My Daughter’s “One Day Teen School” Experience at the BMW Performance Center

Experienced by Kimatni D. Rawlins and Kaiyana Rawlins

It is always time for some action at the BMW Performance Driving School, where your daughter or son will receive driving tutelage behind the wheel of an Ultimate Driving Machine to enhance their confidence on the road. In this case, I signed up my youngest child Kaiyana (Aya) Rawlins for the One Day Driving School, explicitly focusing on teen driving habits and safety. I scheduled the educational sessions at the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina so that Aya could concentrate on hard braking, defensive maneuvering, steering wheel and seating position, and vehicle handling dynamics.

Teen accidents and deaths continue to plague our roads while causing immeasurable grief to the families involved. Yet, parents barely give their kids the additional instruction, guidance, or practice they need to become sound and intelligent drivers. Yes, we will send them to a local class to learn how to parallel park and U-turn, but rarely is there any advanced development for them to understand what their cars should be doing and what they shouldn’t be doing. I am an automotive journalist, and even after 25 years of track experience I’m always learning something new regarding vehicle control.

BMW’s controlled environment programs are the best in my opinion. I have been to the BMW Performance Center on at least ten occasions and always return with renewed admiration and fondness for the brand. Thus, I was incredibly excited for Aya since she requested the opportunity after receiving her Maryland license this past spring and hearing her older sister rave about her time in Spartanburg. BMW’s international reputation led to the creation of a state-of-the-art facility incorporating a 300-ft diameter wet and polished concrete pad, almost two miles of paved road, decreasing and increasing radius turns, straightaways, and an off-road course utilizing a fleet of current BMW vehicles.

At the One Day Driving School, Aya received lessons from lead instructor David Dalton, Jr., who has raced cars since the age of 13 and is a BMW Certified Technician of four years. The four fundamental goals at the BMW Performance Center–home of the longest drift (8 hours)–are safety first, fun, exciting, and educational through the combination of modules in the controlled environment to test the limits of the vehicles. Utilizing BMW M340s and MINI Coopers, Aya’s confidence was boosted as she learned how to accelerate while looking down the road, panic brake to avoid obstacles, lane change accurately at high and low speeds, and correct over and understeer on the wet skid pad.

Understeer is when the front tires have lost traction, and subsequently, the vehicle will not respond to steering inputs. Oversteer is when the rear tires lose grip. Thus, BMW taught her to counter-steer, reduce speed, and regain control. At 17, I was riding BMX bikes down the block with no hands, not drifting BMWs. However, learning to correct understeer and oversteer on the wet skid pad was one of the most intuitive challenges. Aya had trouble with the routine initially but felt more empowered afterward because she learned C.P.R., and I am not referring to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. BMW’s definition is Correct, Pause, and Recover. Afterward, she smiled, and her self-assurance skyrocketed exponentially. Next, I will take her to BMW’s second driving school location in Thermal, California, where attendees can bask in the serenity of the beautiful mountain range.

More importantly, Aya’s course began with classroom instruction to understand vehicle terminology and setups. The teens learned proper hand and seating positions and positive driving habits, such as setting their eyes up and looking ahead. Moreover, one of the key objectives was to showcase proper A.B.S. (Anti-lock Braking System) and turning instead of just accelerating.

Here are some of the classroom take-a-ways:

• Keep your eyes up like a running back navigating through holes, and look as far ahead as possible. At 60 mph, for example, the vehicle travels 88 feet per second. Drivers need to view things before they happen to react correctly and possibly avoid an accident.
• Look where you want to go and point the vehicle there. Turn your head and eyes in that direction, and your hands will follow.
• The correct seating position creates good feedback since you can feel what the car is doing through the seat. With both hands on the wheel, your line of vision will be straight out of the windshield. Then, adjust yourself to the pedals, especially the brake. You want to ensure you can press the brake entirely to the floor with the knee still bent.
• The “9 and 3” steering hand position is better than “10 and 2” since it gives you 200 degrees of motion. Moreover, do not grab the wheel underhanded since airbags deploy at 200 mph and can easily break your wrist.
• BMW is a fan of 50/50 weight distribution since it offers four equal contact patches, the area of your tires that always touch the ground. Braking leads to deceleration, which shifts weight distribution to the front for better traction since it increases the contact patch. Therefore, brake into a turn and accelerate out of turns to shift traction back to the rear. Never accelerate into a corner!
• Mirror adjustments. For blind spots, instead of seeing the majority of your car in the mirror, adjust it so you see only a little of it.

Next was an alertness test as we organized at the double lane change activity area. David directed everyone to keep their eyes up, hands and arms relaxed, left foot on the dead pedal, and not to look at the cones. “My favorite course was the lane changes because it taught me how to move fast in different lanes just in case of an emergency,” said Aya. “I accelerated at a certain speed, and when the BMW approached the cones, I quickly steered into the next lane and only used braking after finishing the complete turn.”

Another monumental lesson was learning about A.B.S. and hitting the brakes hard for panicky stops. Yes, you can mash the pedal as much as your leg provides strength. More importantly, many drivers must realize they can brake 100% and still steer. Thanks to A.B.S., the vehicle will not lock up, allowing it to maneuver around the looming crash object. What is fascinating is how much extra distance is needed when just five mph is added to your acceleration pace. When doubling the vehicle’s speed, four times the stopping distance is required, not double as most would suggest.

By the end of the day, you’ll better understand what it means to push yourself and a BMW to the limit. Combining everything learned from the day’s activities, the young drivers competed in the Teen Challenge Course, which combines braking, lane changes, wet and dry surfaces, and proper vision into one complete exercise. Can you put it all together for the fastest lap? Lastly, you can visit the gift shop for authentic BMW Performance Center gear to show your peers that you are part of an elite teen driving group.

As a father of two young ladies and the publisher of Automotive Rhythms, I am astute enough to know that one can never receive enough experience and professional instruction behind the wheel. In today’s world, spearheaded by digital communication, kids are bombarded with nonstop information, from social media to texting. There are so many distractions in their space that getting around town safely and soundly becomes inundating. Parents, please sign your new drivers up to as many schools, clinics, and programs as possible. The investment is well worth the commitment due to the excessive amount of teen driving deaths in the United States. Think of their safety over your convenience first!

All in all, Aya had a magnificent time at the BMW Performance Center for the One Day Driving School, which is ideal for neophytes ready to hit our busy streets and highways. For more information, prices, and inquiries, visit https://pds.eventsbmw.com/ or call 1-888-345-4269.