Radford Racing School (Formerly Bondurant)

[Boricuoso787]

With the free 1-day course SRT owners get with the purchase of their car, has anyone done an “add-on” day? Is the school worth the trip for those of us who don’t live in AZ? I wrote the company to see if I could do an add-on to their free 1-day class (valued at $1,899). Their 2-day class costs $3,299. I expected they would agree to subtract the $1,899 from their 2-day price of $3,299 leaving a balance of $1,400 which I was happy to pay. Instead, they offered me their 2-day course for a discounted price of just over $2,200 (not counting travel, lodging and daily expenses while there); $800+ more than I was hoping to pay.

Curious to know if the second day’s events are worth the extra money. Extra events from day two offered over day one are as follows:

-Intro/Tour/Van Ride
-Heel & Toe Downshifting Lesson
-Heel & Toe Downshift Exercise
-(Additional) Handling Drill at Maricopa Oval
-ABS Braking Exercise
-Autocross Session

Thoughts?

 

[SilverBillet]

From previous reports, the one day is a little let down ...and total cost is way up there. The two or three Day seems to be the way to go if you can afford it. What I did is I found a 2.5 mile road course about 60 miles from me and signed up for a track day. It cost me $275. You get safety training, skid pad practice with an instructor (in their car) and then I had (4) 20 minute sessions on the track (in traffic) in my own car with an instructor and did one session with the instructor in his M5. It was a blast and I definitely enjoyed seeing what my own Hellcat could do on the track.

 

[Paladin06]

I’ve done the 1 day twice and it was a good day of fun and instructions. People came from all over the country to attend and everyone to a person had nothing but good things to say about the day. I highly recommend it. If you can afford the the 2 and 3 day do it.

 

[drag racer]

I did the 3-day Hellcat class a few months prior to the bankruptcy/fiasco that ensued shortly after. It was pricey but they let me use the SRT owner $1,000 credit towards tuition so that helped, and it was fantastic training and well worth it. I have no idea what the operation is like since all the troubles though. The instructors made the class, and I bet most of them are gone.

 

[TrackDay]

With the free 1-day course SRT owners get with the purchase of their car, has anyone done an “add-on” day? Is the school worth the trip for those of us who don’t live in AZ? I wrote the company to see if I could do an add-on to their free 1-day class (valued at $1,899). Their 2-day class costs $3,299. I expected they would agree to subtract the $1,899 from their 2-day price of $3,299 leaving a balance of $1,400 which I was happy to pay. Instead, they offered me their 2-day course for a discounted price of just over $2,200 (not counting travel, lodging and daily expenses while there); $800+ more than I was hoping to pay.

Curious to know if the second day’s events are worth the extra money. Extra events from day two offered over day one are as follows:

-Intro/Tour/Van Ride
-Heel & Toe Downshifting Lesson
-Heel & Toe Downshift Exercise
-(Additional) Handling Drill at Maricopa Oval
-ABS Braking Exercise
-Autocross Session

Thoughts?

Whether it's worth it is mostly up to your background and what you want to get out of the school. I skipped the basic class and did 2 days of the Advanced Road Racing school last summer when they had a 33% discount, much like I think they are running again right now.
It was a different experience when my first car overheated and they just swapped me into another one. Then they swapped pads and rotors and bled the brakes on my car after each day. It was like I was on a race team with a full ride.
Would I go back? Likely not, unless there were some activities on a higher speed track.
If you've never done limit driving like autocrossing, reaction testing lane change drills, heel & toe, etc. I'd consider the 2 day school. The seat time is worth it I think. After that, find a local club with good instructors like NASA for road courses or SCCA or the Evolution autox schools to go further. That's my recommendation.
While you're in Arizona spend a couple more days and go see Sedona, rent a Razr and go blasting around some desert, or do something else fun. Make it worth your while.

 

[Boricuoso787]

Whether it's worth it is mostly up to your background and what you want to get out of the school. I skipped the basic class and did 2 days of the Advanced Road Racing school last summer when they had a 33% discount, much like I think they are running again right now.
It was a different experience when my first car overheated and they just swapped me into another one. Then they swapped pads and rotors and bled the brakes on my car after each day. It was like I was on a race team with a full ride.
Would I go back? Likely not, unless there were some activities on a higher speed track.
If you've never done limit driving like autocrossing, reaction testing lane change drills, heel & toe, etc. I'd consider the 2 day school. The seat time is worth it I think. After that, find a local club with good instructors like NASA for road courses or SCCA or the Evolution autox schools to go further. That's my recommendation.
While you're in Arizona spend a couple more days and go see Sedona, rent a Razr and go blasting around some desert, or do something else fun. Make it worth your while.

Great info. Thank you!

 

[Designflaw]

I did the 1 day in May. I had a blast - took the wife for a long weekend and we got to spend some time seeing the sites in Arizona. The credit they give for the 1 day is 800.00 bucks now, so I didn't take it. Not much explanation as to why that's all if the 1 day is almost 2k so I assume that is what Dodge credits them.

They were very accommodating to my wife, she got to go through everything with us (no driving), and even got to do the Instructor hot laps on the track.

 

[Boricuoso787]

I did the 1 day in May. I had a blast - took the wife for a long weekend and we got to spend some time seeing the sites in Arizona. The credit they give for the 1 day is 800.00 bucks now, so I didn't take it. Not much explanation as to why that's all if the 1 day is almost 2k so I assume that is what Dodge credits them.

They were very accommodating to my wife, she got to go through everything with us (no driving), and even got to do the Instructor hot laps on the track.

Awesome! Sounds like fun. Thanks for the info.

 

[TorRedHellgato]

Meh. The SRT experience back in the day was fun.
This is a hassle to go fly out.
I’ll never forget the instructor when I got into the Viper. We introduced ourselves to each other, he goes hold on, he was listening to classic rewind, I’m Goin Down by Bruce Springsteen came on, he cranked it up to what seemed like the max at 38 and made that Viper do things on that track that I didnt think it could do. Lol

 

[Boricuoso787]

Meh. The SRT experience back in the day was fun.
This is a hassle to go fly out.
I’ll never forget the instructor when I got into the Viper. We introduced ourselves to each other, he goes hold on, he was listening to classic rewind, I’m Goin Down by Bruce Springsteen came on, he cranked it up to what seemed like the max at 38 and made that Viper do things on that track that I didnt think it could do. Lol

Sounds like the instructors made the experience under the previous management. I hear nothing but good things about that aspect of the course. Wondering how the instructors under the new name are. Thanks for the info.

 

[Designflaw]

Sounds like the instructors made the experience under the previous management. I hear nothing but good things about that aspect of the course. Wondering how the instructors under the new name are. Thanks for the info.

Same instructors - Most have been there for several years. I was told I was the last Bondurant class. Signs where already changed when we were there.