WRX300MAN

Hello once again worthy followers of the Scoobynet!

Check this . .On Friday had a Road Driving and Car Controll course in my Scooby with none other than Don Palmer! (www.donpalmer.co.uk) . . . .. He was actually very kind to throw in the Car Controll course in for free as I leaned how to drive on the way to the venue! I found Don to be a thoroughly nice bloke and for sure a very capable instructor, as my tires were screeching at near enough 100 mph (on the race track) . . .

The only thing that he did raise is that he finds the Evo a more capable car on the assault course!, and when I threatened to expose him on Scoobynet he insisted I do it!

Was just wondering if anyone else has ever tried him and what did you think at the end of the day??

Personally speking , I felt I walked away as a better driver and quite embarassingly spun out on to the grass with two passengers in the car . .But road driving, safe overtaking and for sheer elegance of driving turns motoring in to a more pleasant experince! And Jeez, Its quite possible to lose controll in a Scoob without trying too hard!

Anyhow has anyone else tried using him and what did you think????

Disclaimer: I am not payed by him, just plain curious for some feed back . .

p.P.S . . .Also found the Potenza's very capable!

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Off to Brunters with him tomorrow!

See what he makes of the new Spec C - in effect Evo by Subaru

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Over the last 5 years on scoobynet I've heard nothing but praise about Don Palmer Tution. He is the best thing since sliced Bread when it comes to Driver Training

You guys would get better performnace by spending £500 with Don than £1500 on performance Mods. IMHO But I'm probably past redemption, got too many bad habbits and far too old to be saved

Although he's not cheap and always heavily booked you won't regret doing it. Andy Walsh from 1stLotus is also another very good instructor.

IMHO IIRC etc

Tony

corradoboy

Not been out with Don (although am considering it) but I agree with the sentiment of Tony's post above. I had a days tuition with a Police class 1 pursuit driver last year and there is no way throwing money at performance mods on my car could have ever realised more speed. Suspension and chassis mods are often worthwhile, but IMHO the Scoob has enough power when in the hands of a driver who can use it properly. I think many people use extreme power to make up for shortfalls that they're probably not even aware of, and may have difficulty admitting anyway. My measily 265bhp has proved more than a match against many much more powerful machines in real world road driving. As the old adage goes, "Power is nothing without control", whether it's the drivers ability to control the car, or the controllability of a well sorted chassis. The next greatest performance advantage is knowlege of the road, although this can lead to overconfidence.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Just for information when I contacted him he gave me four dates within two weeks of wanting to do it - so not too heavily booked

WRX300MAN

You are obviously doing the car controll course . . .Let him take the Scoob for a high speed run, and hang on to your seat as he gets the tires screeching at aroung 120 MPH! Left me with a big smile . . Hope you enjoy it!

Fat Boy

Did his course at Brunthingthorpe a few years ago with my P1, a mates TVR Chimaera 5 litre and another guy's 911 Turbo S. Fantastic day, learnt loads and had a lot of fun. Just the ride back from the pub and around the circuit 4 up in Don's old M5 was worth the entry fee He's eccentric but knows his stuff.

We all swapped around cars (which was very trusting of the porker owner) which made it even more interesting, but the highlight was watching Don getting into a strange car and instantly doing what you had been trying to do for ages and then getting you to do it. Two of the personal highlights were me catching the TVR in a lengthy high speed opposite lock moment - Don didn't twitch as we got very sideways and I caught it and held it, he just said "There, I knew you could drive.." (which says a lot about how pants I was the rest of the day - overdriving mainly), and the 911 owner giving me - a person completely unknown to him - the keys to his £108K second hand tricked up 911 (430 bhp/ 450ft lb) and allowing me out on track with Don in it. As we were leaving the pits I had the window down and was saying to the owner, "don't worry, I'll take it easy" - I wound the window up and Don said "Bollocks to that, nail it!!" The look on the owners face on the first lap as we honk down the half straight of the training circuit at about 165mph is priceless - the TVR owner videoed him while we were going around. If he has still got I'll put it up on here.

I would recommend Don highly and have done on here many times.

Love to hear your and his impressions Rannoch

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Thanks but I have just visited Litchfields and no money left

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Some interesting reflections on the day.

Three cars attending 911 GT3 Mk II, BMW M3 Cab (current shape), Spec C.

We all go out with Don driving in the Spec C first. Excellent. Don asks a lot about the car as he is not aware that he has been in one before (unlikely as it is an MY06).

He certainly drives it in way I want to drive it and do not believe that I can!!

I get to drive - go hard - no matter what I do the time sticks at 50s.

Go out in M3 with traction off!! What a hoot. Slower than the Spec C all around, but a fun track car.

Watch the 911 go around - and then get to passenger with Don driving. A truly remarkable car fully worthy of it's reputation.

Anyway - to cut a long story shorter.

By the third session my driving feels completely different. Much less overdriving - which is pretty typical of Subarus.

My lap times have come down over ten percent! That is a huge margin - there is no other mod I can think of that would improve a lap time by so much. Even adding AP 6pots to my Classic was not that close.

Overall an excellent day out with an excellent coach.

Highly recommended.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

PS To respond to an earlier question Don thought that the Spec C was the best Scoob he had driven by some way - especially turn-in and the diff set up.

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I wonder what he'd of made of the T25 WR V-Limited

BTW I went to by a MY03 spec C and ended up buying a MY06 Sti JDM look like the Kitchen will have to wait till next year

Tony

warrenm2

Taking it to coombe?

Fat Boy

Good review and basically backs up my experience of taking 4 seconds off over the day.

The 911 on my day was a second slower round the short track than my P1 with me driving both (but it's a much heavier beast than a GT3 and obviously I'm far more familiar with my car) but on the long track or any more open track then I wouldn't have sniffed which way it had gone

Agree re M3s as well, basically slower on track but a lot of fun - you just can't beat RWD as per the TVR.

Very jealous re go in GT3 ( oh and your spec c !)

It's quite an eye opener with Don isn't it as he looks like someone's geography teacher and then he jumps in your car and makes it go in a way that is initially very hard to grasp....

Trout

iTrader: (1)

GT3 is about 10s faster around the 'Ring than the Spec C - so still pretty close.

Scoob would be faster with less talent as the 911 bites

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Yes and have a session booked Hopefully no problems this time at T5NYW corner, ooops I mean Camp corner LOL would be a shame to be the first to write off a MY06

I'll try and get used to driving the Newage first but will book a Day with him where abouts does he do the Training. I'm SW Midlands ??

Tony

WRX300MAN

I would like to pespond to that if I may . . . It appears you did a track day with Don, where as I was doing the Creative Car controll for the first time . . .He may have thought you had the best Scoob, (as he drove my completely standard WRX300 the day before . . .

However . . .Did he compare it to the Evo . . .I am only asking, not because I want to rain on yr parade, but because I am still a fairly new to Scooby's and not sure what a spec C is . . .

p.s . . .But what really put a smile on my face is when he said that every AMG Merc under the sun is Crap! LOL

Fat Boy

I'm sure the GT3 can bite - the turbo S I drove was 4wd and pretty stable despite all the grunt. However I have done about 30 laps around Brands GP circuit driving a 2003 full on 911 supercup car which was an experience to rank up there with the Gt3 I would guess, even though the supercup car would be less powerful. Either way, I would sell my granny for any one of the 3

Trout

iTrader: (1)

What?

I was doing the limit handling/creative car control course with Don - the same one you did at Bruntingthorpe on Friday - indeed I could see the furrows you ploughed through the infield. It was not a track day at all and I am not sure why you thought it was.

I have no idea why my parade might be rained on or even how that may interest me. I am merely commenting on what he said.

He thought the GT3 was an outstanding car genuinely fast, a real supercar. He commented that Spec C Subaru surprised him compared to other Subarus, thought it had a very responsive turn in, fantastic grip and really fun handling. He thought the M3 was slow but fun

Interestingly with us amateurs at the helm the Scoob was by far the fastest. Which is probably why we all buy them to mask our lack of talent

Oddly we didn't feel the need to discuss Evos at all - we were having so much fun in the cars we had on the day and how we were going to drive them.

If you are concerned that your car is not as good as an Evo then I suggest you either change your mind or go and buy and Evo.

I am happy with the car I have and I really enjoyed learning how to do a 100m powerslide at 100mph

WRX300MAN

Hello Again . . .

Hope you found my furrows just as amusing as I did making them! My wheels still have mud caked on them!

No . .It just we weren't timing ourselves, thats why I presumed you were doing track training with him! At the end of my day, had no idea which was quicker - me or the Elise . . Anyhow . .Glad you enjoyed the day . . And, no . . Couldn't swap my Scooby for an Evo! . . . But Evos aside, the reason I brought this up , is because Don claimed an Evo (handling wise) could take the first set of cones at 100+ mph . . .Errrm . .Abt 90= I could manage . .Anything over i felt you need ***** like planets or a non standard suspension set up

The reason why I'm curious abt yr Spec C is coz I never heard of it . . But evos . .Who cares . . Scooby's king!!

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Don was doing the timing as a reference point. He only shared the timing of me going in the Scoob for some reason. It may simply have been the other two guys had less track experience and were a little slower.

I am sure the Evo could do the lane change at 100mph - so did the Scoob and the GT3 when Don was driving. I managed 95 entry and 85 exit - that was right on my limit - but when it was right it felt as wide as you needed.

http://litimports.co.uk/subaru_06specc.asp

WRX300MAN

Oh yes. . .I do like yr Spec C . . What you said was true . .Don could probably take the set of cones at 100+ . . . .

In any event, I will go and do the advanced car controll at some stage in the future ( when I can afford a new set of tyres ) . .

The only thing I can add is that all the power slides and over steers aside ( and spinning out on to the grass), I found his road driving course just as fullfilling and in some respects even more fun . . I felt that his genious could truly be felt in his road driving . . And to some extent you will apply the skills you learned in Car controll to yr road driving . . .

Enjoy!

p.s . . . Just out of interest . .How did yr tyres do??Will you, just like me - be requiring a new set in the near future???