driving course

[jct_4628]

Is there anytype of driving course around here? I want to take my car out and get a feel for what it can do, and learn how to more agressivly and better drive my car. Any ideas?

[dubbsy]

best you can do around here is AutoX at the dome when that time comes. There are also events scheduled in Grand Forks and a few other places in ND.

To get to an actual full course you'll have to go to Brainerd or Mid America for the closest options (Nebraska/Iowa border) and will be looking at quite a bit to run.

For a happy medium, there is the DOT track in St Cloud however IIRC they will no longer be running AutoX there due to a substantial increase in costs (atleast one of the groups won't be running there). I believe there is another similar setup down in Bloomington but last I read into any of that was early last year.

So, you'll have to wait for either an AutoX day (parking lot cone dodgers or the setup in Bloomington) or an open track day (Brainerd or MAM).

only actual 'performance driving class' I know of right now is the Performance Driving Experience which will be at MAM this year. I'm sure there are a few more, but I'm not sure how many use your own car (PDE does).

[King Ricer]

there wont be an auto x at the dome this year. they said it has something do with the parking lot being really crappy. Here is the run down for the autox this year:
2006 Autocross summer schedule is as follows
Apr 15 in GF
Apr 30 in GF
May 13 or 14 in Minot
May 27 in GF
June 10 or 11 In Bismark
June 24 in GF
July 8 in GF
July 22 in GF
Aug 5 in Bismark(members only?)
Aug 19 in GF
Sep 2-3 in Minot(motor Magic)
Sep 16 in GF
Sep 30? in Bismark

Prices are 20 for scca members and 30 with out Scca membership.
Cash Only
Memberships will pay for themselves over the summer

[Guest]

To clarify what Dubbsy has already posted:

MHSC in St Cloud was shut down due to a REALLY bad decision from Charlie at AARRF to cut the lock on the gate because the MNDOT staff were an hour late at arriving. Rumor has it that certain other groups are looking into leasing it, maybe even this summer.

Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount also has a track that is sometimes leased by the Corvette/Porsche clubs.

Other than that you are going to have to travel to Brainerd or Mid-America Motorplex. Both are AWESOME tracks, but cost a bit more to run and you may have to be licensed to run on those tracks as well.

[Stormwalker]

tjamz wrote:
MHSC in St Cloud was shut down due to a REALLY bad decision from Charlie at AARRF to cut the lock on the gate because the MNDOT staff were an hour late at arriving. Rumor has it that certain other groups are looking into leasing it, maybe even this summer.

Just wanted to clarify this point here, Chuck probably heard this from some others that don't have things quite right, I hear this all the time.

AARRF got kicked out and was banned from using the St. Cloud facility. Fortunately, Corvettes of MN negotiated the continued use of the course, which is why there have still been events there the past couple of years. However, for the 2006 season, SCSU significantly raised the rental costs of the course, to the point where break-even would be impossible (they would not even negotiate with Wally). Unfortunately, this means that there will no longer be events held at the St. Cloud facility. Most COM events for 2006 will be held at DCTC, MAC events will also be there, along with Valleyfair and Central Parking. One thing to note is that there is a site imposed speed limit of 55 mph at DCTC.

MN really needs more autox sites.

[Guest]

In a nut shell that is what I heard as well, I wasn't sure if they had used it the past 2 years or if they were still negotiating its use, or what the plan was so I kind of left it open ended. Thanks for the info.