Driver training

[Phil7667]

Guys - as my Ro is my first performance car, I was considering getting some relevant driver training. Done some Googling - but any advice/recommends would be much appreciated. Thanks a million, Phil

[ARAF]

If you mean for the road, and you know any class 1 police drivers, get them to take you out and give some tips.

[GAL001]

Did the iam, found it a bit helpful but soooo boring!

[mik_ok]

Advanced driving (IAM / Rospa) courses are useful, but aren't geared towards performance car handling.

Andy Walsh' CarLimits days get very goid press, as do coaching days from Mark Hales / Don Palmer : if you ate willing to spenda bit more.

[ARAF]

I agree that Car Limits at North Weald are fun.

http://www.carlimits.com/

Quite a few from here have posted before, so it's worth a search

[stevieturbo]

The Palmersport one at Bedford always gets good reviews

[ARAF]

stevieturbo said:

The Palmersport one at Bedford always gets good reviews

The instructors there push you along faster and faster.

Reading between the lines, I think the OP wants to find out his and his cars limits in a safe environment, so that it doesn't bite on the road.

[ArnieVXR]

My advice is to read 10 pence short's thread and then think carefully about where you enjoy your car.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=442...

I'd recommend you take you car to a track or drag strip, saving the driving at sensible speeds so pedestrians can enjoy looking at your new motor.

[H5V VE]

ArnieVXR said:

My advice is to read 10 pence short's thread and then think carefully about where you enjoy your car.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=442...

I'd recommend you take you car to a track or drag strip, saving the driving at sensible speeds so pedestrians can enjoy looking at your new motor.

Bloody hell - that is a very sobering read indeed.

I imagine that there arent many people who cant look at that and take a deep breath.

[Behold81]

Not to be an arse or anything and no knowing why 10 pence lost his car but the biker sounds like he was riding too fast. Having past and trained advanced motorbike riding you should not enter a bend you can't stop in the distance you can see. Cars can be broken down, horses, cyclists, tractors etc could be met in a seconds notice.

As 10 pence, his fault or not he will felt responsible and yes I agree he probably was at fault in the sence that he caused the accident due to probably dangerous driving causing him to block the road. So it was avoidable. I think car drivers are given the blame too often for bikers own incompetence, arrogance or riding incorrectly to the road condition.

Either way I'm sure 10 pence would feel responsible and so would you if something happened your fault or not. More so if due to being a bit stupid on the road and becoming uncontrolled.

There are options to learn to drive better. Advanced driving is ok (better for bikes but you learn about awareness snd road reading).
There are braking and turning courses that are good to do. You learn a lot about car balance.
Drift days or skid pan days will assist you keep it in control on a bad moment.

I'm all for use the track to push hard but also enjoying the car on the road within reason.

[StefanVXR8]

I did a day with a company called Ride Drive and I'd highly recommend it! I did the course in the URL.

After I completed the course I got a certificate that saved me almost the price of the course by means of an insurance discount.

Stef

[StefanVXR8]

By the way, very, very sobering reading that about 10 Pence Short. I'd like to think I'm a reasonably good driver, I've only ever been bitten twice swapping ends on a wet road whilst playing with 460bhp! Luckily both occasions on a wide road, no traffic and no damage. I very quickly learned respect for RWD high power cars and since then I'm very sensible in the wet but I think having read that post has just switched a light on for me!

Stef

[EmmaJ]

StefanVXR8 said:

By the way, very, very sobering reading that about 10 Pence Short. I'd like to think I'm a reasonably good driver, I've only ever been bitten twice swapping ends on a wet road whilst playing with 460bhp! Luckily both occasions on a wide road, no traffic and no damage. I very quickly learned respect for RWD high power cars and since then I'm very sensible in the wet but I think having read that post has just switched a light on for me!

Stef

The trouble is our cars are so loud it makes people think you're going 3 times faster than you really are. Classic example the road where I live is a dead end so only resident access or visitors. One day a chap flags me down and starts to have a go about me speeding through the estate. I swear I only do 20mph (30 limit but not appropriate to do 30) and often have other residents tail gate me but this bloke is adamant I speed because of the noise of my car

I now make a point of doing 20 in 1st gear past his house rather than 2nd gear I'd normally be in.

[Behold81]

EmmaJ said:

The trouble is our cars are so loud it makes people think you're going 3 times faster than you really are. Classic example the road where I live is a dead end so only resident access or visitors. One day a chap flags me down and starts to have a go about me speeding through the estate. I swear I only do 20mph (30 limit but not appropriate to do 30) and often have other residents tail gate me but this bloke is adamant I speed because of the noise of my car

I now make a point of doing 20 in 1st gear past his house rather than 2nd gear I'd normally be in.

Yeah I get that a lot coming in to my business park.

[IanLWarrington]

The IAM occasionally offer 'skills days. You don't have to be a member and they are exactly what you are asking for. I did one at Mallory Park a few years back (Vauxhall Vectra 2.6 at the time) and one at Croft earlier this month. You get one to one tuition with a skilled driver (they have a mixture if professional instructors (police, fire, racing etc) and, believe me, you get to go as quickly as you can cope with - but in a very safe environment. I did 5 laps a Croft and I was the only car on the track. Cost about 120 for the half day - and they had one of those skid simulators there - that was great fun! Can't recommend it highly enough Go to the IAM web site to find out more. Don't think there are any planned just now but heard there might be one in August in the North East. They happen all over the country though - and you can register an interest.

Best of luck,

Ian

[IanLWarrington]

PS - I got in more than 5 laps. There all morning. Was just explaining that they don't cram the track with cars so you get great runs and no overcrowding!

[vxr2010]

Driving well is not always about driving fast , I'm assisting the other half at the mo, she's had a licence for some time but not developed her skills that much , we are working on the basics when she's good at that then I will build in a bit more of a challenge , I'm not that close to you I'm in herts but if you are talking about getting the basics right cornering position etc then I'm happy to help , I instructed for about 7 years and have done a number of other courses , if the basics at normal speed are good the rest will work

[StefanVXR8]

EmmaJ said:

The trouble is our cars are so loud it makes people think you're going 3 times faster than you really are. Classic example the road where I live is a dead end so only resident access or visitors. One day a chap flags me down and starts to have a go about me speeding through the estate. I swear I only do 20mph (30 limit but not appropriate to do 30) and often have other residents tail gate me but this bloke is adamant I speed because of the noise of my car

I now make a point of doing 20 in 1st gear past his house rather than 2nd gear I'd normally be in.

Yep, I know exactly what you mean had a few instances like that myself too.

Stef

[SturdyHSV]

StefanVXR8 said:

EmmaJ said:

The trouble is our cars are so loud it makes people think you're going 3 times faster than you really are. Classic example the road where I live is a dead end so only resident access or visitors. One day a chap flags me down and starts to have a go about me speeding through the estate. I swear I only do 20mph (30 limit but not appropriate to do 30) and often have other residents tail gate me but this bloke is adamant I speed because of the noise of my car

I now make a point of doing 20 in 1st gear past his house rather than 2nd gear I'd normally be in.

Yep, I know exactly what you mean had a few instances like that myself too.

Stef

Agreed, even when the mundane Astra diesel in front is rapidly putting distance between us as I'm going 20, I get the sour look as I'm clearly the problem here

[SVS]

StefanVXR8 said:

I did a day with a company called Ride Drive and I'd highly recommend it! I did the course in the URL.

After I completed the course I got a certificate that saved me almost the price of the course by means of an insurance discount.

+1 for RideDrive. This is a great course, good fun and highly recommended

Alternatively, have you considered the High Performance Club? A half-day "taster" with one of the club's gatekeepers would be relatively affordable and the instruction is world-class.