Dirtfish Rally School

What an amazing experience. The entire staff and facilities are top notch, and they treat you like family the entire time.
My instructor was Nate and not only did I learn a lot from him (When I actually listened) but he seemed there to make sure I had fun. I think it was great he put my fun before great technical driving as I wasn’t going to become a rally driver in one day anyway.
Also the facilities are first class inside and out. They maintain the tracks all day long and ensure they are ready to race. That was rather hard since it rained almost all day, but we always stayed dry inside buildings throughout the facility. Even when we were not in the car we had a great time watching the other drivers race around form the hill the waiting building was on.
The classroom time was even fun and not long at all. Most of the day you are learning behind the wheel, but the two short times you are in the classroom it is entertaining and never boring.
I could not recommend Dirtfish any higher. Get out there and enjoy it! My only regret is not signing up for a three day class and only doing one day.

Can you say greatest experience ever!!! These guys really have their stuff together, not only is the experience bucket list worthy, but the property itself is panoramic vision, and the facility is high class status, its like an amusement park on steroids and the driving is in a whole category of its own as life experiences go. Drivers are top notch and really professional and John in sales makes sure everything is above and beyond, also you get a decent lunch, snacks and drinks, and can play Xbox on breaks in full on driving seats with steering wheels… #BestTimeEver

My best friend and I got this as a gift from my brother and boy was I absolutely blown away. We did the AWD Subaru full day class. This was way too much fun for a day! From start to finish. Every staff member exceeded our expectations. Even the lunches brought in we’re fantastic. I can’t stop raving about this place! I even brought in flyers for my clients to hear about it. Can’t wait to go back and do the 3 day class. We did Go-​pros which I highly suggest, the photographers were crazy if you ask me, getting so close to capture that amazing shot of the day. Been wearing my hoodie to show off this completely awesome experience and of course to show off that I have mad driving skills. Thanks DirtFish, we will be back soon!

I’ve been to few different driving schools and Dirtfish is the hands down the best school I’ve been to in my life! When going to most driving schools, you too often get the stereotypical egos and attitudes that far too many pro drivers have. Plus they often cut you off for having a bit too much fun with their equipment. At Dirtfish I saw such a guest focus, mellow attitude and professionalism that I was floored. They really let you explore the capability of your skills and play hard with the cars. Granted, you have to listen to your instructor but if you do they will get you to progress the right way.
Kudos to Winston and the team of drivers that made our corporate event the trip of a lifetime for our winners!
I will return in the future, I’m hooked and this is still far cheaper than getting my own rally car!

Its ridiculously fun. You get less driving time than you would hope for. Dont waste your time with the 2 hr deal. The half day is the bare minimum. The thrill ride is so fun. You will want to learn the scandi flip

This place needs a warning… ** Caution, may be habit forming! **
I had a blast here. a few of my co-​workers and I just did the 3 day RWD class, learning to control/​slide the Subaru BRZ around various tracks on dirt, asphalt, mud, slop, deep mud, and transitions to and from all of the above. It rained very heavily the day before we arrived and dried out on the 1^st day, then drizzled on and off the remaining time. All this sounds really messy, but it was a little mud on the shoes from walking to/​from the car and a little mud on the back of the pant legs from getting in and out of the car (you swing over the roll cage and catch mud on the sill).
It was very exciting, a little frustrating and ultimately rewarding. After 3 days it all came (sort of) naturally. Just a note of caution, I don’t recommend doing left foot braking in the rental car on the way back home or to the airport… the vacuum boost makes it anything but smooth and your passengers won’t really appreciate it ;) The track cars don’t have power brakes, so the left foot gets a good workout and is kept very busy. It takes about a day and a half to get comfortable with left foot braking if you haven’t driven like this before.
Most of the cars are manual transmissions, although you really use 2^nd most of the time, although you can grab 3^rd on the last day in the longer straights and on the slalom. They have an automatic too apparently, but I never saw it. Don’t let not knowing a manual transmission stop you from this fun course. It’s a great way to learn some skills and the amount of shifting is really limited.
The instructors are all great. Very helpful and most provide a lot of feedback. They all seemed to have positive things to say, even when I *know* I was in the wrong place on the track, or hit the brake too late or did one of dozens of other things wrong. It’s nice to have the encouragement when you know you screwed up.
It’s a little expensive for the session, but you have an instructor at all times with you in the car (for this class). You’re never alone on the course and they will help keep you safe with their input, the brake and a kill switch if things go really wrong. It’s motorsport, so there is risk involved and accidents can happen, but there was never a time that I felt unsafe. They limit the class to 5 cars, which is 10 students, half driving and half observing.
They provide nice lunches from a local café and their facilities are well kept. They have several tractors to fix holes and ruts in the track between sessions so even though the road may degrade (which is one of the limits you need to learn to drive to) you start each lesson with the surface in good shape. The cars have a rough life but are also well maintained (and they have a spare just in case) and most importantly, the team here know their stuff!
I can’t wait to go back to do the 2 day advanced RWD when it’s available!

Dirtfish is a gorgeous facility with top driver coaches and a highly professional staff. You could easily do a retreat or meeting here followed by track time. Having done a number of racing programs such as Skip Barber, this one is on par with the best. It is costly but a real deal when compared to peer programs nationally. We took a non-​profit board for an appreciation day and everyone had a blast. A few tips. If you have a group and really want to drive, try to see if you can negotiate one car for every two students. That way you can drive, get a breather and then go right back in. Also, I would not recommend this for really obese /​overly rotund people (heavy /​tall is fine) because the entry into the car with the roll bar is slightly gymnastic and a squeeze. Also, the lift, turn, brake, gas process they train along with lengthening /​focusing your sight lines is valuable. Just understanding the weight transfer function of the car is powerful. Do bring your Go Pro cameras. They have mounts all over the car. For those that are skittish, you never really go that fast and your odds of injury are much higher on I-​90 coming over. It is about 8 minutes away from Salish Lodge and we had lunch there afterwards and it was perfect. Do dress casual and wear clothes that are comfortable and don’t mind getting a little bit of dust /​dirt on. I wore jeans, a t-​shirt and old tennis shoes and that was perfect.

Truly a unique and top-​notch experience that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys driving. It may be rally school, but what you learn about handling a car is going to benefit you across the board. Every instructor is patient, supportive and absolutely lovely. A day or two at DirtFish would make an unforgettable present; the recipient would be giddy for years to come.

An unbelievable experience. I recommend any parent to send their teenager to Dirtfish for life-​long driving skills! My son has become an amazing driver as a result of the numerous classes he took at age 16. Now, at age 19, he is currently the youngest Rally-​America open class race driver in the 2014 national series. They progressively advance your skills, even if you’ve never driven a stick. It is such an amazing group of instructors, clearly loving their job. I am looking forward to their newest addition of «co-​driving» classes.

By far the best rally school in the US. Take it from somebody that used to work for the competition! You will drive real rally cars and learn from excellent instructors that currently and actively race rally. Did I mention it’s also priced the best?

Quite expensive, but damn is it a lot of fun. I did the 1 day course and had a really good time. If you have any sort of interest in rally cars or even just driving, it’s a real treat to go. At the time that I went, they had 10 Subaru STIs all decked out and ready for rally racing (estimated value, $ 100-​$ 150k).
The one day course starts out by teaching you the basics of driving on loose surfaces. They progressively teach you more techniques and by the end of the day, you get to do a fairly complex course they call «The Link».
Only regret was that I didn’t do a longer class. I was just starting to get the hang of it at the end of the day when we were ending.
All of the instructors are very nice and very patient. They clearly like doing what they do and all of them were enthusiastic and encouraging.
The other reviews are pretty accurate. I’ll just add that if you have any excuse to come out and spend a little money, it’s well worth the fun.

If you’ve ever watched any kind of traditional hard surface racing, like NASCAR, F1, or IndyCar, or if you’ve ever played any road racing video games, or, heck, if you’ve ever driven a car on a road, you might find this kind of a challenge. Dirtfish starts from the very beginning of their course trying to teach you how to go fast on a loose surface. And that method does not involve carving the nice, smooth, apex to apex racing line you probably are going to want to drive if you’re any kind of motorsports enthusiast.
No, instead, it’s all about weight transfer, timing your braking and steering, and understanding that the car can only accelerate and decelerate in a straight line. So keep that throttle on until way after you think you should turn. *Then* cut the wheel and brake to get the back of the car to rotate. New steer out of that skid and accelerate. You’re driving straight lines from apex to apex. And here’s another important point — going fast on gravel does not involve massive, four wheel, tire spinning, gravel shooting, yee-​hawing drifts around every corner. That’s awesome… but it’s not fast. I see a low review from someone who I think thought they were going to get to let it all hang out quite a bit more. So I’m just saying, set your expectations accordingly. This isn’t just a gravel powerslide session, it’s a precision go fast session. Trust me, you’ll probably be pushing your comfort level unless you’ve got many many years of loose surface experience.
The cars are all Subaru STis, a mixture of ex-​Subaru Team Rally USA cars and more recent self-​prepped vehicles, but all with stripped interiors, roll cages, etc. Pretty cool. The facilities themselves are very nice, with several classic rally cars (an Escort RS, a Cosworth RS200, and ex Richard Burns and Colin McRae WRC cars) and a huge collection of big name racing suits. And most importantly the instructors are very good at what they do — they stayed on me the whole time when my road racing fandom threatened to interfere with what I was supposed to be doing, and did an amazing job of noticing every little tiny thing I was doing wrong. All I had to do was lift my foot a quarter inch off the brake pedal (they want you left foot braking, so I had to fight my instincts) and he’s telling over the radio to put my foot back. I felt like I got good instruction. My dad, who was with me, maybe didn’t have quite as good of an instructor though, so your mileage may vary. I do wish they wouldn’t move quite so fast? I feel like they do throw a lot of new techniques at your very quickly. And I understand this is so you can get moving on to more advanced and more fun segments of their facility, but if you’re like me and you struggle a little bit to remember everything, maybe that’s a negative.
It’s expensive, but it’s a whole lot of fun. It’s a chance to do something you probably won’t get to do in «real life», even if you have a fast car and an empty road. For your money, you get a pretty good amount of «stick time» — call it 3+ hours in my 8 hour session, with maybe two hours for lunch/​instruction and the rest watching the other people in the class drive, which is surprisingly instructive as well. I would absolutely recommend this to any motorsports fan.

Do you want to do a 4 wheel slide around a turn? Are you a person that wants to learn how to properly race a real rally car? Yes? Then dirtfish is an outstanding place to learn the ”Right” way to do that.
I however am a person that grew up in an area with lots of icy roads in the winter and thousands of miles of dirt roads in the summer. So the thrill of hanging the tail out was a little muted for me at dirtfish. The environment is very safe and the cars get so much grip that you never really get squirly enough for me. It’s the same reason I didn’t like autocross. 4 wheel slides are heavily frowned upon in autocross.
So my low review is ONLY a result of my lack understanding of how professional drivers go fast on dirt. Personally I prefer to go slower with more excitement and less traction. A snow covered empty parking lot is where I plan to go next time I want to drift my car like my version of a rally driver.
The school was safe, professional, and very informative. It’s definitely worth a shot. The skills you learn may come in handy if you ever find yourself on an icy road.

We took the 2 days class, it was incredible, I loved it.
Couple pieces of advice, wear comfy cloth, and get the insurance, it’s easy to damage the car (you’re rallying after all).
First day expect to do a bit less driving because you should be learning the tools and methods of rally driving. Whereas the second day was simply a blast, lots of driving, lots and lots of adrenaline.
The whole experience is really well run, you get a kick for the money, all the instructors are great (especially Nate, Don and Adam), the whole team is friendly, helping out, explaining everything really clearly. The whole set up is really safe and top of the line.
Be aware: this is a lot of fun and can be addicting :)

3 of us did the half-​day lesson last week. Absolutely amazing. It’s an amazing combination of a revved up, hands on, exhilarating experience sliding a 300 HP souped up car around dirt and mud corners, while still being extremely safe. I thought the staff, the class, the course, the whole thing was just tremendous and really well done. This is not a couple of guys in a garage, this is a really well run operation, and it is tons of fun.
After 20 minutes of quick classroom instruction we hit the course. You take turns with half of the class driving, and half of the class watching, with a pro sitting in the passenger seat instructing you. You are driving close to half the time, which is probably about right, any more and you wouldn’t have time to digest.
My only complaint is once done i was just begging for more.
Looks like the special rates we paid on ZOZI are still available: updated!

SOOOOOPER FUN!
It’s 7pm… and I’m still riding high from the Adrenaline, Excitement and Fun from the morning ½ day class.
The Euphoria of hitting your line and sliding through a perfect turn… there’s nothing like it.
I don’t have any special driving skills… heck… I don’t even drive manual everyday but this was something I wanted to do… so I did it. AND… I’m SO GLAD that I did it. I’m Hooked… I CAN’T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!
(Note, in the ½ day class you don’t leave 2^nd gear so you don’t need to worry about shifting or being in the proper gear… in case anyone out there is concerned about that… as long as you have a little experience with a stick you’ll be fine. Trust me. On the flip side, if you think that’s too slow or too easy… take the class and see if you still think that after the class.)
Got lucky and there was just me and another guy in the morning ½ day class. So, we got more seat time. Plus, we didn’t have the added stress of having more people as an audience to embarrass ourselves. Because I did plenty of that … Spun out more times than I’m sure most any other student… but Winston was SUPER PATIENT… This guy doesn’t get mad… and I know I pushed him … because I was frustrated and laughing and pretty much all over the place. But he knew how to settle me down and get me re-​focused. He truly has a gift for instruction.
Me and the other student took turns with Winston riding shotgun with us in the car while Don was our instructor when we were taking a break to catch our breath, relax and watch n learn while out of the seat.
Don and Winston are Fantastic! I’m sure all of the instructors are equally as great. After meeting a handful of DirtFish employees… they all exude a fun, open, welcoming aura.
I can’t say enough good things about DirtFish.
Its people are TERRIFIC!
Its facility and classroom are nice, clean, professional and well appointed. The bathroom had showers and a changing room in case you get too muddy and need to change before heading home.
Its tracks and courses are set up to teach, train and challenge you.
Its cars are SUPER FUN… their Subarus STIs are rally ready vehicles… with 300hp there’s a lot of giddy-​up to play with. And play with it you will.
I may have missed something …
OH YEA… The grin that stays on your face for the rest of the day… and quite possibly the rest of the week.
Again, if you are «thinking» this might be fun? IT IS! More fun than should be legally allowed for «civilian», non-​race car drivers.
I don’t know ‘when’ I’ll be back… I just know that I WILL be back.
Until then… I’ll be chanting… LIFT. TURN. BRAKE.
TIPS:
— You will get dirty… so you may want to bring a change of clothes or at least shoes.
— Wear comfy clothes… layers… don’t want to be too bulky.
— Helmets run big… I was able to wear my ballcap under the helmet to give it a better fit.
— Drink water in between driving and waiting… you tend to get a bit dehydrated from all the fun you are having.

I was lucky enough to experience the joy of rally at Dirt Fish as the host of a corporate event. Forrest and Don were great hosts. Our customers loved the experience and couldn’t stop thanking us for an incredible tine. I had Winston as my coach and he was ah-​mazing!!! Never thought I’d learn to drift on both gravel and tarmac but he’s an expert and made me feel like one too! I’m definitely coming back and treating myself to a full day of driving. I can only imagine what I’ll be able to do after a full day of coaching! If you want to feel the excitement of Christmas morning again, treat yourself to a day at Dirt Fish!

Have you ever done crack? Well, I haven’t but I’d imagine it’s just as addicting as driving one of these little suped-​up rides. I’m not exactly sure what the hell is under the hoods of the bright orange Subarus but I what I do know is they feed on Priuses and emit pure radiation. If you’re addicted to Gran Turismo and need a real-​life version to help quelch your thirst, this will not cure you. This is like chasing the dragon. Some millionaire guy started this school to get people hooked on this and I’m sure is making more money creating addicts. The guys who work there are pretty badass instructors. If you are up to it, get ready to be drenched in mud, and/​or women when they see what an awesome driver you are.
(Disclaimer: I came as an observer, bought as a gift for a friend when they first opened. Still won’t shut up about the place. It’s been over a year)

So, as a last-​minute gift to myself for my birthday last month, I decided to do-​something-​big/​purchase the 2-​hour Taste of Rally. Fortunately, for me, it was also during some promo pricing.
The lobby, staff and classroom building is very clean, sharp, modern and well-​stocked with goodies and even 2 retired (?) rally cars: one is an old school GC8(?) Impreza STI (btw, I’ve played the first 4 Gran Turismos and my garage was always filled with dozens of, and 90% of, Subarus! :-)) and the other is a Focus (?). The bathrooms have the gravity-​stop seats (so they won’t slam down). Above the couches in the lobby, there’s a 3-​shot panoramic picture of back in the day when the former-​mill site was alive and bustling — really cool — looked like a small city!
For the Taste, it consisted of a briefing in the classroom and a small course that links to the transition tarmac outside down the hill. Upon getting transported down there, we 3 rounds for each of us and then the Final Round which is the Thrill Ride. The course is designed for you stay in 2^nd gear so the only time you shift is leaving from a stop (tarmac, stalling or you somehow end up off-​course). I think my instructor was Don and he was the perfect combination of heckler, supporter, complimenter, teacher and backseat driver. =) Each Round consisted of about 2 – 3 passes:
Round 1:
60% butterflies/​anxiety, 40% excitement.
Round 2:
50% butterflies/​anxiety, 50% excitement.
Round 3:
20% butterflies/​anxiety, 80% excitement.
…
Round 4:
100% butterflies/​anxiety, 100% excitement. (The Thrill Ride is less nerve-​racking when you try to «see through» the driver’s FOV — Looking Ahead… and when you don’t hit your head against the roll-​cage, to which I did not, yay me!)
It’s definitely a super fun experience when you’re able to floor it and feel the car «give out from beneath you» and feeling her whip from side-​to-​side when you over/​understeer.
If you can drive a stick and are looking for atleast a once-​in-​a-​lifetime experience, I recommend you trying this out!
*en route back to the building in van while passing through large old building*
Driver: «Recently, there was Rally Cross event here and drivers passed through here going 120 — -
(… HOLY SH*T???)
—-mph and then had to do a 90 degree turn at the end.»
WOW! And the surface was full of small bumps, too. This is why I’m no professional rally car driver… I’m not crazy. ;)

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.
This was the most legitimate fun I’ve ever had behind the wheel. Where else can you get in an honest-​to-​goodness rally car with 300 horses, slide its ass out on a 120 degree turn and grin ear-​to-​ear doing it?
The half-​day lesson was composed of a classroom, skidpad, slalom and Boneyard. Few basics in the classroom discussing weight distribution, car physics, then a quick shuttle ride took us to the track with our cars and instructors.
We started out learning how to swing the back of the car out on the skidpad. After practicing a few times going in a circle they took us to the slalom course to start using left-​footed braking topped off with the Boneyard, a mini-​course that includes a straightaways to hairpin turns.
The hands-​on was oh-​my-​god awesome but the final ride with the instructors going full blast was just as much fun.