If you’re a driving instructor, and this conversation doesn’t make you shudder all the way down to the base of your spine, you’re not paying attention.
Why was I on Reddit? Well, it had something to do with observing reactions to the Alex Roy prank. While I was there, I saw a thread talking about what a piece of shit the new Z06 was. That’s contrary to what I’ve heard from Sam Smith, so I read through the thread with full attention. Noting that the original poster was “a racing instructor at a racing school,” I watched his video and observed that his “racing uniform” was an open-face helmet, no gloves, no HANS, and a full Sparco suit. That’s some cheeseball shit, so I asked him.
I don’t think of myself as having a particularly thick neck — 17.5″ for a six-footer — but I cannot say I’ve ever felt worn-out by wearing a full-face helmet. So I kept an eye on this dude and his posts afterwards, trying to figure out what kind of “racing instructor at a racing school” he was. Turns out he works at the Las Vegas Dream Racing Experience. The last time I was in Vegas I tried to fit some laps at Dream into my schedule — I wanted to drive the Gallardo Trofeo so I could say I’d driven all the major Gallardo variants — but it was not to be. They’re sold out for months in advance.
However, to characterize Dream Racing as a “racing school” is to willfully misunderstand what a racing school does. A racing school teaches you to race and, typically, concludes with the awarding of provisional licenses to successful participants. For example, I attended the Mid-Ohio Racing School in April of 2007 and was given my NASA Provisional license as a result. The curriculum of the school was specific: these are the rules of racing. The on-track portion of the school was specific: we will have practice races and see if you are fast enough and safe enough to participate in real races.
Dream Racing, on the other hand, is an “experience” much like the Disney World Supercar Experience or the Xtreme Xperience at which I worked earlier this year. There is no pretense of professional instruction. The purpose is to “experience” the cars.
I have no idea how safe Dream Racing is, or how safe the facility is, or how good my gloveless professional racing friend is. I do know, however, that working at Dream Racing is a risky gig, and if you want to understand why, read the image at the top of this post a second time.
The driver who posted on Reddit didn’t honestly know if he was doing 192mph or 192kph, which is 119mph. This is not because he is an idiot. He’s not an idiot, not in any way that I can see. He can’t tell the difference between 192mph and 119mph because he has no experience going that fast.
I do have experience going that fast and I can tell you there is a world of difference between the two speeds. My Accord can break 119mph on most American racetracks. 119mph is a speed well within the reach of most club racing series at many tracks. When I was younger and had my YZF600r I used to run it past 119mph all the time on the way to work.
192mph, on the other hand, is a battle with the laws of physics. You are at the mercy of the track surface, the wind, the air coming off the vehicles around you. Very small motions of the wheel at 192mph translate to big motions of the car. If, like me, you don’t do 192mph very often, you will be able to easily remember the times you have done it.
Should a driver who has no idea of the difference between 192mph and 119mph be placed behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Trofeo race car, even if that car has been neutered through alignment, tire choice, and throttle mapping? If you had asked me that question five years ago, I would have told you that a quality instructor can ensure a safe outcome for every student.
Today, I’m not so sure.
And were I my professional racing friend at a racing school, I’d wear a full-face helmet, just in case.
Jack, I’m not sure if this makes a difference - but I attended one of these driving experience things in Vegas and all of the cars had an extra brake pedal for the instructor.
I don’t know if that is standard or not - but I feel like it would make the experience safer.
When I did the M3 “Xperience” at MSR Houston I was very surprised that they gave me an open faced helmet to use. I’d brought my full face street bike helmet hoping to use it instead. But the most surprising, telling, and disturbing thing about the whole experience happened while I was booking it on the phone, wherein I was told “don’t wear flip-flops or sandals” for the drive. I let that soak in for a few seconds before confirming “…do grown assed men really show up to drive a race car in flip-flops?”
The horror.
I’ve seen presumably “grown-assed men” blasting 100+ mph down the freeway on liter bikes wearing shorts and flip-flops.
Uh, yeah, I’ve been that guy, substituting “ZX-7RR” for “liter bike”.
No longer.
Anyone who chooses to NOT wear a full face is living on borrowed time, whether in a fast car or on a bike. My last serious bike wreck was in 77 and I wasn’t wearing a full face helmet. Luckily I didn’t face plant the pavement, but did skid along on it for a bit with the side of my face. Last time on a bike without a full face. In 89 I had a left front tire failure at Road Atlanta coming in to turn 12 in a Triumph TR6. Went into the tire wall mostly backwards, but the car spun hard on impact putting the drivers side into the tires. There was a large gouge in my Bell full face shield from, apparently, the steel belt sticking out of a badly worn tire in the wall.
My current is a Shoei RF-900 that will likely be replaced at the end of this year.
Indeed. I did a faceplant on a blacktop road on my RM 80 when I was about 12 with an open faced helmet - it split my chin open down to the bone. Wheelies never were my strong suit.
When I was 15 I thought I didn’t need my helmet to do a quick test ride on a friend’s CR 125 that I had just tuned up for him. I had a head-on collision with another rider in the “empty” field, and a two week blank spot in my mental tape deck as a result. To this day I don’t remember the accident, anything that happened before that day, or even being in the hospital for 3 days. I’ve never ridden without a helmet since.
Longtime lurker, finally pulled out of the shadows by the Mr. Mom reference. Well played sir.
I attended a driving school at TX World Speedway and rented a helmet. The only rental helmets available were open face. The first instructor I rode with told me as soon as I sat down. “I was driving this track, and a car in front of me threw up a piece of debris that hit my driver’s side mirror and went right into my face shield. Can only imagine if I had a helmet like yours… “
I’ve visited this “experience” 4 times as part of a corporate event and always walk away wondering when something bad is going to happen. Well, I guess it did…in Florida.
The fastest I’ve reached on the straight is 125 mph and I do not recall the passenger having the ability to brake.
OMFG. 119 vs 192? Having done it in a couple of different cars I can say that the world doesn’t start to get weird, at least for a novice like me, until you get up over 150. 119 in modern, well maintained vehicle is nothing.
So, your ride is a PRS? How interesting.
So totally unrelated question; I’ll be driving from connecticut to st louis next week, any good east/west driving roads worth checking out?
I don’t think there is anywhere between Connecticut and Missourah that you will not get murdered by the police if you do something in your car that makes you smile.
Wish I had read this before I made my “racing vs track day” comment on your previous post. Still, track day vs Xotic Drivingz Xperience (TM) is a very different ballgame.
Funny, this made me think of the old Heirarchy of Speed pyramid - http://www.nsxfiles.com/Pyramid_of_speed.htm. Can someome add Vegas Lambo Bro Drive Day to the bottom somewhere?
I remember how hard it was to glance down at a speedometer when a bike was doing a straight ~120mph speed. That was analog and placed further down from the line of sight, I guess.
Full face vs. open face came home to me in a horrendous way about 10 years ago. 2 buddies and I attended the Kevin Schwanz superbike school at Road Atlanta and brought our wives along and they hung out at the hotel pool and shopped while we were on the track. They picked us up after class and we were on our way back to the hotel when we came upon a just-happened motorcycle/car wreck. Seems an 80 something lady had turned left in front of a Vietnam veteran F-4 pilot and retired USAF Academy instructor riding a Harley. He had on a “beanie” helmet with all the anti-social biker stickers. You could see he had locked up the rear tire and probably hit the car going 30-40 MPH. but he faceplanted into the pavement and while we were waiting for EMS to arrive we watched him bleed through a smashed face. Let me tell you the human body has a lot of blood and it will strickle down the pavement into the gutter. I will never forget that sight as long as I live. Ironically just that day one of our fellow students had crashed on the track at a much higher speed and walked away (in more ways than one, Schwanz has a rule that if you crash you are done). I wonder if that USAF veteran would have gotten up if he had faceplanted with a DOT/SNELL approved full face rather than his beanie. The one sticker that stood out said “Life got much easier once I stopped caring”. Unfortunately he left a widow and several daughters and grandchildren who still care.
Ugh. Thanks for the story, though, I’ve passed it along to a few Harley friends.
I always kind of 🙁 whenever press events go for open-face helmets. Mostly because I hate my face, but still-I have to wonder if it’s a conscious decision due to the fact that they’re using a street car with airbags and other, different safety features than a fully-prepped race car, or (more likely) a decision based on cost?
It’s because people who have no experience wearing helmets (like your average lifestyle journalist) become claustrophobic in full-faces.
I like the full face helmets while I commute to work. That way people can’t see me talking to myself as I ride.
I’ve also swallowed my fair share of bugs, debris, birdshit, and other assorted matter as I ride down the road. Finally wised up and switched to full face. Plus I make sure it’s Snell rated, not just DOT. From what I understand, the DOT is equivalent to what Snell was two decades back.
When I was a smart, but at times dumb teenager, I did 155 in a Lexus on a highway; that was exhilarating. However, when you slow down to say 100 or 95, it feels like a crawl and modern cars can mask the sensation of speed so well.
But I’m a assuming an instructor should know the difference right away, but maybe not. I’m always amazed at how slow 35 feels. What do I know though?