New discoveries?
Discussion
Is there anything that you think that you have discovered about car dynamics, control or driving in traffic (GDE levels 1 and 2), or the teaching thereof, that was unknown, or badly or incorrectly explained in text, in the context of driving until you discovered it for yourself.
The purpose of this is not to catch anyone out but genuinely to discover whether anyone has come up with anything new or if there has been transference of knowledge from other disciplines to the context of driving.
If you think you might have but aren't sure, please post it up anyway as there will probably be someone who can benefit from it.
The purpose of this is not to catch anyone out but genuinely to discover whether anyone has come up with anything new or if there has been transference of knowledge from other disciplines to the context of driving.
If you think you might have but aren't sure, please post it up anyway as there will probably be someone who can benefit from it.
Edited by Martin A on Wednesday 5th February 12:31
As there has been no input, let me give one of my own examples.
Many years ago while practicing drifting, when I worked at a skid control centre, I noticed that in a particular car it was difficult for me to move my right foot sensitively enough to vary the drift angle by just a small degree, my lack of fine control led me to move the gas pedal too much and then the oversteer often became uncatchable.
Having noticed this I then thought about how to position my foot to give better control. I reasoned that by moving my foot back and down on the pedal so that only my big toe was on it I would move the pedal less for the same amount of movement of my foot, so the control would be finer.
The theory seemed to stack up but the reality was that the results were not much better. What else could be the reason I wondered?
After much thought I came to the conclusion that it must be that there was now a greater distance from the pivot point of my heel to the pressure point of my toe, rather than the pressure point of the ball of my foot, which I had previously been using to push the pedal.
Thinking about how the pivot to pressure distance could be reduced I moved my foot sideways to the right so that the side of my foot was pushing against, and able to pivot on, the inner sill/A post.
This more than halved the distance between pivot and pressure point and bingo, suddenly I had much better control and could adjust the angle of drift at will.
So what does this have to do with real world driving?
Well it's a very useful tip for Learner drivers who struggle with control of the gas pedal, especially when doing manoeuvres. It enables them to set the gas and easily adjust it incrementally.
As far as I know this hasn't been written elsewhwere, nor has anyone I've ever spoken to heard of it.
So that's the kind of thing I'm looking for in this topic.
Many years ago while practicing drifting, when I worked at a skid control centre, I noticed that in a particular car it was difficult for me to move my right foot sensitively enough to vary the drift angle by just a small degree, my lack of fine control led me to move the gas pedal too much and then the oversteer often became uncatchable.
Having noticed this I then thought about how to position my foot to give better control. I reasoned that by moving my foot back and down on the pedal so that only my big toe was on it I would move the pedal less for the same amount of movement of my foot, so the control would be finer.
The theory seemed to stack up but the reality was that the results were not much better. What else could be the reason I wondered?
After much thought I came to the conclusion that it must be that there was now a greater distance from the pivot point of my heel to the pressure point of my toe, rather than the pressure point of the ball of my foot, which I had previously been using to push the pedal.
Thinking about how the pivot to pressure distance could be reduced I moved my foot sideways to the right so that the side of my foot was pushing against, and able to pivot on, the inner sill/A post.
This more than halved the distance between pivot and pressure point and bingo, suddenly I had much better control and could adjust the angle of drift at will.
So what does this have to do with real world driving?
Well it's a very useful tip for Learner drivers who struggle with control of the gas pedal, especially when doing manoeuvres. It enables them to set the gas and easily adjust it incrementally.
As far as I know this hasn't been written elsewhwere, nor has anyone I've ever spoken to heard of it.
So that's the kind of thing I'm looking for in this topic.
Here's my recent, new discovery: that it can often be just as important for me to scan wide as to scan into the far distance.
When I started to learn advanced driving, one of the most useful things I learnt was to look ahead, right up to the horizon and back. So I practiced looking well ahead. This has proved invaluable. Recently, however, I've noticed that it can be even more useful to scan very wide. Somehow, the lateral eye movement means that I spot more hazards, as well as seeing hazards earlier. There must be something about sideways eye movement that helps my observation.
On Sunday, practising this directly helped me avoid hitting a pheasant whilst on my motorbike. Phew!!
When I started to learn advanced driving, one of the most useful things I learnt was to look ahead, right up to the horizon and back. So I practiced looking well ahead. This has proved invaluable. Recently, however, I've noticed that it can be even more useful to scan very wide. Somehow, the lateral eye movement means that I spot more hazards, as well as seeing hazards earlier. There must be something about sideways eye movement that helps my observation.
On Sunday, practising this directly helped me avoid hitting a pheasant whilst on my motorbike. Phew!!
Martin A said:
As far as I know this hasn't been written elsewhwere, nor has anyone I've ever spoken to heard of it.
I too have never seen this advice written down. However, I was given this exact advice by an HPC Gatekeeper once.Easiest to do on the motorway when the car in front is tight up behind the one in front of them. Drop back, chill out & enjoy then frustration of the moron who is surging up behind, then having to brake to drop back.
The wider scanning advice was also imparted to me by two HPC Gatekeepers, not my IAM observer.
The wider scanning advice was also imparted to me by two HPC Gatekeepers, not my IAM observer.
Well i'm not a very good or you may call it the advanced driver but it's been my habbit eversince i learned driving, that i try to look ahead of the car in front of me. Even far ahead of couple of cars in front of me if the line of sight is good. I try to observe the driving patterns of those drivers, it gives me a better understanding of any possible hazard i might face nearing them. It's a good practice, saves your precious life.
Hi Spencer,
Try looking 10-20 cars ahead (and back again). Try reading Roadcraft for a much better explanation than mine. Also, the Roadcraft DVD or Mark Kendrick's excellent DVD are well worth watching.
Hi Bert and Martyn, if visual skills weren't so important, then advanced and race instructors alike wouldn't spend so much time focussing on them. When I did California Superbike School, for example, part of day 1 and the whole of day 2 were spent working on where to look. That's over an entire day spent on learning how to look ahead better.
SpencerHowe said:
Well i'm not a very good or you may call it the advanced driver but it's been my habbit eversince i learned driving, that i try to look ahead of the car in front of me. Even far ahead of couple of cars in front of me if the line of sight is good.
Most of us are looking from our car to the horizon and back. If you're only looking a couple of cars in front of you, then you're missing a lot of advanced warning of things ahead Try looking 10-20 cars ahead (and back again). Try reading Roadcraft for a much better explanation than mine. Also, the Roadcraft DVD or Mark Kendrick's excellent DVD are well worth watching.Hi Bert and Martyn, if visual skills weren't so important, then advanced and race instructors alike wouldn't spend so much time focussing on them. When I did California Superbike School, for example, part of day 1 and the whole of day 2 were spent working on where to look. That's over an entire day spent on learning how to look ahead better.
BertBert said:
Are you boys for real? That's new is it? Look ahead. What? Past the car in front? Never, no, really?
As well as superbike school, Chris Gilbert has done at least two DVDs that focus on visual skills.Edited by SVS on Saturday 19th April 16:11
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