RE: Enjoying a fast car slowly

RE: Enjoying a fast car slowly

Monday 20th February 2017

How to enjoy a fast car slowly

Speed matters, just not always in the way you might think it does



Fast cars are getting faster than ever. Worse, most of them are getting desensitised in the process. Roads aren't getting any wider, sightlines aren't getting any longer and speed limits definitely aren't getting any higher either, those life-affirming thrills harder and harder to uncover in modern performance machinery. At least while maintaining a grip on social responsibility and/or licence.


Save it for the track you say! Well, yes. But even a circuit-focused road car is going to start hitting you hard in the pocket if you do more than two or three outings a year, never mind the potentially uninsured consequences of it going wrong in a big way. Can you honestly afford the risk?

What's left then? Trundling along grinding your teeth in frustration at the untapped potential? Ragging your supercar up and down Knightsbridge in first gear for the delight of the YouTube generation? Arguing with people on the internet about how fast your car is based on the performance stats?

Here's an idea. Instead of fixating on how your car could be better why not try and improve the way you drive it? Hence my return to driving school, albeit PH style. My teacher Reg Local (or R_U_Local? by his forum handle) will be a familiar name to anyone who's frequented the Advanced Driving forum on PistonHeads, or seen our reviews of the books he's published off the back of his posts therein. As he freely admits, 'advanced driving' can be an intimidating world with more than its fair share of know-it-alls. Well meaning know-it-alls typically. But, as he says in the introduction to his book, "The subject needs lightening up a bit... with a view to attracting more people, especially enthusiasts, to the idea that becoming a better driver is just as satisfying and enjoyable as getting a better car."


No particular place to go
I meet Reg in Rawtenstall, north of Manchester and on the edge of his chosen instruction route that will take us ... actually I have no idea where. This is quite refreshing, given the control freak in me likes to know where I am, where I'm going and what I'm meant to be doing. I've turned up in my PH Fleet F-Type S, the manual gearbox giving Reg an extra dimension to work with while the performance should be enough to, in the vernacular, make meaningful progress.

Reg isn't fussy though - his weekend car is a Eunos and since leaving the police has instructed everyone from newly qualified drivers to those going for advanced driving qualifications themselves. These courses, be they ROSPA or IAM, have their structure and procedural elements but for this we'll be following a more informal curriculum.

We start by trundling out of the 'burbs and up into the hills, there being a mix of roads condensed into a short distance and a chance to chat as we head out into the wilds where the real teaching can begin. Reg's easy banter soon eases the teacher-pupil relationship while I try and play down the desire to impress and, rather, drive as normally to help Reg spot my bad habits.


Just got real...
As the roads open out somewhere in the hills beyond Colne we pull over for a brew and a chat. There's a subtle shift in dynamic as he discusses the areas identified as requiring work and says "from now on you'll be hearing my voice..." in a hint things are about to get a bit more serious.

What's he picked up on? He's complimentary about the smoothness of my steering inputs, generally likes the road positioning and observation and isn't bothered about certain affectations like heel'n'toe downshifts. He also really, really likes the Jag! But for all the exuberant blippage he says I'm not actually that smooth and not always matching revs to road speed. My progress around the gate is rushed, he's felt his head thwacking the seat on a few more aggressive upshifts and says my approaches to corners and hazards are giving me too much to do in too short a space of time.

Surely that's part of the fun of driving for pleasure though - sometimes you want to ham it up, downshift unnecessarily, contrive a sense of urgency by standing the car on its nose into the corners and making it 'feel' fast even if it's not? No problem with that says Reg. But, for the purposes of the exercise and challenging my bad habits, let's try and dial it back a bit and make it smooth. And see what happens.


Smooth operator
As with many things when it's explained to you much is pure common sense. After a bit of drill instructor gear shift practice - Reg prefers holding the correct revs rather than blipping - we look at some of the fundamental principles. Visual limit point is one of them, its identification, management and - to an extent - exploitability all key to that goal of making progress.

Put very simply, if it's getting closer slow down. If it's staying the same maintain the balance and as it moves away start picking up the throttle to settle the car in readiness for what's to come. This combined with always being able to stop in the distance you can see underpin the core of what I need to work on. This is augmented with sharpening those observation skills, increasing the field of vision and better assessment of potential hazards. And opportunities.

I like to think I'm being reasonably cautious in my corner approach speed but Reg is having me slow down much earlier and more significantly than I'd have ever thought necessary. At times it feels like we're crawling up to the corner having lost all our speed. Thought we were supposed to be making progress here?


Well, we are. I'm urged to get on the throttle much, much earlier than I'd have thought sensible. Not hard but just enough to preload the powertrain and tyres. And then as the limit point moves away the car is already set up to put its power down safely and efficiently. Never at the start of this exercise did I ever think the root of the problem was being too slow on the throttle but Reg is insistent, the quiet "gas!" from the passenger seat typically coming way earlier than I'd have expected.

And you know what, even on winter roads with all the systems very much in place and without a single flicker from the DSC light I'm getting more of a sense of the F-Type's rear-driven balance than I ever have before. Well, OK, other than that time on that slip road. But I meant for that to happen, OK?

Progress report
Moving swiftly on... With its electric steering, massive on-road footprint, limited visibility, wide tyres, artificially snatchy throttle response and the sheer bloody weight of the thing the Jaguar represents much of what is wrong with modern performance cars. And yet all of a sudden these tiny nuances of feedback are clear and easy to read. I feel like I'm going slower. But I'm actually having a lot more fun because I'm really, really concentrating on every last detail of the information coming through my eyes, ears, fingertips and backside. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why roadtesters and reviewers should celebrate the modern cars that still deliver a sense of this feedback, be they McLarens or Swift Sports.


Back to the classroom though. Being more proactive than reactive with everything from observation to controls is also making me calmer, with the knock-on effect I'm smoother with my gearshifts and inputs, freeing up more thinking time to plan my next move and generally more engaged with my surroundings. And it's a virtuous circle.

By the time we pull up next to Reg's BMW we've covered over 280 miles. Turns out we've been through Kendal, Penrith and Shap along the way too but it was refreshing to just concentrate on the driving and not the destination. There is of course much, much more to learn. But as a general principle learning to fixate as much on your driving as much as your car proves it's not what you've got, it's what you do with it.


Further reading...
Reg Local's books Advanced and Performance Driving and How Not To Crash are well worth investing in and he's got plenty of videos demonstrating the techniques he uses in his training on his website. There's also a huge archive of posts in the Advanced Driving forum, not to mention plenty of general discussion on the subject from other well-informed PHers with a passion for the subject. Join the chat here!

   
   
   
   
Author
Discussion

Dan Trent

Original Poster:

1,866 posts

167 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Quick follow-up to say this piece is in no way intended as the authoritative story on advanced driving techniques and barely scratches the surface of what Reg and I covered - over two days of training we clocked up the best part of 700 miles and (within that) rather a lot of topics and techniques. I was knackered by the time I'd got home after both but in a good way because no matter how good you think you are the one simple lesson is you can always be better!

So this is just a 'get the ball rolling' means of getting the topic onto the homepage and, if you're interested' there's a ton more stuff on PH related to the top from Reg and his fellow advanced driving advocates. See the links at the bottom of the story for more.

Cheers!

Dan


swisstoni

16,855 posts

278 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Zen Dan and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
If you want your drive to be more interesting, try staying in your own bloody lane. The roads suddenly become narrower.


Dan Trent

Original Poster:

1,866 posts

167 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
If you want your drive to be more interesting, try staying in your own bloody lane. The roads suddenly become narrower.
Reg's approved technique of going off-side on approach to blind right-handers is a tad unconventional I'll admit. But it's worth it for the looks on the faces of people coming the other way! wink

Dan



Hemingway

610 posts

213 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Was this car at Langley Castle last night? Didn't catch the ref, but this pictures in this article made me think it could be the same.

Dan Trent

Original Poster:

1,866 posts

167 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
As far as I'm aware it was parked out the back of my house all yesterday! Hang on...

...yes, still there, wasn't me!

Dan

sixpistons

188 posts

122 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Purity14 said:
Dan Trent said:
Reg's approved technique of going off-side on approach to blind right-handers is a tad unconventional I'll admit. But it's worth it for the looks on the faces of people coming the other way! wink

Dan
From someone who has been on the recieving end of a car in my lane hitting me head on in similar circumstances, I can assure you the look on my face inside my helmet before impact would not be the look you were expecting.

Next time I am sailing through the air in similar circumstances I will remind myself that it is Reg's approved technique.

Edited by Purity14 on Sunday 19th February 09:55
It's perhaps understandable that you're edgy about offsiding if you've had a crash due to someone cutting a corner inapproproately but you appear to have missed the joke.

Nothing wrong with using all the road if it's safe to do so.


Edited by sixpistons on Sunday 19th February 17:45

Dan Trent

Original Poster:

1,866 posts

167 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Purity14 said:
From someone who has been on the recieving end of a car in my lane hitting me head on in similar circumstances, I can assure you the look on my face inside my helmet before impact would not be the look you were expecting.

Next time I am sailing through the air in similar circumstances I will remind myself that it is Reg's approved technique.

Edited by Purity14 on Sunday 19th February 09:55
Sorry, bit early on a Sunday morning for irony I guess - but I did add a winkie!

Not going to belittle your accident or personal experience as it sounds bloody scary and I'm glad you lived to tell the tale. But please bear in mind you're only seeing the corner in the picture from one angle and a tightly cropped one at that. Put in simple terms I don't think Reg's career would have lasted very long if he advocated going off-side anywhere other than where there's an absolutely clear line of sight.

Cheers,

Dan

Mannginger

9,032 posts

256 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
I must follow up on this, had IM'd Reg before Christmas as was thinking about having his 2 day course for a present.

@Reg - you there chap? Could you drop me a line via my profile as I think yours isn't working for me

Cheers in advance

Phil

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Dan Trent said:
Purity14 said:
From someone who has been on the recieving end of a car in my lane hitting me head on in similar circumstances, I can assure you the look on my face inside my helmet before impact would not be the look you were expecting.

Next time I am sailing through the air in similar circumstances I will remind myself that it is Reg's approved technique.

Edited by Purity14 on Sunday 19th February 09:55
Sorry, bit early on a Sunday morning for irony I guess - but I did add a winkie!

Not going to belittle your accident or personal experience as it sounds bloody scary and I'm glad you lived to tell the tale. But please bear in mind you're only seeing the corner in the picture from one angle and a tightly cropped one at that. Put in simple terms I don't think Reg's career would have lasted very long if he advocated going off-side anywhere other than where there's an absolutely clear line of sight.

Cheers,

Dan
It may also be worth saying that the system of driving Reg teaches (and is covered in his excellent books available from all the usual outlets......... ;-) includes positioning of your car on the apex and exit of corners precisely to avoid being hit by a car coming the other way that unexpectedly uses a bit more road space. The lines taught are generally NOT the racing line, and aim to maintain separation from oncoming traffic

Esceptico

7,347 posts

108 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
sixpistons said:
Purity14 said:
Dan Trent said:
Reg's approved technique of going off-side on approach to blind right-handers is a tad unconventional I'll admit. But it's worth it for the looks on the faces of people coming the other way! wink

Dan
From someone who has been on the recieving end of a car in my lane hitting me head on in similar circumstances, I can assure you the look on my face inside my helmet before impact would not be the look you were expecting.

Next time I am sailing through the air in similar circumstances I will remind myself that it is Reg's approved technique.

Edited by Purity14 on Sunday 19th February 09:55
It's perhaps understandable that you're edge about offsiding if you've had a crash due to someone cutting a corner inapproproately but you appear to have missed the joke.

Nothing wrong with using all the road if it's safe to do so.
The point of using the other side of the road is to increase your view around the corner and to allow a safer line through the corner (I think most head on crashes are where someone is going too fast and turns in too early for a corner and then drifts wide on the exit into oncoming traffic.

CABC

5,536 posts

100 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
It may also be worth saying that the system of driving Reg teaches (and is covered in his excellent books available from all the usual outlets......... ;-) includes positioning of your car on the apex and exit of corners precisely to avoid being hit by a car coming the other way that unexpectedly uses a bit more road space. The lines taught are generally NOT the racing line, and aim to maintain separation from oncoming traffic
yep. not sure why ph gets so confused on this. it's been taught for decades. nothing to conflict with common sense, maybe people aren't listening properly....

akirk

5,377 posts

113 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Dan Trent said:
the idea that becoming a better driver is just as satisfying and enjoyable as getting a better car
sums it up - and great review of your time... thank you

twoblacklines

1,575 posts

160 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
How much is said 2 day course?

I plan on visiting at some point but I don't really have a car worth taking now nor do I really have the time.

rainmakerraw

1,222 posts

125 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
twoblacklines said:
How much is said 2 day course?

I plan on visiting at some point but I don't really have a car worth taking now nor do I really have the time.
Drop Reg a line through his website or Twitter (@RegLocal). You'll need to find the time, but the expenses are very reasonable. Re-read the article; it doesn't matter what your car is (your garage gives trim but not engine). An advanced and high performance driver can get the best out of a vehicle no matter what it happens to be. That applies to everything from a 0.9 NA petrol through a 2.0 TDI and up to an 8.0 W16 and beyond. This isn't a racing course, it's a driver improvement course giving you skills that you can take with you into any car...

Dan, I followed along on Twitter but once again it was nice to see you out with the little bald man and having fun. Ever so slightly jealous of the motor, too. wink

ToothbrushMan

1,770 posts

124 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
I think most car enthusiasts if they are on their own on the perfect day and on the right road are more than capable of driving fairly well. nobody is looking to shave 2/10ths off their time or strictly adhere to getting "the right line" or position etc.....i dont see what on earth all that is about in the real world. Seeing ahead, checking your horizons, checking for possible side roads or hazards is surely all common sense stuff.

the flipside is usually when you get into some tussle with another car-9 times out of 10 if its with a complete stranger the pair of you are going hammer and tongs because either youre in front and want to stay there or your behind and want to catch the guy in front or go past and all that flannel about smoothness, matching revs to road speed and positioning pony gets thrown right out of the drivers window during those red mist moments (well all thats true if youre honest with yourself). In the heat of those typical moments do you really stop and think "ooh hang on ive got to get my road position right here and I dont want to cut this corner there......" blah blah blah.

Regs style comes from a different time with different attitudes I'm afraid, an honest and gentlemanly time.

Loyly

17,990 posts

158 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
ToothbrushMan said:
Regs style comes from a different time with different attitudes I'm afraid, an honest and gentlemanly time.
Reg's style comes from training police drivers. It's not an outdated style of driving at all, but if you can't detach yourself from seething with red mist or have no desire to be a faster, safer driver then it's not for you.

ToothbrushMan

1,770 posts

124 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
faster and safer.....OK.

dc2rr07

1,238 posts

230 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
Loyly said:
ToothbrushMan said:
Regs style comes from a different time with different attitudes I'm afraid, an honest and gentlemanly time.
Reg's style comes from training police drivers. It's not an outdated style of driving at all, but if you can't detach yourself from seething with red mist or have no desire to be a faster, safer driver then it's not for you.
Yes training Police rolleyes who took 60 years to decide in certain circumstances it is OK to cross your hands on a steering wheel rather than use the push pull technique.

Loyly

17,990 posts

158 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
dc2rr07 said:
Yes training Police rolleyes who took 60 years to decide in certain circumstances it is OK to cross your hands on a steering wheel rather than use the push pull technique.
The distinction to be made there probably comes from the Roadcraft manual's origins, when it was very prescriptive in terms of technique. Not to mention that the original panda cars probably had a ponderously slow unassisted steering racks! Some prescription on technique is usually necessary, because although crossing the hands is useful and permissable, most drivers rely too heavily on it, and will cross their hands without thinking even when it won't afford enough steering to make it round a bend at high speed.

Not to get hung up on that point though. If you dont think you have anything to learn or improve on, you probably require more improvement than most.