Ride Drive Performance Car Driver Training
Discussion
Every year, around this time, I tell myself that next year I'm definitely going to do a Ride Drive course...
I'd love to hear from any of you guys who have done one of these courses in the Tiv
Hopefully the mods won't move this, I've posted this here because I'm specifically looking for the experience and views of TVR drivers, our cars being a little different from the majority of other high performance cars
Which course did you do? What aspects of the course were most beneficial, has it/did it change your driving style, and has this lasted, or have you over time reverted to your pre-course driving style?
Thanks in advance,
Chilli
I'd love to hear from any of you guys who have done one of these courses in the Tiv
Hopefully the mods won't move this, I've posted this here because I'm specifically looking for the experience and views of TVR drivers, our cars being a little different from the majority of other high performance cars Which course did you do? What aspects of the course were most beneficial, has it/did it change your driving style, and has this lasted, or have you over time reverted to your pre-course driving style?
Thanks in advance,
Chilli
Yep, I did one a couple of years ago in my Chimaera. I did the full day course, with a session of handling and a few hot laps of Long Cross proving ground.
My aim was to re-submit my driving to expert scrutiny - I did advanced driving training with RoSPA a decade or so ago. One thing that I felt was weak about that training was the coverage of advanced overtaking, so I wanted to build my confidence in that area.
So we spent a full day driving around Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex, generally overtaking the hell out of anything that didn't move fast enough!
They take a much more pragmatic approach to driver training than the traditional advanced driving organisations. With Ride-Drive, you are expected to drive at a safe speed, but they recognise that safety doesn't have to mean slavish adherence to speed limits. You won't be encouraged to break the limit, but you won't be criticised for it either so long as you're safe. My focus on overtaking made it necessary to break the limit frequently, and this is probably why it is so poorly covered by the traditional organisations which take a much more literal view of limits.
Afterwards you get a detailed report on your driving and how you improved during the day, and what you can still work on.
I recommend giving them a call to discuss any particular objectives that you have. They will tailor your day to your previous experience and whatever you want to achieve. The guy that runs it is called Julian IIRC, and he's a friendly chap. If you decide to go ahead, then you'll be allocated a trainer in your local area - mine was a retired police traffic officer. You then make contact with them to arrange a date, and you'll typically pick the trainer up from his home in the morning.
It's not cheap, but it's money well spent IMHO.
Did it change my driving style? Not greatly, because I was already trained as an advanced driver and I strive to continue driving that way. But it has definitely given me more confidence to apply the overtaking techniques - I can now overtake more safely, and often take opportunities that most drivers would miss.
If you're not currently an advanced driver then it probably won't turn you into one in just one day, so I'd suggest that shouldn't be your aim. But you can definitely pick up some new skills and techniques that will improve your driving and help you get even more fun out of the TVR!
(If you do the handling stuff, you will inevitably scrub the outer edges of your front tyres!)
My aim was to re-submit my driving to expert scrutiny - I did advanced driving training with RoSPA a decade or so ago. One thing that I felt was weak about that training was the coverage of advanced overtaking, so I wanted to build my confidence in that area.
So we spent a full day driving around Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex, generally overtaking the hell out of anything that didn't move fast enough!
They take a much more pragmatic approach to driver training than the traditional advanced driving organisations. With Ride-Drive, you are expected to drive at a safe speed, but they recognise that safety doesn't have to mean slavish adherence to speed limits. You won't be encouraged to break the limit, but you won't be criticised for it either so long as you're safe. My focus on overtaking made it necessary to break the limit frequently, and this is probably why it is so poorly covered by the traditional organisations which take a much more literal view of limits.
Afterwards you get a detailed report on your driving and how you improved during the day, and what you can still work on.
I recommend giving them a call to discuss any particular objectives that you have. They will tailor your day to your previous experience and whatever you want to achieve. The guy that runs it is called Julian IIRC, and he's a friendly chap. If you decide to go ahead, then you'll be allocated a trainer in your local area - mine was a retired police traffic officer. You then make contact with them to arrange a date, and you'll typically pick the trainer up from his home in the morning.
It's not cheap, but it's money well spent IMHO.
Did it change my driving style? Not greatly, because I was already trained as an advanced driver and I strive to continue driving that way. But it has definitely given me more confidence to apply the overtaking techniques - I can now overtake more safely, and often take opportunities that most drivers would miss.
If you're not currently an advanced driver then it probably won't turn you into one in just one day, so I'd suggest that shouldn't be your aim. But you can definitely pick up some new skills and techniques that will improve your driving and help you get even more fun out of the TVR!
(If you do the handling stuff, you will inevitably scrub the outer edges of your front tyres!)
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Saturday 21st December 10:08
I have done 2 sessions now.
First was a 1/2 day course...up through Meon valley to the glider airfield in Surrey and focused on observation, approach to junctions/roundabouts/hazards and determining road speed using 'the vanishing point'.
I then did a full day course - much the same as Dr. Mike's above. Both very good input and you feel 'improved'. Well worth it IMO.
Nick
First was a 1/2 day course...up through Meon valley to the glider airfield in Surrey and focused on observation, approach to junctions/roundabouts/hazards and determining road speed using 'the vanishing point'.
I then did a full day course - much the same as Dr. Mike's above. Both very good input and you feel 'improved'. Well worth it IMO.
Nick
I got bought a day session for my other half as a present but she thought it was a complete waste of time & money. If you’ve never done anything like it before, it may be ok, but we had done quite a lot of the TVRCC track days by then & she had learnt so much from Colin & Helen on them that there was nothing new in the Ride Drive course. She wanted to learn more about control on the limit, but just had some fat bloke shouting at her to overtake all day, all we got was a bolt got ripped out of the chassis from in a dip in the road. He did take her on to the test track but didn’t explain to her what the point of driving round in circles was.
A while later I took her to the drift track at Oulton Park (it’s their tarmac rally stage) The instructors there had her on full opposite lock after two laps, she loved it & learnt loads. Best of all the tarmac has a special coating so you don’t wear your tyres down.
A while later I took her to the drift track at Oulton Park (it’s their tarmac rally stage) The instructors there had her on full opposite lock after two laps, she loved it & learnt loads. Best of all the tarmac has a special coating so you don’t wear your tyres down.
It's fair to say that Ride-Drive is road-focused rather than track-focused. Their training is not primarily about how to handle the car "on the limit", because you shouldn't be doing that on the roads anyway. If you want to learn about drifting, or how your car handles at the limit of grip, then you need to look elsewhere - Ride-Drive isn't really aimed at that.
Done two of these and I'd agree that a half day is probably a waste of time as you can't really get into anything. I did one with just road driving and the second with a skid pan session in the afternoon. (Last one was a RD instructor but not a RD course)
I agree if you've been driving a recent amount or are have had advanced driver training in the past it may not tell you anything new but if definitely focusses you on your thinking again and will perhaps tell you something you didn't know or had forgotten.
Skid pan was great and wasn't in the TVR.
Highly recommended
I agree if you've been driving a recent amount or are have had advanced driver training in the past it may not tell you anything new but if definitely focusses you on your thinking again and will perhaps tell you something you didn't know or had forgotten.
Skid pan was great and wasn't in the TVR.
Highly recommended
Hi everyone,
I did a full day a few years back and I though it really was worth it.
I did the full day in my Chimaera 500 and the instructor actually owned a Chimaera 400 (he confirmed that mine did handle much better that his: I just had new bushes all around, new Leven drop links, new classic Gold Pros fitted and the whole thing properly set-up by Str8six).
We spent most of the day driving on country lanes (at high speed buy within the right side of the law) a learned quite a bit: where to place the car before cornering, how to “read the road”, how to spot danger, etc… I learned stuff that I had forgotten (I was 40 and learned to drive at 18). Corrected a few bad habits and learned quite a few things relating to driving a “high powered car” in a fast but safe manner….
In the afternoon we spent an hour on the track at “Bruntingthorpe”. It was my first experience on a track and this is where I learned a lot on the limit of my Chimaera… The instructors made me spin the car at 70 mph (so that I experienced what happens and how to react / try to recover), he tough me on high speed cornering, high speed car control, breaking, etc… I took the Chimaera to 155 mph… After just 1 hour on the track I felt like I had learned a lot on the limit of my car and gained a huge confidence when it comes to taking my car to the limits…
It was a great day and I learned a lot which was really beneficiary as 3 weeks after I took my first real track day. I know that if I had not taken the course I would not have enjoyed the track day as much as I did.
I would fully recommend it.
Safe driving & merry Christmas to you all!
I did a full day a few years back and I though it really was worth it.
I did the full day in my Chimaera 500 and the instructor actually owned a Chimaera 400 (he confirmed that mine did handle much better that his: I just had new bushes all around, new Leven drop links, new classic Gold Pros fitted and the whole thing properly set-up by Str8six).
We spent most of the day driving on country lanes (at high speed buy within the right side of the law) a learned quite a bit: where to place the car before cornering, how to “read the road”, how to spot danger, etc… I learned stuff that I had forgotten (I was 40 and learned to drive at 18). Corrected a few bad habits and learned quite a few things relating to driving a “high powered car” in a fast but safe manner….
In the afternoon we spent an hour on the track at “Bruntingthorpe”. It was my first experience on a track and this is where I learned a lot on the limit of my Chimaera… The instructors made me spin the car at 70 mph (so that I experienced what happens and how to react / try to recover), he tough me on high speed cornering, high speed car control, breaking, etc… I took the Chimaera to 155 mph… After just 1 hour on the track I felt like I had learned a lot on the limit of my car and gained a huge confidence when it comes to taking my car to the limits…
It was a great day and I learned a lot which was really beneficiary as 3 weeks after I took my first real track day. I know that if I had not taken the course I would not have enjoyed the track day as much as I did.
I would fully recommend it.
Safe driving & merry Christmas to you all!
happy Christmas manThoroughly worthwhile IMO, sampling previous poster -
"We spent most of the day driving [making rapid progress]on country lanes and learned quite a bit: where to place the car before cornering, how to “read the road”, how to spot danger, etc… Corrected a few bad habits and learned quite a few things relating to driving a “high powered car” in a spirited and safe manner….
Ride Drive may be more geared to road driving, we did get to an airfield en-route but were too short of time (on a busy track) to join in.
I've also done courses at Silverstone, Lotus Elise, skid pan etc. all highly recommended... and when you think that you've nothing left to learn about driving, get the instructor take you round the circuit - just to show how little you actually know!
Steve
"We spent most of the day driving [making rapid progress]on country lanes and learned quite a bit: where to place the car before cornering, how to “read the road”, how to spot danger, etc… Corrected a few bad habits and learned quite a few things relating to driving a “high powered car” in a spirited and safe manner….
Ride Drive may be more geared to road driving, we did get to an airfield en-route but were too short of time (on a busy track) to join in.
I've also done courses at Silverstone, Lotus Elise, skid pan etc. all highly recommended... and when you think that you've nothing left to learn about driving, get the instructor take you round the circuit - just to show how little you actually know!
Steve
Edited by seb400 on Monday 23 December 20:12
I had a full day bought and paid for but went down a different route (so to speak) than most on here. I did 2 x half days so that I could learn as much as I could on one of the half days; then left it for a month and practiced what I had learned; then had the second half day so that I could be reassessed and get finely tuned
The guy I had was great - name of Pickles from memory, from Cheltenham way I think - and the 2 x half day approch worked for me.
He also recommeneded - which I bought - to get a copy of 'Roadcraft: The essential Police drivers handbook by The Police Foundation'
The guy I had was great - name of Pickles from memory, from Cheltenham way I think - and the 2 x half day approch worked for me.
He also recommeneded - which I bought - to get a copy of 'Roadcraft: The essential Police drivers handbook by The Police Foundation'
I did a half day, then a full day, and (because the runway surface on the first full day was so full of potholes, I refused to drive on it), a further full day.
I learned loads, and still put what I learned into practice, although I probably need a refresher as I've not driven the Griff much in the last three or four years (you do all remember the lack of summers, right?).
As has been said, they are for roadcraft, not trackcraft, and I think are well worth the money.
maggit
I learned loads, and still put what I learned into practice, although I probably need a refresher as I've not driven the Griff much in the last three or four years (you do all remember the lack of summers, right?).
As has been said, they are for roadcraft, not trackcraft, and I think are well worth the money.
maggit
I did a full Ride Drive day several years ago. I had the option of track driving or road driving, but I wanted to focus on stuff like overtaking techniques, car positioning, etc on the road rather than the track. I spent the day with a serving Lancashire trafpol who drove cars and rode bikes for Lancs.
It was really, really worth it. I felt like I had driven every road in Lancashire, and was knackered by the end of the day given that you really need to focus when you have a serving officer sitting next to you - particularly on the speedo! - but I would recommend Ride Drive to anyone. I do keep meaning to have a refresher day and have had it rolling forward on my Outlook calendar for a while. I still use the learning from the day.
Note that you can get the officer to complete a risk assessment on your driving, and this reduces the insurance premuims from Adrian Flux. Although I'm not with AF, I still had the officer complete the risk assessment, which demonstrates that I am 'low risk'. I inform prospective insurers of the Ride Drive day and risk assessment results - although ensure you don't mislead them by saying you are an Advanced Driver - although I'm not sure whether this reduces premiums for other insurers. Can't not help, of course.
You know it makes sense!
It was really, really worth it. I felt like I had driven every road in Lancashire, and was knackered by the end of the day given that you really need to focus when you have a serving officer sitting next to you - particularly on the speedo! - but I would recommend Ride Drive to anyone. I do keep meaning to have a refresher day and have had it rolling forward on my Outlook calendar for a while. I still use the learning from the day.
Note that you can get the officer to complete a risk assessment on your driving, and this reduces the insurance premuims from Adrian Flux. Although I'm not with AF, I still had the officer complete the risk assessment, which demonstrates that I am 'low risk'. I inform prospective insurers of the Ride Drive day and risk assessment results - although ensure you don't mislead them by saying you are an Advanced Driver - although I'm not sure whether this reduces premiums for other insurers. Can't not help, of course.
You know it makes sense!
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