[D_o_S]

Hiya,

I've set myself a budget of 1500 EUR on becoming a better driver this year.

My question is, what do I do with my money?

There is the BMW school and other racing schools that offer training - a 1 or 2 day course at a track for 1500 EUR.

Then there are generic defensive driving schools and things, that basically teach you how to handle understeer/oversteer, etc. A 1 day course costs like 100 EUR, so I could fit in 15 days of training at schools like these... The price for the racing schools therefore seems way off... put it this way, if I attend a generic school like this during the whole year, I can "train" there once or even twice a month. That should make me a better drive than one two day course through the whole year, no?

Another option is to plan an event to the ring... go to Nurburg for like 4 or 5 days... The 25 lap card is 500 EUR, I assume the stay would be like 500 EUR as well... I could do like 5 laps a day (thats like 80km of track time), drive the surroundings of Nurburg, etc... With an uncertain future in regards to the Ring (it might be closed, etc.) it may well be a good idea to do this now.

Basically, it comes down to this: do I need an instructor? Are the things I'm going to learn from the instructor of greater benefit than pure seat time? I have read Ross Bentley's book, as well as others... I'm well aware of the theory in regards to driving fast, but I'm not that well aware of what the car can actually do, sensing the limit, etc.

What I have learned so far at driver trainings (BMW school, a local one) is that I am "bored" for all except 1 event - skid pad. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the course for what it's worth, but at the end of the day, I feel that the exercise that gives me most is a circular skid pad, where you try to go several circles in oversteer/understeer. At generic schools, since everyone uses his/her car, the speeds are set too low for the 335i... It's like trying evasive maneuvers at 50km/h, when the BMW could handle like 70...

So, any input is very welcome.

Additional info: I'm 22 and I've done about 30 000 Km in my life. I'm looking for most bang for my buck.