circuit with each time getting better and better. I pity the poor guys in the corners of the circuit though that had to stand watch. The rubber on the soles of their shoes must have been worn out by the end of the day from dodging VW's and picking up ran over pylons!

Dynamics of Slalom 
This session was held in the straightaway of the Start/Finish line of the track. Approximately 8 cones were lined up in a straight line at about a car and a half-length distance from each other and then another eight cones staggered at different widths. As your car slowly slalomed through each cone the object was to not hit one and to learn what the car feels like as it is transferring its weight from side to side. With each run through we were instructed to go faster but not to ride the brakes. Simply letting off the throttle at the proper times in addition to accurate and steady steering was essential to doing this properly. 

Emergency Lane Change and Accident Avoidance 
The Emergency Lane Change section was the first of two sections in what I call the "thriller" of the four sessions. Pairs of cones were lined up approximately a cars width apart for about 30 yards with then an immediate shift to the left for another 30 yards forming an intense turn involving two ninety-degree angles. The theory was that it was simulating a box falling off of the back of a moving truck in front of you causing you to make an immediate lane change to the left. Of course this theory didn't account for the probability that there may be no lane to the left or if there is there might be a car in it but that's beside the point. We all started at a speed of 35 mph to test that part of the track and to learn what an abrupt change it was and how to do it with out spinning out by applying too much brake pressure. Of course there was one German in a dark colored Jetta that caused us much amusement as he churned up the brake dust doing spins and sent cones flying.

The accident avoidance section was next and the most fun of all. Another lane of about 30 yards was set up and at the end of it widened to a "Y" formation of cones. At the juncture of that "Y" was a lighted arrow that would instruct us to go to the left or right depending on the whim of the instructor who stood just to the left. We were supposed to imagine that a family of four (impersonating cones) jumped out into the road right in front of us literally making us turn left or right at 40 mph to avoid annihilating the family with our beautiful VW's. Anticipation of the arrow and braking at the juncture was not to be done until the arrow lit up. Some of us went the opposite of the arrow. Some of us almost drove over the lighted arrow. Some of us are clearly cone killers and that same funny German almost took out an instructor. But we all know what to do in case something jumps out in front of us. The instinct is to brake instantly which means you will skid into the family. Going right or left then braking might mean busting up a tree or car or two but you have saved the family, which I am sure they are eternally grateful.

Sports Vision by Dr. John Peroff
Visual training of athletes and sports vision is Dr. Peroff's specialty. His key thought of the day to us as drivers was to learn to train our eyes for highway speed. Activities were set up during this session to test all of our hand-to-eye coordination, reaction times, response speed, depth perception and visual acuity. Having all of these qualities at a premium is excellent advice to a driver of normal cars and racecars. We easily caught his enthusiasm towards the process of making better vision for drivers. Immediately each activity was tested and tried by us to see if our vision was as good as we thought it was. He also stressed that doctors sometimes forget that we can have better vision than 20/20 if we just ask them to prescribe that kind of lens or contacts for us. Being visually aware of our surroundings as we drive is much more important to us that how cool we look in our cars with improper seating, one hand on the wheel and a zoo going on in the back seat. It is these visual and physical impairments that make us a danger on the roads.

The end of this VW Drivers School meant all participants received a VW Driver's School certificate that included a picture of you inside your car in a frame suitable for hanging. We also received a "goodie" bag that included a VW inflatable picture frame, road atlas, CD holder and license plate frame. I also won one of 5 pairs of tickets for the New Beetle Cup also held at Road Atlanta. If you have an opportunity to attend the Vegas school I would encourage you to do so. Personally, my driving record could have used this school a few years ago and I am constantly aware now that in order to protect others and myself the skills I learned are very important.