Car Control Clinics – Teens and Adults

For over two decades, the Glacier Lakes Chapter of Audi Club North America (ACNA) has taught hundreds of individuals to become better, safer, and more confident drivers. Our Car Control Clinics are the perfect place for teen or adult drivers to have fun while improving their driving skills.

A Commercial driver’s education course teaches the principles of road awareness and safety for prospective first-time drivers. Courses generally cover what we call the basics: Road signs and what they mean, principles of being a safe and responsible driver, how to operate a motor vehicle, traffic laws, and theoretically how to handle those emergency situations.

But did drivers who attended such a course get the experience necessary to know how quickly they can safely stop their vehicle? Or how wet roads or going off-road, such as swerving onto the shoulder of the highway, can affect driving dynamics?

We take things a bit further.

Our one-day program combines classroom sessions with behind-the-wheel exercises. Drivers learn how to handle their car in various driving conditions and situations while receiving coaching and encouragement from their trained instructor sitting in the passenger seat. From slalom and skid pad exercises to braking and accident avoidance, we’ll teach you or your teen in one day skills that were not taught or practiced in the standard Driver’s Education class.

Our Teen Car Control Clinic is the perfect place for teen drivers to have fun, improve their driving skills, and build confidence practicing in a group of their peers.  Teen Clinics focus on drivers 15-19 years of age with a valid driver’s license or learner’s permit. Teen drivers have similar backgrounds and experiences, and tend to be more comfortable learning in a group of their peers. They’ll spend time in the classroom learning about things like how vehicles react under acceleration and breaking and what a ‘contact patch’ is and why it’s important. Then they’ll head out to the closed driving course with a trained instructor in their passenger seat to apply the things they discussed in the classroom. Parents/Guardians have the opportunity to sit in on the classroom portions, and to observe their teen in action on the course as they support the program by helping to reset course cones when needed.

Our All Ages Car Control Clinic is open to all drivers with a valid driver’s license or learner’s permit. The format and goals are the same in this clinic as those in the Teen Car Control Clinic. The age range of the students is the only difference.

Our Car Control Clinic Goals are to:

  • Improve overall awareness of driving position & its effect on the ability to control a vehicle
  • Educate on the physics that affects car handling & how to use physics to advantage
  • Improve ability to control a vehicle in all weather conditions
  • Improve ability to control a vehicle in both normal and emergency driving situations

Click here to read more about our Clinic Format, Objectives and Curriculum

Imagine the challenge of blasting down the course and then braking hard enough, and at the right time, to stop in a space no larger than the average garage. Or, imagine driving through the slalom course, weaving through cones, and feeling the car swaying as the weight shifts side to side. Then trying it again on a wet course to learn what changes.

Perhaps the most challenging and the most fun is the accident avoidance exercise where the driver has to do what is the total opposite of what they might expect — stop in front of a green light — but not before changing lanes and braking. This exercise has three lanes with red/green lights at the end of each. All three lights start out red. As the student approaches, the light in one lane turns green. The student must get their car into that lane with the green light and stop. It’s difficult but rewarding when done successfully. It’s also a powerful lesson in reacting to the unexpected.

Drivers find the exercises both fun and tough—they’re designed to teach drivers how both they and their car react in various conditions.

Check out this video to see what our Control Control Clinics offer!

Ready to Register?

Find an upcoming Car Control Clinic at: https://acgl.motorsportreg.com/

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