Dirtfish Rally Driving School

Recently my son and I attended the DirtFish Rally Driving School, located a short distance east of Seattle in Snoqualimie, WA. As the name indicates, DirtFish is a place where you can go and find out what driving a real rally car is all about. The school cars are Subaru WRX STI and BRZ, prepared to take on the demands of a gravel course rally. The facility is located in an area formally occupied by a large sawmill and lumber processing facility. The terrain is mainly flat and encompasses 315 acres. There are multiple tracks.

We signed up for a 1/2 day session driving all-wheel drive WRXs. After a brief classroom session, we loaded into a bus and drove out to the first feature, basically a large rectangle being used as a skidpad. As discussed in the classroom, the all-wheel drive cars are a “point and shoot” car, in that when you get to a corner, you apply some brake to plant the nose, turn the wheel, and adjust braking to break the rear loose and bring it around. When the car in pointed in the new required direction, you center the wheel and throttle out of the corner. In retrospect, I gather this is a little different in rear wheel drive cars, which may benefit more from a classic tail out power drift. Whatever, we learned how to apply this technique first on a skidpad and then on a slalom course. One car and one instructor are shared by 2 participants, who take turns in the car.

The final feature was a short coarse with muliple turns. I realized, as you might expect, that this is easier said than done but I was able to achieve a few decent cornering events, along with some real stinkers.

For the big finalie, we did a ride along with an instructor. As you might expect, they carry a lot more speed and have outstanding technique, allowing them to basically scare the daylights out of us. That part was quite entertaining, to say the least. The youtube link posted below shows just a short clip of the entire run.

Of course, the reason this facility exists is to give folks a chance to experience and maybe take up the sport of rally. Unfortunately, none of this comes cheap and, as noted by the instructors, it is very tough on cars. The Dirtfish staff spend a lot of time and money keeping the cars maintained, which is reflected in the price of admission. Our group had a good day, with no major offs and only one flat tire.

It was a lot of fun and definately a nice bucket list event for any car enthusiast. And who knows, if you have the desire and the deep pockets, it may be the perfect entry into a thrill ride of a hobby.