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BMW Advanced Driver Training

I'd been interested in a BMW Advanced Driver Training course for some time, but there were none conducted anywhere near the Seattle area, or so I thought. As it turns out, BMW of Canada was holding courses just a two hour drive away, near Vancouver Canada.

http://www.bmw.ca/english/lifestyle/drivertr/intro.html

The training was held at the Tradex, a facility at the Abbotsford Airport, near Vancouver BC. It is normally used for tradeshows, exhibitions and other events.

As you can see, there were a wide variety of BMWs parked outside. In addition to mine, there was a 2001 740iL and a 745i.

Here is my 750 parked in front. You can see the fleet of 330i's that we'll be driving soon.

Inside the Tradex building, there were a number of M3s that are used for the Level 2 Course.

There were a number of sponsors, in this case Michelin Tires.

Here is a display of finish materials for BMWs, including paint and leather.

Sony provided a computer with Internet access that was set to the BMW Canada Web page.

In addition to free newspapers, there was a rack with brochures for all BMW models.

Breakfast, lunch and breakers were catered. The TV monitors displayed BMW related clips, including segments from the BMWFilms series.

Here is my daughter Ashley and my friend Drew.

Ashley with me.

Drew and me.

We had about an hour of classroom instruction before beginning. With that done, Ashley is ready to start driving.

The first exercise was to go through a slalom course at slow speed to get used to proper steering technique and to get a feel for our cars.

See that big water truck in the background. It will come into play soon.

Ashley seems to be getting the hang of it and soon picks up a smooth rhythm.

The instructor is talking to one of the drivers and holding up the line momentarily.

Here is the water truck again. As you can see, it is flooding the skidpad.

The pavement is coated with a special surface and the water makes it really slick.

The first lesson is for the instructor to take groups of three people at a time on a ride and demonstrate the maneuvers that we'll be making shortly.

Here's a good example of oversteer. Notice the rear end "hanging out" and the angle of the front wheels.

Here we are all lined up for a brief discussion before we hit the skidpad.

Two cars at a time were let on the skidpad, each one staying approximately opposite the other. The instructor communicated with us over two way radios.

Whenever a car would spin out, the instructor would call out a warning for everyone to stop.

It wasn't uncommon for a car to spin out.

Nor was it unusual for both cars to spin out at the same time. Both Ashley and I both managed to do a couple of 720 degree spins!

At first Ashley was a bit nervous about the skidpad, but she soon got quite comfortable.

Here we are, all lined up shortly before lunch.

Drew seems to be enjoying himself.

There happened to be an air show going on at the airport. We invited to watch the air show from a VIP seating area set up inside the airport perimeter fence.

As you can see, we were right on the tarmac and had a great view of everything.

Here are a couple of backup Thunderbird jets just in front of us.

A bit further away were various types of aircraft on display.

In the other direction, the thunderbirds get ready to take off.

Since we were right at the edge airport, the planes flew by at very close range.

We had great front row seats for the whole show.

At several points they flew by under afterburner at nearly the speed of sound. They were LOUD! As they flew by, the air would crackle from multiple miniature sonic booms from the vortices from the wingtips.

One final flyby before they came in for a landing.

It is back to driving. This time on another watered down skidpad. This one to practice straight line braking both with and without ABS.

One of the more interesting portions consisted of the emergency lane change maneuver exercise. In the center of the photograph, you can see three cones set up in an equilateral triangle. The object is to enter from the left side of the photo, then swerve either right or left around the cone at the right side of the photo. It does not sound that difficult, but we'll be doing this at increasing speeds up to 40 MPH. Note that each of the cones is the same distance away from the others, which just happens to be the width of a standard parking space.

Ashley seems to be wondering "how am I going to do this?"

It just so happens that the instructor will show us how. He walks through the course, taking the path of the car, holding an imaginary steering wheel in his hands to show us how it is done. Take a look at those cones again. They seem awfully close together! The orange barrel in the background will come into play soon as well.

Here is another shot from a different angle. I added the arrow and circled the cone to make it easier to understand. Imagine driving straight at the circled cone, between two cones that are a parking space width apart, then having to swerve around the cone.

To make things more complicated, notice the orange and barrel with the white stripes? It has a light on top. There is another one on the opposite side of the course. At the very last second, the instructor activates a light on one of the barrels by remote control. This simulates a pedestrian or an animal running into the road. The object is to swerve away from the light.

After some practice, were able to successfully negotiate the course at 40 MPH, swerve around the correct side of the cone and do it all without hitting anything.

Of course, it did take a number of tries before we got it right. Here is the result of the times that it did not go so smoothly. The cone on the left is a normal one. The one on the right is an example of what happens after a day of not getting it right.

The best part came as we lined up for the final challenge of the day.

We are about to put all of our skills together as we compete against other drivers.

First going through the slalom as fast as we could. Points are deducted for any cones that are hit.

Coming back through the second half of the slalom.

Breaking hard into a box set up between cones. Points are deducted for hitting the cones, breaking too early or too far.

Finally, backing around a corner into another box, which completes the course.

Here is Ashley, getting ready for her turn.

There's Drew.

And Ashley and me.

Lined up at the starting line.

Here we are after our turn on the course.

After a full day, we drive the cars into the building for the night.

And park them in neat rows.

Back in the classroom, we go over the results of our driving.

I managed to snap a photo of the results. Although our course was timed, insurance regulations prevent it from being a race. Therefore, the object was for each team member to match their times as closely to each other as possible. There were four winners were each partners had times that were within half a second of each other.

Based on fastest times, I think that I did quite well. Out of 22 drivers, I came in third. Ashley was only three seconds behind and was the fastest woman by a significant margin.

One last look at the cars before leaving.

Please browse to the following pages:

1 Introduction
2 In the Beginning
3 From the Front
4 From the Side
5 From the Rear
6 The Interior
7 The Audio Video System
8 Both of My 750iLs
9 May Puget Sound Meet
10 June Puget Sound Meet
11 July Puget Sound Meet
12 Engine and Drivetrain
13 BMW Club Concours d'Elegance
14 BMW Advanced Driver Training
15 BassLink Install
16 Oil Change and Oil Pump Bolt Check
17 Quad Rear Brake Lights
18 Phone Install
19 Jets
20 Strong Strut
21 Eisenmann Exhaust
22 Sway Bar Upgrade