Girl Power at the BMW Performance Center

By Erin

*This is a sponsored post for A Girl’s Guide To Cars and the BMW Performance Center, all opinions are my own.*

Imagine about 30 girls who love cars, and fast cars at that. Now imagine that but at the BMW Performance Center in Thermal, California. Yep, well that’s exactly what happened recently at A Girl’s Guide To Cars #Drive2Learn conference held in Palm Springs, California. I only love one speed, and that’s fast. Fast horses, fast roller coasters, and of course fast cars. So you can only imagine how thrilled I was to learn we would be getting to drive around in fast cars at the BMW Performance Center on the test tracks. You know I was excited! (Be sure to stick around til the end here, there is a HUGE giveaway at the end of this post that YOU will want to enter for a chance to win so that you can experience the BMW Performance Center for yourself along with some other fun goodies!)

One of the best things about going to the performance center is that you get to test all of the BMW vehicles and take them to their limits while learning some valuable skills. For an amazing experience where you can see what a performance vehicle is really capable of, you need to head to the BMW Performance Center ASAP! This would make for an awesome Christmas gift.

The BMW Performance Center West is a permanent performance driver training facility located in Thermal, California, near Palm Springs. The facility is open to the public and offers a wide range of driving schools for people of all ages and capabilities. There are also special programs for private and corporate groups.

The BMW Performance Driving Schools are taught by BMW professional driving instructors on a private course. Our instructor Adam was amazing. We also got to do a hot lap with him later, which was even more awesome! The classes provide individuals with the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the Ultimate Driving Machine® and learn skills like basic car control, proper vision, emergency and panic braking, handling last-minute lane changes, distracted driving, high-speed control, precision driving and much more.

Set in a backdrop of breathtaking mountain views, the facility features a brand new, luxurious modern building, up to 5.1 miles of expansive track layouts, meeting space, a gourmet café, gift shops, and a truly unique experience. Check this view out, there’s even a hot air balloon in view in the top left corner!

Our Experience

We did a 1/2 day session and it was a bit of a hybrid of 3 different courses and almost an hour of classroom training where we learned the correct posture to have in the drivers seat and how to maximize speed while maintaining our safety in the corners and straightaways.

Once our classroom session was over we were divided up into three smaller groups of about ten girls each and each group was assigned a track experience. Our first experience was on a small timed course, where we partnered up with another girl  and our instructor showed us how to drive one of the BMWs on the road course; where we had a few practice laps and we always had communication with him via radio. Safety always came first. Communicating via radio he told us the best way to navigate the track and which cones to follow to help us with the turns. Then it was race time. My time improved every lap and I was really hoping to break 30 seconds and get a 29, but on my last lap I hit the breaks a little too soon to get into the stop box (since it was at 25 seconds when I started breaking) and ended up with a 30.1! UGH! Good reason to go back again now, right? Ha! 😉

Next up we drove our vehicles over to a longer road course that was like a race track. We drove in pairs again and we “followed the leader” (our instructor) around the track at high speeds practicing different skills. On our last lap around, it was pedal to the metal, and we got up to speeds of 130mph! Such a thrill!

The last experience was another small technical course where we got to try out ALL of the different BMW models! It was super fun testing the limits of these powerful vehicles around tight turns as fast as we could maneuver them. After this as a special treat we went over to the 2nd track we were on that was like a race course and got to do a ‘Hot Lap’ with our instructor from the classroom session with Adam, now THAT was totally awesome and something I’d love to do again! Imagine going speeds over 100mph and then drifting. We even drifted right into the pit area at the end! Talk about a rush! I think we all wanted to go for a second and third lap if we had the option to!

Driving Schools

Now you might be thinking, ok well that’s nice and all, but what kinds of classes can WE sign up for? Well let me tell you, there is a wide range of driving schools at the BMW Performance Driving Center that are offered to individuals and groups alike. Below is a list of classes and brief description of each.

• Car Control School: Take the wheel of a BMW and head out to the track, where professional instructors will hone your driving skills. Understanding stability control, knowing what to do when a vehicle starts to slide on the wet skid pad and practicing proper vision through the lane-change course will allow you to anticipate situations on a real road. Offered either as a one-day, or for even more in-depth instruction, two-day course.
• Teen School: There’s a lot for brand-new drivers to keep in mind, and the BMW Teen School will allow them to experience how a vehicle feels at the limit in the safety of a closed environment. From wet skid pad exercises and panic braking to performing a double lane change, teens will leave with a solid foundation of vehicle control and a big smile.
  • Available as either a one or two-day curriculum.
• M School: Take the wheel of a high-performance BMW M vehicle and experience the power of M firsthand. Accelerate, corner and brake faster than you ever have before, then learn to maintain control in low traction conditions on the wet skid pad and keep 400 horsepower under control. End the day with a hot lap in an instructor-driven M vehicle. Available as a one-day, or for even more pulse-pounding excitement, a full two-day course.
• M Track Drive: Featuring the most powerful and responsive vehicles, the M Track Drive will put you behind the wheel of an M car for six exhilarating laps on an FIA Certified race track. Follow an instructor’s car for a warm-up lap and learn the proper line for achieving the best time. Then, try to keep their car in your sights as speeds and g-forces increase, pushing your M car to its considerable limits. 
• MINI Motoring School: Take a John Cooper Works MINI Cooper and run it through an autocross course, lead/follow session, and some stunt driving techniques, all under the watchful eye of a professional instructor. The mighty MINI will have you grinning from ear to ear all day long.
• MINI Tricks and Stunts School – The first half of the day gets you intimately familiar with the MINI’s handling and capabilities, but the fun meter gets cranked to 11 in the afternoon. You will cover silky smooth reverse donuts on the skidpad, J-turns, and reverse turns.

For Pricing and more Info Check this out: 

Track Meet

Have some driving fun while you expand your business network. Start off with a classroom session explaining performance-driving concepts, followed by track time with our instructors. Track meets can be tailored for many different needs and may include a gourmet food and beverage reception.

Private Instruction

The instructors at the BMW Performance Center have years of professional racing experience under their belts. Spend some time with them at the track for one-on-one instruction to help you hone your driving skills.

Group Events

Your team is at its best when all parts work as one. This concept will be reinforced with specific track exercises that engage your workers and allow them to focus on the task at hand: driving a BMW as hard as they can. You can customize your event however you see fit, and there is a gourmet cafe, coffee bar, WiFi, and large-capacity conference rooms you can use.

*GIVEAWAY TIME*

Yay! You made it to the end! 🙂 This is the super fun part! We are giving away a drive experience at BMW Performance Center West, an overnight stay at Miramonte Resort and more! How awesome would that be to improve your driving skills in the newest BMWs and have a relaxing getaway in Palm Springs? Enter for your chance to win this awesome experience! Good-Luck!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Contest rules: Entries must be completed by 11:59PM Pacific December 31st, 2018. No purchase necessary; contest open only to US residents 18 years old or older and subject to the laws of the state of California. Winner will be chosen by random drawing from qualified entires and verified by A Girls Guide to Cars; winner will be notified by email no later than January 7th, 2019. Prize will be delivered by USPS to a valid US address; prizes cannot be shipped to a P.O. box. Winners may be asked to provide identification to receive their prize. Prize valued at $1,200, not exchangeable for cash or other items. Prize is limited to one (1) night accommodations at Miramonte Resort, Indian Wells, CA with date of accommodation subject to approval by Miramonte management; one (1) breakfast for two at Miramonte Resort; one (1) half day driving instruction and hot lap package for one person at BMW Performance Center West, Thermal, CA. Travel and additional accommodations are the responsibility of the winner. Contest is administered by and prizes awarded by A Girls Guide to Cars, which assumes no liability for the administration of this contest. Miramonte Indian Wells Resort, BMW Performance Center, Visit Greater Palm Springs Area, and all other event partners assume no responsibility or liability for the administration of this contest. A total of 1 grand prize will be awarded.****

*Relax in Paradise at the Miramonte Indian Wells Resort*