Feature: BMW Driving Training‏

Story and photos by John LeBlanc Mont Tremblant, Québec - Without question, modern automotive safety technologies like anti-lock brakes and stability control systems have reduced traffic accidents and saved lives. On the other hand, most safety experts conclude: no amount of technology can help inattentive or careless drivers.

Back in Germany in 1977, BMW was the first automaker to introduce manufacturer driver training. Over three decades later, the program has grown from a single course into a wide range of training programs. As BMW says, it's purpose is to "improve the skills, awareness and reactions of drivers" either just getting behind the wheel for the first time or experienced driving enthusiasts looking to fine tune their skills.

Graduates of the $300 Compact course can then move on to the $495 Advanced and $895 Perfection full-day courses that expand and build on existing fundamentals. What BMW calls its "ultimate in driver training," the $3,250 Fascination I course, is a two-day event for driving enthusiasts who want to test their mettle on a real racecourse. The final and highest level is Fascination II. It's a $1,750 one-day track course that offers drivers who have completed Fascination I the opportunity to practice their skills with a full day of lapping. Part of the fun for most of the participants is the opportunity to drive a new BMW in a safe environment. If you're considering buying a BMW, any of their Driver Training programs are way better than the usual "around the block" test-drive. Plus there's no salesperson riding shotgun.

In Compact and Advanced, drivers pilot 300 hp BMW 335i Sedans with either manual or automatic transmissions. With the higher speeds encountered in Perfection and Fascination, all-new-for-2008 414 hp BMW M3 V8 Coupés with dual clutch transmission are being used for the first time this year, replacing the previous Z4-based M Coupés. Full disclosure: I actually attended the very first day of the very first Canadian driver-training program in April 2001, a birthday present from my wife, whom I thank profusely. Why? Mainly because BMW takes their driver training so darn seriously, to the point where even an automotive journalist such as myself can't jump the queue and enroll in courses without the proper prerequisites -- which I have done, thank you very much.

From its history in the 1960s as host to some of the first Canadian Grand Prix, the Circuit is where legendary drivers such as Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Bruce McLaren and Jackie Icxx battled. The opportunity to drive what's been called "little Nürburgring Québécois" is worth the cost of the two-day course alone to some. Keep in mind, BMW does not provide transportation to Mont Tremblant, or lodging. But preferred room rates are available at the Fairmont Tremblant, which is the host hotel for BMW when at the Circuit. Lunch is also catered both days at the track, and there's a group dinner for the participants on the first evening. And unlike the out-of-the-way tracks at Mosport or Shannonville, the nearby village in Tremblant has other activities if you want to bring along your non-driving partner. Just like the less intensive BMW programs I've attended, the first day of Fascination I opened with a brief theory session over breakfast in the hotel presided by chief instructor Savoy. While all participants have earned our stripes, Savoy still goes through the process of making sure everyone remembers the fundamentals before we jump into 330 hp M Coupés.

"People like to lounge at the wheel. I like to recommend lounging but only in front of the TV with the remote," says Savoy, who has taught such all-star students as Formula One world Champion Jacques Villeneuve and veteran racer Patrick Carpentier. "You should be in the business of driving: Two hands on the steering wheel, and looking down the road. Your earliest warning system is your eyes." Soon enough, we're in pit lane on the Circuit, nestled in our M Coupés, enjoying the view of Mont Tremblant's snowless ski runs in the distance. Where some of BMW's courses can have as many as 10 participants per instructor, the intensity of Fascination I limits the number of students to 12 partnered with three instructors.

We then proceed to various exercises that allow us to practice specific skills like heel-and toe downshifting, oversteer and understeer recovery, wet skid pad work, and threshold breaking. Equally important, some of these exercises are practiced at specific sections of the Circuit that are particularly challenging. Gradually, corner-by-corner, we learn the intricacies of the Circuit, while exploring the limits of the M Coupés and our own driving skills. Eventually, we'll lap the course in halves, and then by the end of the second day, lapping the full racecourse with much more confidence than when we started the morning before. Of course, a day like this only whets most enthusiasts' appetites. Which is why those who have completed Fascination I have the opportunity to progress to the next level, Fascination II. New car buyers are easily convinced to buy extra airbags, electronic safety systems or all-wheel-drive in the name of safety. But BMW's Savoy says North Americans don't really learn how to drive when getting a license, we merely learn how to read road signs and parallel park. "But there's more, so much than that to driving," says Savoy.