VW DriverSchool recap

Norman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 1999
Location
In a flood zone
TDI
'00 Golf GLS, '03 Wagon GL
Well, I attended VW's DriverSchool in Pahrump, NV yesterday and I have to agree 100% with Rich's assessment of the event and its value. I drove 580 miles to get to this event, but I have to say that the $30 fee was the best $30 I've ever spent. The day is divided into four modules; slalom, accident avoidance (emergency lane change w/ full stop, using ABS), dynamics of cornering
, and dual autocross
. There were some pretty hot H2O-cooled VWs out there, mostly current generation A4s of the G/J/NB VR6&1.8T persuasion, and there was only one other TDI besides mine, Jan’s ('sorry, I forget his last name, and I don't think he frequents Fred's, although he, like me, drove all the way from the SF Bay Area to attend this event) NB. He seemed to be upholding the TDI's honor on the autocross track, as was I when I was paired up with a 1.8T Jetta. If anyone is wondering about performance, a Golf TDI with an Up chip + TB will out accelerate a 1.8T Jetta off the line with the enormous low-end torque generated. We both had stock suspensions and we were running the same tires, so the autocross was pretty much won or lost on two things; getting to the braking point first, then being smooth enough not to knock over any cones on the tight 180 before screaming back to the line and stopping inside the stop box. The other major factor that really makes this event is that you get to hang out with people that really share their passion for VWs and motor sports. We cap on gassers a lot on Fred's, but when everyone's out there trying to find the limits of their car and what it can (and cannot) do, everyone's pretty much the same. It was nice to have a lot of the folks in my grouping (as well as others) come up and ask about the TDI. Mostly they started off asking about the mileage (before the day's events), then turned to what was under the hood as the day wore on.


Unlike any of the previous DriverSchool events, we were allowed to do two laps of the 2.2 mile track under "controlled" conditions (pace car), and I think that alone was worth the $30 price of admission!
If anyone's curious about the facilities, you can read about it at: www.bragg-smith.com, and yes, Rupert was there the entire day.

To reiterate what Rich said several months ago about DriverSchool, if it ever comes to a venue within one tank's range from you, you have got to try and make this event. I promise you it will be the best $29.95 you'll ever spend!

Here's a group pic at the beginning of festivities, courtesy of jettafanatic over on the Vortex...see if you can spot the TDI..


[This message has been edited by Norman (edited October 30, 2000).]
 

Peter Cheuk

Gasser :P
Joined
Aug 31, 1998
Location
Daly City, Calif., USA
TDI
'06 Jetta GLI
Norman, sounds like you had a great time. I would have loved to have joined you, but, my wife would have never have forgiven me had I taken this weekend to go to driver's school.

So, did your TDI with Upsolute combination win over the evil gasser?

On a side note, when I took my wife to the hospital, I came up on a new model Prelude. I wasn't racing. I was in a hurry to get to the hospital since the doctor told us to get there ASAP when as soon as Connie feels contractions. She waited two and a half hours to tell me so I was driving like a maniac. Back to the Prelude. He must have thought that I was racing and he gave me a go. After eating my soot three times, he gave up. This was 4:00 AM mind you so there were very few cars on the road. This was going up 19th Ave in SF, with streetlights at every corner, timed at 35MPH, as I found out. I was trying to make the third light!

Glad you had a safe trip and a great time.
 

Norman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 1999
Location
In a flood zone
TDI
'00 Golf GLS, '03 Wagon GL
Peter, you have got to be a new daddy by now, right?! If so, CONGRATULATIONS!!!, and if not, tell Connie to knock it off and get cracking!


Yeah the whole weekend was fabulous; the Street Atlas software was great, and I finally got to "calibrate" my speedo w/ the GPS. You'll be proud of me, I was exercising great restraint driving to LV with Up chip+TB hooked up and CC set to 65mph, which for the majority of the drive was 5mph below the posted speed limit! I actually got back home this morning at 2AM. I do not recommend that anyone put in a full day of work, and then go on a 530 mile drive w/ the CC set to 65...
My guess is that VW Club will bring DriverSchool out west again next year sometime, so maybe we'll get to go if it's OK with Connie?

The autocross with the Jetta 1.8T pilot was pretty even because even though the two courses were supposed to be mirror images of each other, they in fact were not. My team was getting seriously spanked until the instructor had us switch sides, whereupon we started spanking the other team. One thing was definite though, a TDI w/ chip+TB is a GREAT auto-Xer because it launches with no wheelspin (at least when I drive it), takes off like a shot with all that torque, and once it's in second, that's it because there's no more shifting to be done until the end. A properly set up TDI with all the mods will run with a VR6, definitely (at least where DriverSchool is concerned). I spoke with TurboTim (owner of ND), and he and a couple associates combined DriverSchool with the SEMA show, which is this week in LV. Anyway, they took 127 into Pahrump, and Tim was at the wheel of a proto supercharged VR6 Jetta, which he took up to ~157mph before he ran out of nerve because he said it was starting to float. Damn! Jan Peters (he's the other TDI guy that was at DS) was running with the same group, and I think he said they were running at ~115mph for the better part of the trip down to Pahrump from the BA. I was afraid to ask him was his mileage was during that run..


Peter, let me know if you need any help with the new addition, OK? Been there, done that, and I know there's a lot going on, so if you need help w/ something, just let me know.
 

Denton T. Young

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 7, 1999
Location
Nevada
TDI
2000 Golf GL TDI
Norman, what was your mileage on the trip. During my 5 trips to Vegas this year, I tried to drive at the posted limit once and got about 53 mpg. The rest of the time I would drive 5-10 mph over the limit with occasional stretches through the desert at 90 mph. I can't imagine driving down highway 5 at 65 mph with all those big rigs.
 

Norman

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 1999
Location
In a flood zone
TDI
'00 Golf GLS, '03 Wagon GL
Alan, the following is an excerpt from an email that I sent Chris because he and I have been comparing mileage #s relative to Up:


Going: 535mi, 10.1gal. = 53mpg
Particulars: CC set to 67 indicated, 65 true. PerfectFit CarBra, all tires @ 40psi, no A/C, all windows up all the time, ambient temps ~mid-60s. I am unsure of prevailing wind direction. Up chip + Tuning Box + a cocktail of Power Service, Cetane Boost, and your Redline Catalyst.

VW DriverSchool: 187mi, 4.9gal. = 38.2mpg
Particulars: CC only to, and a little bit from, the event set @ indicated 60mph. Bra still on, tires same. Still no A/C, but driver window was down almost the entire DriverSchool session, ambient temps ~mid-50s w/ 15mph winds + a few sprinkles. Drove like a maniac, and 'was really amazed that the mileage for the tank was in the high 30s. Oh, also sat idling a LOT, too.

Coming: 527mi, 10.4gal. = 50.7mpg
Particulars: same as Going above, except that I removed the bra, and the Tuning Box (I just disconnected the MAF wire, but left the Box in-line). The ambient temp had to be cooler because I drove back at night, and I would have thought cooler conditions would have helped the mileage. Of course, those 2-3 4,000ft. mountain passes probably didn't help things much..



As you can see, I think your mileage #s and mine also match up well, with the only difference being you're on a stock ECU and my 53mpg was w/ Up chip+TB, but driving @ 5mph below posted limit. Having that power on tap is somewhat assuring.
Yeah, those big rigs in the middle of the night @ 65 is kinda interesting....my unscientific study finds that big rigs at that hour are traveling no faster than 65mph because I never got passed by one, but on a couple of occaisions it seemed like it took forever to pass a truck on CC, and then they hung around for a while before I'd lose 'em on a slight rise. I'd say most of 'em are going around 60mph, or so. Man, don't ever pull into a rest stop and expect to find parking at night! All of 'em were packed to the gills w/ trucks overnighting! Even exits that weren't reststops had trucks lining up on 'em. Hitchcock coulda made a movie called "Trucks"!

Alan, what's your usual mileage when you go to LV (the other 4 times when you didn't drive the limit)?
 

Denton T. Young

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 7, 1999
Location
Nevada
TDI
2000 Golf GL TDI
I average 47-48 mpg on my Vegas trips. If I could keep my speed down while going through the desert, I'm sure my mileage would go up. Maybe the cooler air is helping with your mileage. The last time I drove through Baker (home of the world's largest thermometer), it was 108 at 11pm.
 
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