Detour Pit Stop #17: Hot laps at California's BMW West Coast Performance Centre

Pit Stops

Dec 30

California is littered with some of Detour’s favourite roadtrips, where you can lose yourself in a heady mix of open roads, inspiring scenery and wish-you-were-here weather. So much so, it’s hard to know where to start, with everything from the historic Mullholland Highway to more challenging adventures off the beaten track on the Rubicon Trail.

It also boasts one of the best high-performance driving schools that’s open to anyone who’d like to learn more about hustling a car from one bend to the next: the BMW and Mini West Coast Performance Centre.

This is where anyone visiting California can book a driving experience of their liking and try their hand at hot laps, drifting, stunt driving and all manner of other antics that involve roasting a set of brakes and shaving the tread off tyres. Heck, you don’t even need a driving licence, so kids can have a go too.

Needless to say, the good thing is you’re using BMW and Mini’s cars, rather than your own. So wear and tear doesn’t enter your mind as you tackle the fantastic facilities at Thermal Raceway, nestled in the sun-baked Coachella Valley, about a half-hour drive from Palm Springs.

Professional instructors will encourage you to get the best from your chosen car. Here, that’s everything from a BMW SUV or Motorrad bike to an M model or Mini in John Cooper Works spec. You can mess about, having fun with a Mini stunt driving school course, making like a scene from The Italian Job. Or you can take things very seriously indeed, with a solid two day intensive course in something like an M3, working away at your skills on a racetrack.

When Detour gave it a go, we tried the stunt driving and some track sessions. With the latter, we chased an instructor, who’d provide a running critique of your technique so you could pick out the right braking, apex and exit points. And they don’t hang around conserving the car – they want to push you to get the most from yourself and the cars.

The environment – Thermal Raceway – is arguably the most impressive private race circuit in the world. If you have time, drop in at the adjacent Thermal Club, tell them Detour sent you, and ask for a tour. You can become a member of the exclusive ‘private pavement’ resort, but only if you spend upwards of $3m on fees and building a private villa slap-bang on the edge of the circuit.

The villas are built around garages that can hold up to 20 cars and trackside properties overlook Thermal Raceway, so if you wake in the morning and want to trade lap times with a neighbour who’s on track, you can slip into your overalls, grab a set of keys and take to the track. But that’s another story, for another time on Detour.

Prices for courses at the West Coast Performance Centre are decidedly more down to earth, starting from $750. So next time you travel to California, whether for business or pleasure, set aside a day and treat yourself to some hot laps in the hot midday sun; you’ll wish they all could be Californian.

Words James Mills Twitter | Instagram
Photography BMW West Coast Performance Centre

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