I agree with the driving school and the seat time. I went to another event on 10/31/10 and did pretty well, considering. I rode with a couple of the more experienced drivers and I had one of them ride along with me in my car on a couple laps. They showed me some of the "tricks to the trade" and it helped my lap times considerably. One was driving a Evo IX and the other a 1993 N/A MR2. Both cars were pretty fast on the track. Anything under about 56 seconds was a good time per lap. Under 50 seconds was fast. My best laps were 55.7, 55.7 and 55.3 seconds. The MR2 ran 50-51 sec and the EVO ran 48.5 sec. My tire pressures with the Hoosier's were around 40psi front and 35psi rear. This seemed to work pretty well for the most part. Surprisingly, the car was able to rotate in the rear (oversteer) quite a bit and I even spun out and off the course on one run. Pretty wild in a FWD car. I guess the front had too much grip and with the lower tire psi in the rear, it caused it to lose control. I was told that I was over driving the car in the corners and slalom sections and coming in a little too hot, causing my exit speeds to suffer. There is so much damn body roll on the car that it's easy to do. One of the more experienced guys said that I was already making my next move with the car before the car had settled from the first move. In regards to brakes on my car, I have akebono street/performance pads on the front and rear and cryo rotors front and rear. Stock calipers and lines though. The brakes stop really well, but I may upgrade to a more aggressive pad and stainless steel braided brake lines for a better feel. Since the air intake on my car already puts me in the prepared category for SCCA, all of the mods that I'm considering should only help me to compete in the class and not put me in a higher class.