Driving School Prep/Nitrogen, stop the insanity

[Robert Phelan <centuri@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To all:
Adding pure nitrogen to your tires (tyres) will not help you at a 
Driver's school.  In fact if Nitrogen does tend to expand/contract 
due to temperature more than the O2, CO2, and other trace gasses in 
the air, it will HURT you at a driver's school.  But again, going 
from 78% Nitrogen to 100% Nitrogen wont affect you that much on the 
positive or negative side so it's really not worth the trouble.  If 
you want to get prepped for a driver's school, especially your first 
one, read on. (long)

>>>>>>>>>>
Rule 1 of a driving school:  SAFETY
The first thing you should have done is the safety inspection sheet 
that will come with your registration material.  This covers tires, 
brakes, hoses, belts, engine mounts, suspension, and safety systems. 
Get this done early so you can deal with any problems that arise 
without having to stress about a limited time frame.

Rule 2 of a driving school:  See Rule 1
Driving schools ARE NOT RACES.  Get into the mindset of learning to 
do it RIGHT.  If you go out and try to be faster than everyone else, 
not only will you find yourself sitting in a gravel-trap, grassy 
field, or wall.  Work on doing it right, and you'll find yourself 
going faster than all the guys trying to go "fast".  You have an 
expensive car, you drove it to the event, we want you to drive it 
home the same way it came in.

Rule 3:  Schools are fun, but they're hard on your car.
Make sure all your regular maintenance is up to spec.  Fresh oil, 
good brakes, proper levels of fluid, good remaining tire tread, and 
properly torqued wheel nuts are simple examples of things people 
forget.  Most of this will be caught at your safety inspection, but 
YOU are responsible for your car.  Keep in mind that once out on the 
track, you are pushing your car harder than you ever have, your BMW 
is up to the task, but you must remain vigilant for problems that may 
occur.  Make sure that you do a quick check of all the basics 
throughout the school.  Listen to the car as you go around the track 
and be aware of any problem signs.  You will have a lot of things on 
your mind while you run the track, but don't forget to listen to what 
the car tells you.

Rule 4:  Get ready early.
You constantly hear athletes talking about "concentration". 
Concentration is one of the most important parts of a good weekend. 
If you come running up to the school at the last minute after having 
packed everything in a frenzy the night before, you will have to 
fight to get back into the mindset of the track and driving.  Get 
your stuff together early, get plenty of sleep, and get to the event 
location as early as you can so you can get situated and ready for 
your runs without being pressed for time.

Rule 5:  Schools are fun, but they're hard on YOU.
You will be amazed how tired you are after the first day, you will be 
even more so the next day.  Try to get as much sleep as you can 
before the event and between the event days.  Be aware that when you 
get tired, your concentration lapses.  At 120mph or more (or less if 
you have my car) a lapse in concentration can be a very bad thing. 
Again, see rule 4.

Rule 6:  Mods mean NOTHING. (This applies to the "put nitrogen in 
your tires" bit)
"This mod adds 20hp", "this mod gives you 30hp", "this mod will make 
you fly to the moon, saturn, pluto and back to earth in 3.5 
seconds"*.  The key to high performance driving is upgrading the one 
thing that needs it the most:  YOUR BRAIN.  A student with a 2002 and 
a few good schools under his belt will often out-run a first time 
student in an M3.  Work on your line, listen to your instructor, 
concentrate on doing it right, and you'll be running up the tail-pipe 
of the new guy in the $80,000 AC Schnitzer "look I put every mod on 
this earth in my car" M3.

In conclusion:  The best thing you can do before a school is:
1.  Get your car ready mechanically and in terms of it's safety systems.
2.  Get in the right mindset for the event.  Come ready to learn, not 
to show off.
3.  Prepare early so you don't have distractions.
4.  Get plenty of sleep before hand.
5.  Forget about mods, if you want to go fast, sign up for the next 
school while you're waiting for this one.

Cheers,
Robert Phelan
VP St. Louis BMW Club
86' 325es

*If you actually get this mod, I know some guys black suits and dark 
glasses who'd like to talk to you.
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Phelan 				University Missouri Rolla
Macintosh Development Analyst			   rjp231@domain.elided
     "If it's not on fire, you haven't clocked it high enough"
- -----------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------