Sat, Mar 3, 2012

NAAC 1 Day Winter Driving School - Mar 3, 2012

Winter Driving School - Francestown

About this event

If you're reading this, you probably live someplace where it snows in the winter. You also probably drive an Audi, quite possibly with the fabled Quattro all-wheel-drive system. While you may drive one of the most snow- and ice-capable vehicles in the world, how would you like to increase your confidence behind the steering wheel and really learn how to drive it in the snow?

Our 1 Day Winter Driving School (WDS) will be held NAAC's new Southern NH venue in Francestown, NH (which is approximately 1/2 hour west of Manchester, NH).  It is a safe, low-speed event with expert instruction and a fun atmosphere, on a closed course. If you would like to learn to control your car in slippery conditions, to handle every type of skid including correcting understeer and oversteer, how to stop most quickly in icy conditions, then this school is for you.

The school will begin with a classroom session in which we will cover the basic principles of driving on snow and ice -- proper tire pressure, types of skids and how to correct for them, winter car preparation (such as why snow tires are a good idea, even on a modern all-wheel-drive car), and so on. We will then move outdoors and test your learning and skills as we continue through the remainder of the day in exercises such as a slalom, a skid pad, and a road course (all under instructors' expert tutelage) in which these principles are put into practice:

  • The skid pad teaches the difference between understeer and oversteer (and is a lot of fun!), while 
  • The slalom teaches the importance of looking ahead, weight transfer, and the proper amount of steering input.
  • Combining the two into a challenging road course puts everything together and includes a variety of turns and a "lane toss" where a devious instructor directs the student to switch into one of two lanes and stop the car, all in distances that look difficult if not impossible (but believe us, with practice it is possible).

The school wraps up with a fun 'time trial' that connects the skidpad and exercise areas where the goal is consistency through several runs.

Schedule

  Registration   7:00 AM - 8:00 AM
  Classroom Training   8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
  Track Time   10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Front- and rear-wheel drive vehicles are required to have snow tires on the drive wheels as a minimum.  Snow tires will this icon on the tire sidewall: .Our school is a great opportunity for licensed drivers of all ages to learn how to confidently drive in a New England winter. Held at a safe and isolated facility, this is the perfect place to learn car control skills. All cars and small SUVs are welcome  (they don't even have to be Audis!).   Trucks and large SUVs  are just too heavy for this particular venue and are therefore not allowed.

This event is very much at your own pace, and everyone from inexperienced to very experienced drivers will learn a great deal and have a blast. For drivers who have enjoyed our high performance driver education events on racetracks, the Winter Driving School is an excellent opportunity to hone car control skills that then apply to all sorts of driving, improving safety even on the track.

Event requirements

 

The clinic is open to drivers of all experience levels, and is especially instructive for inexperienced drivers.  Participants must present a valid driver’s license or learners Permit, and sign a liability waiver.  A parent must accompany drivers under 18, as well as sign the waiver on their behalf.  All car marques and models are permitted however, large SUVs and trucks are too big /  heavy for the course.

Instructor -  if you would like to instruct but have no experience with NAAC as an instructor please submit your qualifications to our Instructor Committee for verification (MCollier50@Comcast.net ... Subject: Instructor).   .

Volunteer - if you sign up as a volunteer, you should expect a fun day outside helping, by maintaining the courses and coordinating the exercises with the instructors. 

Please note that if you are sharing a car, you need to register each driver separately! Each driver needs to be registered with a unique email address. Please contact info@naaclub.org if you have any questions about how to register.

 

Winter Driving School - Francestown

Francestown, NH
Download track map
Download track map

Organizer

Car Control Clinic organized by

Audi Club NA - North Atlantic Chapter

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Event over!