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Thread: Hi, my name is Loren. I own a Mirage.

  1. #11
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Subcompact Culture View Post
    Hey, Loren! Glad you found your way to Mirage Forum!

    - Andy
    It's all your fault, man.



  2. #12
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Top_Fuel View Post
    Love the videos!!!
    I think this one is my favorite. I had to put music over it to mask the cursing. If you look really closely, you might notice the slightest little slide in that last little left before the turn-around. That made me shift my focus to the cone wall that I didn't want to slide into, and I lost focus on the exit apex of the turn-around. When I looked back up to spot that apex, my DAMNED PHONE that I was shooting the video with was completely blocking it. (I don't mount my phone there any more) Couldn't see the apex, guessed, turned in way too early... and had to give up a bunch of momentum to keep from driving into the grass!

    It's funny, I picked up the nickname "the Professor" at autocross many moons ago because I generally keep a calm demeanor whilst flogging a car through the cones. But, when something goes wrong... while I might still look and behave calmly... the words come out!



    Oh, and this is the one we don't like to talk about. This is the day, nay, the very MOMENT that I decided to get serious about modding the suspension on the Mirage. See if you can spot it.


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  4. #13
    Hi, Loren! Great intro thread.

    What type of driving do you teach? Full-time gig?

    Coincidentally, I used to teach defensive driving (99% to new drivers) a lifetime ago. And that was also the closest I've come to auto-x, introducing students to murdering cones in our "emergency maneuvers & braking" lesson:

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    I spent a stupid amount of money on high performance driving schools & lapping days for a short while back then too.

    Only instructing I do these days is some very occasional eco-driving/hypermiling lessons, just for fun.

    Anyway, welcome to the forum!

    Darin

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  5. #14
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    I teach street driving. Mostly teens and young adults, but also occasionally adults who never learned, or need a refresher for whatever reason. I'd love to do more "active" defensive driving stuff with them, but I really don't have a good place to do it. I get in-depth into quick stops, even ABS stops, but I don't usually press them for evasive maneuvers. People usually don't give me the time.

    I started doing it about 12 years ago, did it for a year or so part time, and decided it didn't pay enough. (because I would get booked for a single appt, get paid for 90 minutes, but it took me 20 minutes to get there and 20 minutes to get back... so 2+ hours for $18 = meh)

    Then about 4 years ago, I happened to be out of work and a friend of mine who owns a driving school happened to pipe up on a local forum saying that he was looking for full-time instructors. I ended up working for him for almost 3 years. Not quite full time, I tried to limit myself to 30-35 hours per week. I find that three 90-minute lessons per day is enough for me. I could do 4 or even 5... but, it's a bit much. Hard to explain. It's not that it stresses me out. I'm quite calm and relaxed. But, I'm very much "on" during a lesson. I have to SEE absolutely everything before it happens, and my driving style is to narrate a lot, so I'm TELLING the student what I see in an effort to get them seeing the same things. Basically, once we're past introductory skills, I'm trying to get them to look and think further ahead. When they start reacting to what I see before I tell them about it, I know they have it!

    Anyway, I'm in a position where I don't need a great deal of income (house is paid off, woohoo!), and I have a second income stream that provides half of what I need, and my wife works. I was thinking seriously about starting my own driving school and either working the same hours and earning more money, or working less hours for the same money. I could go either way. But, I was maxed out on what my friend was going to pay me... which wasn't bad ($40 per lesson, or about $20/hour) compared to what any other school would pay. But, with lessons going for around $90-100 in these parts, and a never-ending supply of clients... there's more money to be made.

    Pitched the idea of opening a school to yet another friend. He's bored with his career, a little too stressed, looking for a change. Long story short, we partnered and started a school last year. Opened the doors in November, took our first appointment in December, and business is slowly ramping up. For now, it's just me and him with one car.

    I are an entrepreneur!

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  7. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Loren View Post
    I don't usually press them for evasive maneuvers. People usually don't give me the time.
    I was lucky - 99% of my students bought a package: 20 hours in class (different instructor) and 15 hours in-car, following a standardized lesson plan (with flexibility to focus on individual needs within reason).

    So everybody got the fun stuff hands on: cone-killing emergency swerving/braking session; ABS vs non-ABS; highway speed gravel shoulder drop-off recovery; highway head-on collision avoidance; rear crash avoidance, etc.

    The in-car curriculum even included eco-driving techniques. But of course the majority of time was spent on typical driving tasks.

    PS: congrats on the new business!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  8. #16
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    That sounds like a fun and thorough program! I wish I could get students for 15 hours. Typically, it's more like 6-9 hours. We encourage lots of practice between lessons, of course.

    I don't try to teach hypermiling to my students, mainly because I don't want to hear it from their parents. "We're paying you good money to teach our kid to drive safely, why are you wasting time on this nonsense?" But, I do point out things as a part of safe driving. "See that traffic light down there. It's red. We're going to stop for it. Why are you burning gas? You could be coasting already!" And I'll explain that they can easily improve their fuel economy by 10% or more just by thinking that way.

    I also sneak in a little racing theory between the lines. I try to get them to visualize and "take ownership" of a curve rather than just reacting to it and yanking the wheel. Visualize, set up, look through, try to make the curve less of an arc, spot the end of the turn, etc. Totally teaching them the classic racing line with proper turn-in, apex and track out... but, I rarely tell them that unless I know that they're already big into racing games or something.

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  10. #17
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    The school that I started with had a program for 15-year-old beginning drivers. It was something like 20 hours in class (no idea what they taught, probably road rules and "don't drink and drive" stuff... I do remember that I didn't have to explain right-of-way and stop signs and right-turn-on-red and stuff like that as much then as I do now), and then 3 or 4 90-minute lessons. But, to make the package affordable, the lessons were shared. I had 3 kids in the car, and I had to switch them out so that all got equal time. It was sort of good because they got to see what the other two students were doing, but not nearly as good as an individual lesson.

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    Suspension Lessons

    Hi Loren,

    Although different suspension setups and upgrades have been discussed repeatedly in these forums, I believe you may be have one of the most extensive journeys on setting up the suspension for good handling, avoiding rollovers, keeping all wheels on the road, etc. While keeping it street-friendly!

    I got the 2019 Mirage just out of the gates in blue and love the thing. However I do struggle to find the handling and body-roll adequate when taking those 270 degree off-ramps or trying to gather speed on winding roads before merging. Earlier today I had to do a short-notice maneuver to avoid getting side swiped on the freeway and the mirage's suspension seemed to overreact and basically give up while bouncing from side to side in an almost comical way.

    I don't have a garage to work on, nor much spare time, therefore any changes I much would be relying on a shop doing it for me. What would be your take on a direct route for a suspension upgrade? I'm just trying to make it behave properly!

    Regards!
    Stedman

  12. #19
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    For street use, I'd just get a standard coilover kit. The Godspeed kit that I have is adequate. Put it on the car and set it as low as you're comfortable with. Keep them adjusted to full soft, or very near that, especially in the rear.

    Add a rear swaybar, and you should be pretty happy.

    "Streetable" is relative. Right now, I think my car is uncomfortable and awkward on the street. It's too stiff, bouncy, and creaky. But, it handles GREAT! I think the big difference from the initial setup is that I put even stiffer springs on the front back in December, and then lowered the car another 1.5" after watching my co-driver get about 8" of air under both of the right side tires. It's a lot more stable now, and I'm less nervous autocrossing it. But, I've decided that I'll never fully trust this car, and never drive it to 100% unless I go FULL race car with it... which I'm not going to do.

    I'm retiring my Mirage from autocross duty next month. (bought another Miata to play with) At that time, I'll probably raise it up an inch, put the softer front springs on the front, do what I need to do to fit a smaller set of wheels and tires (I bought a set of 15x6.5 wheels w/ 185 tires), and just generally tweak it for better street manners vs. its current autocross-optimization.
    Simplify and add lightness.

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  14. #20
    Welcome to the forum, Stedman!

    Do an intro post if you're going to stick around.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


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