Finding a birthday present for a 16-year-old is a challenge. Finding a truly memorable one is even tougher, but the parents of Finn crushed it: they got him ProFormance Racing School’s Teen Driver Street Skills Clinic. Parents are always grateful for the boost in safety that the course offers. But what makes it the best birthday present ever – a phrase we hear week-in, week-out – is that it’s an absolute blast.
The Thrill of the Drill
The morning session allowed Finn to participate in on-track exercises promoting advanced car control skills. He was able to push his car to the limit to find out how it behaves in situations a driver might encounter. Finn said his two key takeaways were, “first, knowing what the car could actually do in a panic situation and knowing that I could get out of it, and second, understanding my reaction times and thought processes in different situations on the track, and knowing how to prioritize what was important.”
Not too many birthday presents teach such valuable life skills or bring on that kind of self-discovery.
The Knack of the Track
After an ice cream break and Don’s famous Tech Walk with Enzo, Finn took part in the afternoon track session, applying the skills he learned in the morning. “I still can’t believe a kid with probably less than twenty hours behind the wheel, still in Driver’s Education, was able to do hot laps with GT3’s and Beemers,” says his father Keith.“ He even bragged a little and said, “Dad, I lapped the Alfa!” and, “The Porsches had a hard time hanging with me coming out of the corners.” Fun aside – and there was plenty of it – Keith says that his son took the core material of the class onboard, realized his limitations, and learned how to work within the driving environment safely.
The ProFormance Touch
Both Finn and his dad were very impressed with Don and the staff of instructors. “You guys have a top notch operation,” he says. “It was your people that made it magical and memorable.” The “memorable” part is no exaggeration: every teen who goes through the Street Survival Clinic has stories to tell for years to come.
A Lifetime of Learning for a Teen Driver
According to his dad, Finn is already explaining, to anyone who cares to listen, the intricacies of vehicle dynamics, negotiating curves, and the proper ergonomic set up in the car (9 and 3 and distance from wheel) before going driving (his mother was his first victim!). “I’ve already seen a huge jump in his confidence and comfort behind the wheel,” says Keith. “Mission accomplished – though the learning never ends!”
ProFormance’s Teen Driver Street Survival offers all the instruction and guidance of our One-Day High Performance Driving Experience with some added emphasis on areas that affect teen drivers. That makes it a perfect parent-teen experience as well; the course takes place alongside the adult Driving Experience.
Got a teen birthday coming up? Want to make an impression on them? ProFormance gives you the chance to send them on a life-altering adventure, improve their driving, give them more thrills than they could hope for, and get them back at the end of the day, safe and sound.