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OK, not a review of the book. Just a final "preachy" tip...
Anyone who has read any of my posts where I suggest "driving school" (of which I am happily chided for) and blow it off as the grumbling of an old man, well, here's a suggestion for you. (And this blows my allotment of using the #drivingschool hash for the year.)
Over 35 years ago, I attended my first driving school when Bob's school was at Sonoma Raceway (nee Sears Point International Raceway).
A couple of years following my first 4-day session, he released his book (this one I believe the first edition followed by many many re-publishings):
I owned the original edition above and about a year ago, I had the urge to own it again because, well, it never hurts to give myself reminders of things I may not be doing right in my old age.
I picked one up (along with the other seminal work "How To Make Your Car Handle" by Fred Puhn, also first published around the same time as Bob's book.) and have been reading them again, along with a new one, "High Performance Handling" by Don Alexander. (Which, BTW, is pretty good and is more contemporary; covering FWD applications and also driving techniques.)
Here's the lowdown:
Bob Bondurant's book covers a lot of the same materials as the school course curriculum. Of course, nowhere close to actually going to school BUT... if you practice at applying the principles contained in the book, then practice some more, and keep working at it until it becomes muscle reflex, you WILL be better off going forward.
NOT bragging here but: My everyday driving contains every one of the techniques I learned so long ago and I feel it makes me a much safer driver in all conditions from trips to the grocery store to attacking an empty road in the hills. And that's no matter what I'm driving.
As further endorsement for the book if you don't actually attend school, I have friends who didn't actually attend any formal driving schools other than SCCA-licensing school but have used Bob's principles found in the book to make them better drivers and are hotter shoes than I ever will be!
Best part of this is that the book can be purchased on EBay for less than $10. (I think I paid like 4 bucks, seriously.)
Don't mind what edition it is as they all contain the same basic materials, the later editions might have different pics and such but the core is exactly the same. Physics don't change. Never will.
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I'm merely making a suggestion here because not one person has ever told me (here) that they eventually went to driving school so, I'm pretty much done with pulpit preaching about "Increased driver skills beats any car mod.... ANY". Laff...
Excellent post, Mic. I wish I'd attended a driving school when I was younger, and Bondurant is certainly a well-known one. I've read this book, as well the one from the Skippy schools and several others over the years. It's a hard concept for new Z car drivers to get, but upgrading your own driving skills is far more productive than modding your car. Turn your enthusiasm inward and get an education with books like this!
Awesome post. Good info. I've been wanting to attend a driving school since I first got my license at the seemingly forever ago age of 18. But the time and cash for it has never materialized. Something always comes up and more often than not, leisure activities take a back seat to high priority life necessities. But soon....very soon, things will change. I'm finally buying my first house! Giving me the space I've needed/wanted (3 car garage ftw!) for projects on the Z and potentially a Datsun Roadster project. It's been a long road to get to this point and very difficult to contain my urges to splurge on car stuff. Saving for a down payment on a home in CA is absolutely brutal!
Excellent post, Mic. I went to Bondurant's school at Sonoma about the same time you did, along with Skip Barber's school at Lime Rock (I lived in the area back then), and then more from Barber in '88 when they were offering courses at Sebring in the E30 M3's (my dailY driver at the time). That training, along with being great fun, has saved my @ss more than a few times, and IMO should be available to everyone at least at some rudimentary level. Learning to parallel park will never save anyone's life, but an hour on a skid pad sure might, and very few drivers have ever done even such basic training. Not likely to ever be mandatory in this country, though, where people don't even know which lane to use on the interstates.
Thanks, guys. Yes, I agree 100% with all of the comments. One thing I noticed (and I kinda said it) is that all of the principles in the bookl (and the course itself) have and will always stand the test of time because it's all based on nature and bending or exploiting the rules of physics to suit one's driving.
One of the great joys I get from the book is how it takes me back and I can remember particular things about being there on course.... the most memorable of which was 6 of us "cool guys" in a passenger van and our instructor taking us for our first flying lap. Note I said "passenger van"!
"Cool guys" my a$$.... that first "zero grav moment" at T2 reduced all of us into whimpering jellyfish. I'm sure our driver knew the effect she had on us too because underneath her cool exterior, I'm sure I saw her reveal a smug smile. Can't be sure though.... was concentrating on my death grip with white knuckles. Hahahahahaha.
And that's in the first lesson.... where they teach you humility. Hahahahaha!
Excellent suggestion, I, as well as, one of the other posters on here have always had it on my bucket list to go to a driving school, and now at 30, with a mortgage, student loans and other obligations (like most of us), have found little spare cash and time, but always seeks knowledge, and a <$10 book is more than a great bargain for the knowledge it can give you. I will for sure be checking out this book. Thank you for the share.
Now if only people would take me up on my driving school suggestions
As God as my witness talked to Mike Pettiford at Go4it out here and gonna see about his 3 and 6 day courses - prob wont happen until next spring as HPR is undergoing pavement rehabilitations this winter - will give me plenty of time to get read-up on the fine literature I've aquired.
I attended Bondurant several years ago in Phoenix, took the advanced road racing program at the time. Was an amazing expierence(too bad it wasn't at Sonoma). I open up the literature i was given there before every track event. The instructors were amazing, and highly suggest it to anyone in the south west. Read up!
08-03-2017, 09:36 AM
"Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving" BOOK
