[BeEmVe]

A mini review and some questions. Since we got our BMW X1 buggy my wife and I have wanted to to learn to drive it better. Locally nothing around Salt Lake seemed to pan out so we recently attended the Two Day Car Control school in Thermal, CA.

The first day was spent doing a slalom course, panic braking, single lane change, wet skidding, the next day more slalom, more braking, double lane changes, more wet skid pad, oh and we did a few timed laps. All of this was done in either a 340i or an M235i except for some time laps which were in a M3. We also drove some of the X4/X5/X6 vehicles which gave a good feel for power vs braking distance.

All in all it was good fun and we learned some good things about driving in general like re-enforcing steering, looking ahead, looking where you want to go, gaps, etc. I would certainly recommend the school - especially for those without local resources.

Which really brings me to a question. The school gave us a taste on being better (more precise) drivers. I am already trying put some of that into practice (old habits die hard).

Though we have a local motor sports park events like what we did seem to be few and far between. Short of attending the school again (which some in our class were doing) what do folks to do to work on their skills?

[SD ///M4]

Some BMW CCA chapters put on a Car Control Clinic which teaches skills similar to what you learned in the Car Control Clinic at Performance Center West. These are done in your car in a large parking lot.

Here's the link to your local BMW CCA Chapter, the Wasatch Chapter: http://www.wasatchbmwcca.org/. I'd suggest that you contact them to see if their chapter or possibly another chapter in Utah offers the Car Control Clinic.

Another suggestion would be to do an autocross, although your X1 isn't particularly suited for autocrossing.