43 HOUR TEEN SKIDCAR SYSTEM TRAINING

You have given your child the best education by sending them to the best school you can.  Why not give them the best driver training course that you can to keep them safe in the most dangerous environment they will be in: driving on the road.  Maxwell Motorsports & Driving School now offers the SKIDCAR TRAINING SYSTEM®. Maxwell Motorsports & Driving School is the only private driving school in the South to have a SKIDCAR™. 

The course consists of 30 hours of classroom and 12 hours of driving instruction: Six hours of behind the wheel driving, 4 hours of observation and 2 hours of SKIDCAR™ training.

Price: $675 Per Teen Driver

If you want your child can take just the 3 HOUR SKIDCAR TRAINING SYSTEM class. 

Please call the office at 755-6777 for this course.

SKIDCAR SYSTEM®: SKIDCAR™ Training

We believe it is the driver's ability to make sound judgments that minimize risk and maximize their personal performance behind the wheel. The SKIDCAR™ training program is a flexible approach to helping maximize driver performance. Used as a component of a larger driver training program, the SKIDCAR™ validates correct driving decisions and techniques, further expanding the knowledge of the student.

The SKIDCAR™ Program

Our approach to driver training incorporates a learning process that develops cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor skills in addition to the development of motor skills. Rather than solely building confidence in a set of physical skills that may not be utilized for several months (and therefore may perish), drivers learn what their limits are as they directly experience what cannot be done in a vehicle. This develops a model of thinking. As we have experienced, knowledge does not perish at the same rate as physical skill.

• Stable Chassis Concepts
• Contact patch application
• Weight distribution
• Front wheel skids
• Rear wheel skids
• Rotational braking
• Line of Sight Covering Techniques

This introductory portion of the program focuses on vehicle dynamics, weight transfer and road conditions, and how they all relate to each other.

Field Experience

In the field, the students experience a variety of road conditions first-hand. Though an instructor controls the car’s grip using a hand-held controller inside the car, the SKIDCAR™ moves in direct response to the actions of the driver. Courses are laid out on a paved surface, using small cones to create a variety of layouts and challenges. Courses should tax a driver’s skill set, but not be so long that they exhaust the driver.

The Most Effective Driver Training Tool for Teaching Vehicle Control

The SKIDCAR™ SYSTEM® is an advanced driver training solution that teaches drivers to anticipate car control problems before they occur.

With SKIDCAR™, drivers experience exactly how a vehicle will behave in situations that can cause traction loss, including adverse weather, excessive speed, rapid braking or steering errors. But unlike other programs that simply teach reactionary motor skills, SKIDCAR™ trains drivers to think, maintain control, and avoid trouble ahead of time.

• Controlled driving techniques for use at all vehicle speeds under all road conditions.
• Low-speed training in realistic, high-stress environments, always under complete and fail-safe control of an instructor.
• Portable, affordable and virtually risk-free, with no chemical maintenance (unlike skid pans).

SKIDCAR™ SYSTEM®

The SKIDCAR™ SYSTEM® is a driver training program that represents a proven concept we refer to as "The Science of Controlled Driving." Based on a foundation of mind over motor, this approach builds and strengthens a driver’s understanding of vehicle dynamics, hones his or her sensory skills and teaches sound driving strategies, while refining a driver’s reactionary motor skill.

How does it work?

A SKIDCAR™ is an ordinary vehicle that has been modified with a set of "training wheels" that are controlled from inside the car. The SKIDCAR™ uses hydraulics to lift the car just enough to limit normal traction and simulate driving on wet pavement, snow, ice, or dry pavement. Using a SKIDCAR™, instructors teach a thought-based program of skid and accident.

SKIDCAR™ SYSTEM® Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a SKIDCAR™?
   A SKIDCAR™ is an electro- hydraulic wheeled steel framework attached to the suspension of a vehicle for driver training purposes. Through the use of an instructor operated electronic controller, the SKIDCAR™ can be adjusted to simulate speed and G-Force that can make a vehicle unstable and cause it to lose grip. Realistic driving dynamics can be experienced at a very low speed, within a small paved area and in complete safety.
2. How does it work?
   Through a multi-featured electronic controller, the grip can be adjusted from full grip to zero grip on both the front and rear tires independently from inside the vehicle.
3. What makes the SKIDCAR™ different than other skidding devices?
   The SKIDCAR™ is different from other skidding devices in the industry because of its ability to be adjusted to multiple front and rear grip settings. The adjustment of a controller with memorized settings can be easily used to change the grip of the vehicle to copy the handling characteristics of any vehicle. Front wheel skids (under steer) and rear wheel skids (oversteer) are easily programmed into the vehicle’s driving dynamics with the simple push of a button. The vehicle can be adjusted from full grip on a dry street, to the feel of an icy roadway in moments. You can fine-tune settings to replicate a Police car with too much gear in the trunk, then adjust for the feel of driving a pickup truck with no weight in the back in a matter of seconds.
4. Doesn’t the SKIDCAR™ ride too much like a go-kart?
   The SKIDCAR™ is attached to the SUSPENSION of the host vehicle. Mounting the frame in this way keeps the vehicle active and its own suspension working on top of the SKIDCAR™ SYSTEM. The SKIDCAR™ manufacturing incorporates flex into the steel of the frame and outrigger system. Along with flexible isolation mounts and deflection of the tires, all elements perform in concert to give the most realistic driving dynamic. Working with the movement of the attached vehicle, lateral and longitudinal weight distribution is maintained so proper driving dynamics can be reproduced. Once behind the wheel, the outriggers disappear from the driver’s sight lines and most times the driver is unaware there is anything under the car at all.
5. Why a SKIDCAR™ instead of a Simulator?
   The SKIDCAR™ gives a more realistic behind the wheel experience. Even in its most slippery settings, the SKIDCAR™ allows the driver to experience real dynamics, real emotion, and real physical response. The Instructor builds a bridge between cognitive information and the physical validation of a more realistic and "non gamer" driving experience. Cost is a major factor as well, as the price of a simulator is typically several times higher than the initial SKIDCAR™ cost or maintenance. This lower monetary investment also comes with the reassurance of knowing that the SKIDCAR™ training capabilities will be relevant for years to come, unlike simulators whose technology must be updated frequently at high expense.
6. What do you mean "It’s about Grip, Not Slip®"?
   At SKIDCAR™ we believe that the driver needs good information to maintain control of their vehicle. Understanding grip is a priority to understanding and maintaining skill levels to control skids after they have been made or occur. Every car in the USA today is designed from the factory to allow the front wheels to skid first. The rear wheels sliding or skidding is great fun, easy to train and gets all the attention. But the skid that kills is the front wheel skid (understeer). Its recuperation is entirely technical and not much fun. However, front wheel skids poorly acted upon cause the rear wheels skids that most drivers recognize, making them vitally important to recognize and avoid. With the incorporation of Electronic Stability Controls in most new Cars, Trucks and SUVs, controlling a skid will be left up to the ESC. The actual physics of slip (while nice to know) are not as critical to drivers today. The technologies of anti-lock brakes and ESC can correct errors faster and more accurately than the driver himself. Therefore, driver training courses and exercises should address strategies of managing and maintaining grip. Skids, slides, and small losses of grip are viable methods of inculcating the results of being technically correct (or incorrect) with regard to grip and safe driving. Less importance is relegated to sliding once the skid has started.
7. Is a SKIDCAR™ SAFE?
   The SKIDCAR™’s electronic controls, operated by a trained SKIDCAR™ Instructor, offer multiple "safe" buttons. While other training devices may effectively produce a skid, control of the vehicle cannot be regained by the student or the instructor if an emergency develops. In contrast, the SKIDCAR™ is totally controlled throughout the lesson. Full grip levels can be regained almost instantly, and the chances of the vehicle overturning are next to none. This feature removes the risk of injury and allows SKIDCAR™ the flexibility to be used in a variety of areas.