Advanced & Performance Driving - The Book!

[R8VXF]

R_U_LOCAL said:

I'd appreciate people's suggestions for further chapters.

When I update the book, I'm going to include a final chapter on cornering (I never really felt I'd finished cornering so I'll cover lines through corners and balancing steering & throttle) and a final chapter on motorways - if you read all the motorway stuff you'll realise I never covered motorway exits and I'm worried there may be people endlessley circling the M60 with no idea how to leave!

I'm also writing a section which describes police driving courses in detail, finishing the trackday chapters, giving my version of how to apply the Roadcraft system of car control and a piece I've been thinking about for a while covering how different roads have different "rythms".

As with everything else in the book, I'll be posting each chapter in this forum over the next few months so everyone will get a chance to read it for free eventually. If you've already bought the ebook, you'll get all the new chapters for free as soon as I've released them, and if you'd prefer a real, live, paper and print book, that'll be available too

But have I missed anything? Is there anything else you'd like me to cover? Anything you've always wanted to know but were afraid to ask?

Let me know. I'm laid up with flu at the moment so it'll give me something to do in between bouts of dying.

I think at the moment I am at the stage of I don't know what I don't know if you get what I mean. I am looking forward to further updates though

[R_U_LOCAL]

Variomatic said:

Holding out for the paper version here but other half has been tipped off in case it's available in time for my birthday

I'll do my best - when is your birthday?

With reference to the print version, it should be possible to produce it in 6" X 9" for just under a tenner, but thats with black & white photographs, so I'm trying to make sure that all the pics work in B&W. The alternative is to use colour pictures, but its significantly more expensive - close to £20 which I think is prohibitively expensive.

Would anyone pay £20 for a colour print copy?

R8VXF said:

I think at the moment I am at the stage of I don't know what I don't know if you get what I mean. I am looking forward to further updates though

Shouldn't be too long now. In the meantime, if you're looking to improve, try to break it down into individual "things" to practice every time you drive. If its gearchanging, start by just slowing the change down a bit. If its braking, just practice feathering the brake just before you stop to smooth it out. If its steering, just practice starting the turn smoothly and settling the car on its springs before applying more lock.

You can already drive, so there isn't really much you don't know - just take regular, small steps and you'll soon see an improvement.

[R8VXF]

R_U_LOCAL said:

Shouldn't be too long now. In the meantime, if you're looking to improve, try to break it down into individual "things" to practice every time you drive. If its gearchanging, start by just slowing the change down a bit. If its braking, just practice feathering the brake just before you stop to smooth it out. If its steering, just practice starting the turn smoothly and settling the car on its springs before applying more lock.

You can already drive, so there isn't really much you don't know - just take regular, small steps and you'll soon see an improvement.

Yep, have been focusing on the gear changes for now. I used to find that if I tried to drive smoothly I would soon start to smell the clutch, but after reading through the book, I am getting a lot better at it, though I do tend to find I do need to fully lift off the accelerator to get the revs to drop as a Supercharged 6.2 litre V8 can be a little slow to drop the revs. I tried the changing gear whilst holding a steady speed (40) and managed to get it into gears 2 through 6 and back again nice and smoothly though

Quite a bit of the stuff in your book I found that I had been teaching similar to my wife when she was learning a year and a half ago, so nice to see I was mainly on the right lines to start with, I just need to learn smoothness as the MiL isn't particularly impressed when I hoon it in the VXR8

[LordGrover]

I nearly got some work done, but now I'm going to have to read this.

I see your number one fan has given a one star review.

[R_U_LOCAL]

R8VXF said:

I do tend to find I do need to fully lift off the accelerator to get the revs to drop as a Supercharged 6.2 litre V8 can be a little slow to drop the revs.

Try lifting off the accelerator just before pressing the clutch - you might find the engine is more willing to lose revs slightly more quickly.

R8VXF said:

I just need to learn smoothness as the MiL isn't particularly impressed when I hoon it in the VXR8

Rule number 1 of advanced driving - never take your Mother-in-law with you.

LordGrover said:

I nearly got some work done, but now I'm going to have to read this.

I see your number one fan has given a one star review.

Yes. On the basis that I'd misplaced an apostrophe and used "compliment" instead of "complement" in the blurb, that clown gave the book a one-star review. He hasn't even bought the book!

That's the internet for you...

[R8VXF]

R_U_LOCAL said:

R8VXF said:

I do tend to find I do need to fully lift off the accelerator to get the revs to drop as a Supercharged 6.2 litre V8 can be a little slow to drop the revs.

Try lifting off the accelerator just before pressing the clutch - you might find the engine is more willing to lose revs slightly more quickly.

I have started doing this to be fair, but when you are only at 5% throttle to keep a steady speed throttle modulation is a fun task

R_U_LOCAL said:

R8VXF said:

I just need to learn smoothness as the MiL isn't particularly impressed when I hoon it in the VXR8

Rule number 1 of advanced driving - never take your Mother-in-law with you.

Unfortunately I sold the car purchase idea to the wife on the fact it is a 5 door so her mum could sit in the back rather than in the beemer having her sit in the front and the wife in the back

[ShampooEfficient]

Would also love a paper copy...

[R_U_LOCAL]

If you thought I'd gone back into hibernation over the last couple of weeks, I've actually been unwell, but I've used my time productively and completed the update to the ebook.

I've produced a better-looking cover and re-written the introduction, which I was never completely happy with.

I've also added ten new chapters to the book:

An additional chapter on motorways, which describe how to leave the motorway correctly.

A couple of extra chapters on cornering, where I explore cornering lines and how to drive through the corner.

A few chapters where I describe police driver training and the different courses available to officers.

A chapter on horn use.

A chapter on the zone of relative safety.

Now, the updated version of the book has been available in the Kindle store for the last week, but I've been having a battle with Amazon about making the new content available to people who have already bought the book.

Amazon have taken a week to review the updates and emailed me this morning to let me know that the content will be available to current owners free of charge, so, if you've already bought a copy, all you need to do is log into your account on the Amazon.co.uk website, click on the "Your Account" button next to the search box, and then click on "Manage Your Content and Devices" in the drop-down box.

You should then be presented with a list of all the kindle ebooks you've purchased, and there should be an option to update your copy of my book.

Amazon have been pretty unhelpful so far - they should email all current owners to inform them of the update, but they told me this morning that the updates were "quality corrections" and they would not be emailing current owners about the update. I'm in the process of challenging this decision.

Could a current owner please have a go and let me know if they have successfully downloaded the update? Thanks.

And for those of you waiting for a print version, I've been using Createspace to edit the content into a print version - a much harder and time consuming piece of work than I'd ever have imagined.

The edit is now complete and uploaded and I just need to make a few small amendments to the cover. It should be completed and uploaded to Amazon this evening.

There is a review process to go through, but I'm hoping to have the print version selling through Amazon within the next week. It'll be £9.99, so I managed to get it completed for under a tenner.

I'll keep you updated.

[LordGrover]

All went well.

It appears as effectively a new book so bookmarks, furthest point, etc. are scrapped.

[R_U_LOCAL]

Thanks for the update!

[tulloch]

Although I've read most if not all of the posts the book is well worth it, in fact cheap at the price. Thanks Reg.

[SK425]

R_U_LOCAL said:

Yes. On the basis that I'd misplaced an apostrophe and used "compliment" instead of "complement" in the blurb, that clown gave the book a one-star review. He hasn't even bought the book!

That's the internet for you...

Did you notice he'd missed out a closing quotation mark at the end of his rant?

[R_U_LOCAL]

tulloch said:

Although I've read most if not all of the posts the book is well worth it, in fact cheap at the price. Thanks Reg.

Thanks for the kind comments! The update has quite a few chapters which I haven't yet posted in the forums. I will do, over time, but they're exclusive to the book for the time being.

SK425 said:

Did you notice he'd missed out a closing quotation mark at the end of his rant?

No I didn't! To be honest, I don't think his drunken late-night grammar nazi-ism has harmed my sales much & I've corrected the blurb, so his review now makes no sense whatsoever.

I've had some very nice reviews by several other readers, for which I'm very grateful and which comprehensively rebuffed the troll, so thank you to anyone else who has left a review.

I've just submitted a revised cover for the print book, which should be available within the week.

On to the next project now - a guide for newly-qualified drivers.

[R8VXF]

R_U_LOCAL said:

On to the next project now - a guide for newly-qualified drivers.

Really interested in this for the wife. She is still a little unsure should help a lot

Love the book so far by the way, haven't read the updated info yet though, but look forward to reading it,

[R_U_LOCAL]

The proof copy of the print book has been dispatched, so with a bit of luck, once I've corrected any errors, it should be available before the Easter holiday.

[Flat6er]

Any update on printing?

I have the kindle book in my amazon basket, but would prefer the hardcopy.

[R_U_LOCAL]

Flat6er said:

Any update on printing?

I have the kindle book in my amazon basket, but would prefer the hardcopy.

I'm still waiting for my proof copies to arrive. They're on their way from 'Murica - I'm a bit disappointed by the shipping time to be honest, although they did say they would arrive "on or before" 30 March.

The book is uploaded and ready to go, but I know I'll regret it if I don't prrof read a paper copy before putting it on sale.

I'll update this thread as son as it's available - hopefully in time for Easter.

[LordGrover]

R_U_LOCAL said:

I'm still waiting for my proof copies to arrive. They're on their way from 'Murica - I'm a bit disappointed by the shipping time to be honest, although they did say they would arrive "on or before" 30 March.

The book is uploaded and ready to go, but I know I'll regret it if I don't prrof read a paper copy before putting it on sale.
I'll update this thread as son as it's available - hopefully in time for Easter.

Proof reading always wise.

[R_U_LOCAL]

Exactly!

[caiss4]

Just read it cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's reassuring to know that the advanced training I received 35 years ago has not deserted me but looks like I could do with taking your advice on critical self-analysis to re-hone!

Oh, and on the subject of proof reading there is a single outbreak of 'license' at the end of the chapter on skid control