Police commentary drive

[WilliBetz]

Thought you might be interested in this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVtQ4NN5_-Q

[WilliBetz]

and possibly this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvXbmR1Rjv0

Had the tractor not cooperated, I'd have been inclined to hold back and pop into the Crab for a bite to eat...

[WilliBetz]

Platinum said:

WilliBetz said:

and possibly this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvXbmR1Rjv0

Had the tractor not cooperated, I'd have been inclined to hold back and pop into the Crab for a bite to eat...

Liberal use of 2nd gear!

I thought much the same. It may have been appropriate for the car, or warranted on the basis of demonstrating technique, but the gearbox sense didn't feel quite right to me... seemed to prefer low gears or high, leaving me wondering about the flexibility of third and fourth...

In very high performance cars, on the road where mechanical and passenger symapthy are considerations, I often find lower gears a hindrance to progress.

Consider exiting an open roundabout or a bend (like those illustrated) in second gear, onto a reasonable straight. You need to pick up the throttle smoothly to avoid unsettling the car then - almost immediately - blend off the throttle to take third gear, then pick up the throttle smoothly again...

Then consider the same corner taken in third... Initial throttle application can be slightly firmer as the engine won't be as responsive at the lower engine speed. And there's no wasted time taking the higher gear...

That said, there may be good rationale for the driver's choice. He's clearly pretty classy behind the wheel...

Edited by WilliBetz on Monday 18th February 13:22

[WilliBetz]

wristy_mcgrew said:

The use of lower gears may not always be a hindrance, even on 'performance' cars, it depends entirely on the type of engine and gearbox concerned.

We regularly used the 3.2 Omega with a spanish gearbox and they had overly long ( and poorly judged ) ratio's. 1st was good for 40, second for nearly 85. Roundabouts were usually second gear affairs as a result, third would be too far down the rev range and the car would bog down with little meaningful acceleration, that from a 150mph car. Then, when we changed to the volvo T5's, you had the benefit of forced induction with meant you didnt have to keep the engine on the boil so much and could rely on the different characteristics and use higher gears for similar pick up.

A very fair point, though I'm not sure an Omega fitted my definition of very high performance

Great fun to drive though, and a fantastic car to coach steering technique...

The older BMW 535 was similarly afflicted, with a cavernous gap between 2nd and 3rd.

Perhaps the exceptions prove the rule?

Or perhaps it wasn't a rule in the first place; but a thought for consideration.

[WilliBetz]

Adom said:

Wasn't sure, but as he's going past the tractor, is there not a right hand turning just before the de-restricted sign?

Yes - a warning of pedestrians in the road, and two entrances right. From the video, it's not at all obvious that we could see the entrances to be clear. And presumably the pedestrians are using the entrances or a footpath to get onto or off the road.

Given the situation, and the scope to delay the pass without losing the opportunity, I'd have strongly preferred the driver to delay the commitment to pass until after we had cleared the second entrance right.

Edited by WilliBetz on Monday 25th February 14:39

[WilliBetz]

No, just commenting on what we can see in the video and infer from the commentary.

[WilliBetz]

The video extract is part of a DVD that is for sale, apparently intended to demonstrate advanced motoring techniques to members of the public. Some of whom may not recall (from the Highway Code or Roadcraft) the specific hazard of overtaking on the approach to an offside junction.

Does that affect your thinking?

Either way, I don't really accept the notion that you need to be a pilot to recognise an uncomfortable landing...

Edited by WilliBetz on Monday 25th February 19:48

[WilliBetz]

To reiterate, for the avoidance of doubt, I still regard the driving as pretty classy and cheerfully concede that the video doesn't necessarily provide us with an accurate representation of the driver's own view.

For me, the great value of these video clips is the opportunity that they afford to analyse gaps and overlaps. In other words, to look for areas where our approach is the same as that taken by the guru, and areas where we might aim to do things differently.

It interests me to debate these gaps and overlaps, but I'm happy to go with the flow and just say "Wow" if that's more appropriate to the forum.