Ron Fellows Corvette school - Spring Mountain end of May
- Thread starter 81Wayne
- Start date
Congrats on booking, it's a great experience, you'll walk away and come back home feeling a lot more confident about driving your car. Not to mention the extra knowledge about the different driving modes and bonus ones within track mode. If anyone else is considering going please drop me a P/M if you can go the end of May, or if you want some money saving tips re booking flights and accommodations any time you go.
Having gone before we learned a few things re total trip costs.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could shoot me a PM on your experience, where I can save money if I'm going by myself, and any extra fees I can expect.
If you take a look at the C7 Corvette Facebook page there have been a dozens and dozens of rave review posts about the Spring Mountain Corvette Owners course and not a single negative review. Participants are grouped according to their driving style so many different degrees of aggressiveness and skill in the course. Several women who did not consider themselves at all aggressive found the course to be well tailored to their needs and not too intimidating.
Very little in the way of extra charges that I am aware of. One that I am aware of is the extra insurance. The included has a $10,000 deductible for body damage. If you want to bring that deductible down to $1000 or so you can buy extra insurance which costs around $250 US. Few if any seem to take it and those who did said that given the nature of the course and the exercises you are highly unlikely to ever need it unless you end out doing things that you are not supposed to be doing like horsing around in stupid ways which does not seem to be a problem. You also should take a high speed 32 Gb SD card (should have 10X on the label) for loading your own car data via the Performance Data Recorder in each car. you can also buy a full picture package done by the professional photographer on site for around $230 US. One night of accommodation is covered but we are driving up from Vegas the evening before as the course starts at 8:00 am sharp. If you need a room for that first night (most do) then you will need to pay for that night which is around $110 US.
Hope that assists.
Y
YFCvii
Hello y'all !!!
My April 3 & 4, 2017 experience was awesome.
Managed a CAN$3k budget for a solo 5-day WestJet Las Vegas Vacation including the Spring Mountain Experience and an Alamo Camaro Rental.
I went without any expectations and came away exceeding anything I ever imagined I could achieve. I did not go to race and I would say that at least 2/3rds of the class were same. I found myself being shuffled into a different group of 3-cars every track session until I was in a group of being a Stingray with 2-Z06. It was the only time when I realized I was driving outside of my personal comfort for learning so I wanted to come back down to earth and asked to drive with Stingrays for the remainder of my sessions. The instructors respected my request and assured me that it is driving ability that warranted my shuffle to drive with Z06's. My final session was awesome with an instructor and one other Stingray which I assumed to be the top two in Stingray driving ability. I have nothing against my session with Z06s and will add that any Z06 driver will obviously know that they have an additional 200hp over a Stingray, it's just too bad that there has to be a wanna-be in the crowd with a different agenda when being behind this Stingray. I debriefed with my instructor and took something very positive away from this by being able to discover my current absolute threshold of comfort on the track as a Corvette Owner and was then able to appreciate and remain within my comfort to purely enjoy the entire experience. There is so much more to this Experience than driving on the track. Everything can be applied to day-to-day Corvette enjoyment. One thing I must recommend to all Purchasers of a New Corvette is to budget for this experience. It will boost confidence for those like myself in their first Corvette and also provide an experience for those without thresholds an opportunity develop a few before advancing by returning for the next Level of the School. It is my understanding that the School has just started to reward participants with a window cling ... hope not to upset any before me that did not receive one ... I am not really a dude who likes to put stickers on my vehicles but I feel this has a good place for this year of driving ... so ...
TA-DAAAA !!!
My April 3 & 4, 2017 experience was awesome.
Managed a CAN$3k budget for a solo 5-day WestJet Las Vegas Vacation including the Spring Mountain Experience and an Alamo Camaro Rental.
I went without any expectations and came away exceeding anything I ever imagined I could achieve. I did not go to race and I would say that at least 2/3rds of the class were same. I found myself being shuffled into a different group of 3-cars every track session until I was in a group of being a Stingray with 2-Z06. It was the only time when I realized I was driving outside of my personal comfort for learning so I wanted to come back down to earth and asked to drive with Stingrays for the remainder of my sessions. The instructors respected my request and assured me that it is driving ability that warranted my shuffle to drive with Z06's. My final session was awesome with an instructor and one other Stingray which I assumed to be the top two in Stingray driving ability. I have nothing against my session with Z06s and will add that any Z06 driver will obviously know that they have an additional 200hp over a Stingray, it's just too bad that there has to be a wanna-be in the crowd with a different agenda when being behind this Stingray. I debriefed with my instructor and took something very positive away from this by being able to discover my current absolute threshold of comfort on the track as a Corvette Owner and was then able to appreciate and remain within my comfort to purely enjoy the entire experience. There is so much more to this Experience than driving on the track. Everything can be applied to day-to-day Corvette enjoyment. One thing I must recommend to all Purchasers of a New Corvette is to budget for this experience. It will boost confidence for those like myself in their first Corvette and also provide an experience for those without thresholds an opportunity develop a few before advancing by returning for the next Level of the School. It is my understanding that the School has just started to reward participants with a window cling ... hope not to upset any before me that did not receive one ... I am not really a dude who likes to put stickers on my vehicles but I feel this has a good place for this year of driving ... so ...
TA-DAAAA !!!
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You earned it, wear it with pride.
Great write up and I thank you for taking the time to tell us of the experience.
Great write up and I thank you for taking the time to tell us of the experience.
Great write up and perspective SN-III....
I was there this spring. Worth every dollar to be taught how to drive this C7 with confidence and experience what the car is capable of doing under the direction of skilled instructor's.
Hey rockitman, great meeting you last weekend. I was there 2 years ago also, and I have never driven the same since. Excellent facility and group of instructors. I highly suggest any Corvette owner to go. Planning to go back for level 2 in the near future. First class all the way!
I just returned from Spring Mountain for my second trip there. Last time my wife and I did the Corvette Owners School.
This time I went by myself and did the Level 2 school. It's amazing how these instructors can get you to push your envelope and confidence. We had 13 students and 4 instructors usually. On day one we did 1 session to just practice heel-toe then 4 track sessions of about 20 laps each where the instructor lead with 2 or 3 students in the follow position. After the second session we were grouped into two main groups with 6 in one and 7 in the other, and from then on we alternated track sessions which allowed for maximum track spacing and utilization. After each session or two the groups were adjusted so drivers of similar ability were sorted into appropriate groups. At the end of the day the instructors took you for a 3 lap ride along to show you what the car could really do. They said on the course layout we were using that the best lap time in a Z51 was about 1:53.5, and on my ride along he did a 1:54.76
On Day 2 the first track session was inversed with the instructor following you as you lead. This was to ensure each driver could/was able to properly find their lines on their own. After this we had an open track session, and you would be called into the pits to pick up an instructor for about a 3 lap ride along instruction and critique. After that we had 2 more open lapping sessions, with the instructors positioned around the course and if they saw anything they would get on the radio and let you know.
This was a great experience, about half of the students were active SCCA racers of various types like auto slalom, vintage , etc... So pretty much everyone was there to improve their abilities, and only 2 were a bit over their heads. You learned to really push the car to the limit ( or so you thought ).
My best time wasn't the fastest for the Z51's but I was second at a 2:05.66, but still almost 4 seconds behind the fastest.
Best time was the only guy driving a Grans Sport and he did a 1:59.5 beating all the Z06 drivers.
All the more reason to go back again to improve !
All I can say is they have great instructors, I had a blast and I can't wait to go back again.
This time I went by myself and did the Level 2 school. It's amazing how these instructors can get you to push your envelope and confidence. We had 13 students and 4 instructors usually. On day one we did 1 session to just practice heel-toe then 4 track sessions of about 20 laps each where the instructor lead with 2 or 3 students in the follow position. After the second session we were grouped into two main groups with 6 in one and 7 in the other, and from then on we alternated track sessions which allowed for maximum track spacing and utilization. After each session or two the groups were adjusted so drivers of similar ability were sorted into appropriate groups. At the end of the day the instructors took you for a 3 lap ride along to show you what the car could really do. They said on the course layout we were using that the best lap time in a Z51 was about 1:53.5, and on my ride along he did a 1:54.76
On Day 2 the first track session was inversed with the instructor following you as you lead. This was to ensure each driver could/was able to properly find their lines on their own. After this we had an open track session, and you would be called into the pits to pick up an instructor for about a 3 lap ride along instruction and critique. After that we had 2 more open lapping sessions, with the instructors positioned around the course and if they saw anything they would get on the radio and let you know.
This was a great experience, about half of the students were active SCCA racers of various types like auto slalom, vintage , etc... So pretty much everyone was there to improve their abilities, and only 2 were a bit over their heads. You learned to really push the car to the limit ( or so you thought ).
My best time wasn't the fastest for the Z51's but I was second at a 2:05.66, but still almost 4 seconds behind the fastest.
Best time was the only guy driving a Grans Sport and he did a 1:59.5 beating all the Z06 drivers.
All the more reason to go back again to improve !
All I can say is they have great instructors, I had a blast and I can't wait to go back again.
I'm so looking into this! Thanks SN-III
Y
YFCvii
You will not regret taking this great opportunity.
It takes an expenditure ... that turned out to be the
best bang for the dollar I have ever had.
Hoping you can go and ... Enjoy !!!
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A couple we were scheduled to go with in March 2020 ...got shut-down “COVID” hit and we have been rebooking and rebooking and rebooking times to go
...sure “HOPE” this is doable before C7 school is over at end of year. DamCovid-19
!!...better to be alive than ‘dead’ is another way to look at it to be on the positive side.
...sure “HOPE” this is doable before C7 school is over at end of year. DamCovid-19!!...better to be alive than ‘dead’ is another way to look at it to be on the positive side.
Maybe you will be lucky enough to do your C7 training in a new C8. That wouldn't be so bad...would it?A couple we were scheduled to go with in March 2020 ...got shut-down “COVID” hit and we have been rebooking and rebooking and rebooking times to go
I’ve talked to Donna at Ron Fellows...unfortunately that is not an option, but I like the way you think
