Do you walk the dog, or does it walk you?
Discussion
This is a short discussion on the merits of "driving" a car versus "guiding" it or in other words "letting it go a bit".
The first thing I would say on this subject is that it is, to a degree, car-dependant. Some cars are naturally predisposed to being gently guided down the road. "Wafting" is an oft-used PH term, and I think it's a good term for describing that feeling that a car is just carrying you along in comfort with nothing more than a little guidance from the driver. Its generally accepted that large Mercedes and Jaguar models, for instance, are "wafters".
Other cars, however, demand your full attention most of the time. It's nigh-on impossible to waft along in a Caterham, for instance, or any number of other ostensibly "sporting" cars where the priority of the manufacturer is to maximise driving enjoyment above all other considerations.
These are (in a purely road car context) the two extremes though, and there are elements of both mindsets which can cross over all car types. For instance, I have had some very spirited drives in large Jaguar and Mercedes cars over the years, and their size and weight have required my full attention in order to maintain maximum progress. It's also true that some Caterham drivers use their cars as daily drivers and most commutes these days involve an element of stop-start and limited speed motorway driving. Are these drivers fully committed to controlling their cars under these circumstances? No, of course not - they will adapt to the daily use of their car and find a comfortable middle ground to allow them to feel at least a litle relaxed on their mundane journeys.
Whenever I've taught someone high performance road driving, there is a tendency - even amongst drivers who have plenty of experience in high performance machinery - to try too hard and "overdrive" the car. It's sometimes nervousness and its sometimes overconfidence and it's sometimes a determination to "show him what I can do".
To an experienced instructor, the signs are obvious. Although their seating position may be correct, they sit in a tense manner, shoulders tight and jaw set. They grip the steering wheel tightly and snatch for the gearstick as though it's a small mammal trying to escape. Head and eye movements are twitchy and quick and they never really look as though they are comfortable - always shuffling slightly in their seat, adjusting their position and fiddling with the mirrors. Its also common to see them constantly scratching an itch or rubbing an ear.
The result is that these inconsistencies - these tensions - have a subtle, but very real effect on their driving and the way the car moves down the road. A tight grip on the steering wheel results in rough steering inputs, particularly during the vital initial turn of the wheel. Snatched gearchanges lead to jerky front-to-rear weight transfer. Tension and discomfort lead to pedals being pressed, rather than squeezed.
The thing is though, that these drivers often feel that they are getting the maximum out of their cars by putting the maximum effort into the driving, when the reality is that they are overdriving the car and probably not making the best or safest progress as a result.
My advice is that it's always better to relax a little and let the car do more of the work. It's inevitable that as you go outside your usual comfort zone, you'll feel tense and anxious at times, but bear a few basic principles in mind and your driving will improve no end.
Firstly, make sure you're completely comfortable with your driving position. I'll not patronise you with a full description of how to achieve a perfect driving position because we're all different shapes and sizes, but just make sure you can see out clearly, you can reach and operate all the controls fully and that your mirrors are set properly.
Secondly, try to stay relaxed. Monitor how you're feeling during a drive and take the occasional mental "step back". If you feel tension creeping in, take a little speed off, relax your shoulders, reassess where you are and how you are driving, and then carry on.
Thirdly - and this is probably the whole point I'm trying to make with this post - let the car do most of the work. Trust me on this - the car wants to go. Anyone who has driven a truly fast car will never forget that sense of urgency with which the car seems to want to get down the road, even at moderate speeds.
Even average cars these days have plenty of performance and want to get you down the road at a reasonable pace.
Your job isn't to force the car along the road. It is to guide the car in the direction you want to go, whilst allowing the car to go as much as it is safe to.
Does that mean that the driver's inputs are less important? No - if anything they are more important, because it's the driver's skills in gently moving the car away from it's preferred straight and consistent path which make all the difference between safe, smooth progression and rough, jerky and potentially unsafe driving.
Think of driving in the same way as you might think about walking an untrained dog. You can walk the dog on a tight, restrictive lead and it will pull and stop and be awkward and generally hinder your progress. If you let the dog off its lead, it will run off, out of control and possibly cause mayhem.
If, however, you invest in one of those extending "reel" type dog leads, you can rein the dog in and control it when you need to, and you can also let it have a good old run-around whilst maintaining an element of control.
Driving.
Like having a naughty dog on an extending lead...
The first thing I would say on this subject is that it is, to a degree, car-dependant. Some cars are naturally predisposed to being gently guided down the road. "Wafting" is an oft-used PH term, and I think it's a good term for describing that feeling that a car is just carrying you along in comfort with nothing more than a little guidance from the driver. Its generally accepted that large Mercedes and Jaguar models, for instance, are "wafters".
Other cars, however, demand your full attention most of the time. It's nigh-on impossible to waft along in a Caterham, for instance, or any number of other ostensibly "sporting" cars where the priority of the manufacturer is to maximise driving enjoyment above all other considerations.
These are (in a purely road car context) the two extremes though, and there are elements of both mindsets which can cross over all car types. For instance, I have had some very spirited drives in large Jaguar and Mercedes cars over the years, and their size and weight have required my full attention in order to maintain maximum progress. It's also true that some Caterham drivers use their cars as daily drivers and most commutes these days involve an element of stop-start and limited speed motorway driving. Are these drivers fully committed to controlling their cars under these circumstances? No, of course not - they will adapt to the daily use of their car and find a comfortable middle ground to allow them to feel at least a litle relaxed on their mundane journeys.
Whenever I've taught someone high performance road driving, there is a tendency - even amongst drivers who have plenty of experience in high performance machinery - to try too hard and "overdrive" the car. It's sometimes nervousness and its sometimes overconfidence and it's sometimes a determination to "show him what I can do".
To an experienced instructor, the signs are obvious. Although their seating position may be correct, they sit in a tense manner, shoulders tight and jaw set. They grip the steering wheel tightly and snatch for the gearstick as though it's a small mammal trying to escape. Head and eye movements are twitchy and quick and they never really look as though they are comfortable - always shuffling slightly in their seat, adjusting their position and fiddling with the mirrors. Its also common to see them constantly scratching an itch or rubbing an ear.
The result is that these inconsistencies - these tensions - have a subtle, but very real effect on their driving and the way the car moves down the road. A tight grip on the steering wheel results in rough steering inputs, particularly during the vital initial turn of the wheel. Snatched gearchanges lead to jerky front-to-rear weight transfer. Tension and discomfort lead to pedals being pressed, rather than squeezed.
The thing is though, that these drivers often feel that they are getting the maximum out of their cars by putting the maximum effort into the driving, when the reality is that they are overdriving the car and probably not making the best or safest progress as a result.
My advice is that it's always better to relax a little and let the car do more of the work. It's inevitable that as you go outside your usual comfort zone, you'll feel tense and anxious at times, but bear a few basic principles in mind and your driving will improve no end.
Firstly, make sure you're completely comfortable with your driving position. I'll not patronise you with a full description of how to achieve a perfect driving position because we're all different shapes and sizes, but just make sure you can see out clearly, you can reach and operate all the controls fully and that your mirrors are set properly.
Secondly, try to stay relaxed. Monitor how you're feeling during a drive and take the occasional mental "step back". If you feel tension creeping in, take a little speed off, relax your shoulders, reassess where you are and how you are driving, and then carry on.
Thirdly - and this is probably the whole point I'm trying to make with this post - let the car do most of the work. Trust me on this - the car wants to go. Anyone who has driven a truly fast car will never forget that sense of urgency with which the car seems to want to get down the road, even at moderate speeds.
Even average cars these days have plenty of performance and want to get you down the road at a reasonable pace.
Your job isn't to force the car along the road. It is to guide the car in the direction you want to go, whilst allowing the car to go as much as it is safe to.
Does that mean that the driver's inputs are less important? No - if anything they are more important, because it's the driver's skills in gently moving the car away from it's preferred straight and consistent path which make all the difference between safe, smooth progression and rough, jerky and potentially unsafe driving.
Think of driving in the same way as you might think about walking an untrained dog. You can walk the dog on a tight, restrictive lead and it will pull and stop and be awkward and generally hinder your progress. If you let the dog off its lead, it will run off, out of control and possibly cause mayhem.
If, however, you invest in one of those extending "reel" type dog leads, you can rein the dog in and control it when you need to, and you can also let it have a good old run-around whilst maintaining an element of control.
Driving.
Like having a naughty dog on an extending lead...
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