New Car Control / Driving Techniques website

[jonnogibbo]

I've recently started a new webstite to try and explain the practical aspects to driving quickly on the track with some reference to the road. The site isn't finished yet, and some parts may be a bit controversial, but would appreciate any comments you might have. Please be gentle!

http://www.drivingfast.net

Many thanks

[jonnogibbo]

RobM77 said:

I reckon the weight transfer section could be explained better and in a more step by step manner. The section on oversteer is also unnecessarily complicated - try just talking about the two causes of oversteer: weight transfer and power application, that's a simple and good place to start.

The other thing is that the whole subject of car control is best explained in a step by step manner, rather than in a pick and choose website style. Not sure how to get round that one.

Also, the video of heel and toe shows what you want on the first downchange, but the second actually shows double declutching

Thanks for your comments!

Ha - yes the oversteer section does rabbit on a bit too much, got a bit carried away! Will go through and try and make everthing more of a staged process, good idea.

As for the vid - good point, I missed that, but it's hard to find little snippets from you tube which illustrate the point well!

[jonnogibbo]

Thanks both - will start work on some traction circles, they do illustrate the theory well, hope my illustartion skills are up to it!

[jonnogibbo]

Hi Julian,
I'm sorry that the site has clearly upset you. The diagram you reference may well be slightly up to misinterpretation and I’ll try and put the record straight. We're simply trying to illustrate that an apex does indeed exist on both the road and the track, and thus parallels can be drawn. I think if you read more of the page and the introduction to road driving you'll see that the main priority of road driving is visibility and the ability to see before you commit to a particular line on a corner. The illustration recommends only bringing the car to an apex near the white lines if you can see that it’s safe to do so, otherwise continue on the original line with the turn in at point B and would not tighten up. If you are travelling so fast on the road that a change in line would be disastrous you’re clearly driving too close to the limit, butif you can see that no articulated lorry is in the road, then bringing your car closer and even over the lines (if it’s legal) is not going to be a problem . Please never position your vehicle in an area which could be unsafe. If you’d like to contact me, I’d invite you to read a bit more of the road section and then email me at [e-mail] . I will review it to take on board your comments.

All the best,
Jon

Edited by jonnogibbo on Wednesday 19th September 23:48

[jonnogibbo]

Phew! Hard to keep up - thanks for the comments! I was hoping the main purpose of the site is to try and simplify various aspects of car control and driving techniques for people who may not have the inclination to learn about the more complex aspects such slip angles, which hopefully you will agree can be very confusing. Think of it more as a beginners guide at this stage and hopefully in this way it might have a wider appeal. I think if you are well versed in slip angles you will have no need for the site. Please substitute 'squirrel' for 'child', I was hoping to make the point that stamping on the brakes mid corner can sometimes be worse than altering course slightly.

I've also sadly had to remove the road corner page, which is too open to interpretation and I'm worried about legal implications.

Edited by jonnogibbo on Wednesday 19th September 21:37

Edited by jonnogibbo on Wednesday 19th September 21:56

[jonnogibbo]

Jules,

Before you drag my site through the mud too much more I'll try and explain where I'm coming from. It is true, road driving is not my field of main interest, however I suggest someone who can control a car well on the track (with the benefit of practise with no traffic, pedestrians, or trees) will learn certain skills and techniques which can make them a better driver on the road. I realise that you make your living from "advanced" driving courses (whereas I make no money from my site) and it is really intended to be a light hearted collation of useful knowledge on driving from all disciplines.

It's not perfect, which is why I'm getting some really great feedback from PH users and trying to put together something everyone can enjoy, but I think it may well have been a mistake to talk about the road.

I'm not claiming to be the inventor of the racing line or to be the first person to work out what understeer is, but my hope was to create something that was original and ties together many aspects of driving for anyone who is interested.

I try to have an open mind, and think it might be nice to accept that there may be more to life than the Roadcraft manual. Safety is obviously the top priority when driving on the road, goes without saying, but dare I say that it can actually be fun too!

I've taken down the page on road driving, as I have no interest in passing off the Roadcraft system as my own, and there is plenty of information out there already on the subject. The road page was really to try and complement the racing line discussion and make the point that an apex exists on the road too, if there is enough visibility to use it, but I'm going to concentrate on more generic car control articles from now on.

For those of you who don't know Julian, I've had the courtesy to read through his site in detail, and would like to share some insight:

"The British class-one police driver and motorcycle rider has long been regarded as having the most advanced level of driving and riding skills in the world"….."a level in road skills that others can only hope to aspire to"….."to drive or ride to this level is an art form in itself, and has to be experienced to be truly appreciated."

Well I've experienced it Jules, and I have a great deal of respect for police drivers who do a remarkable job, and I believe have been unfairly criticised recently for dangerous driving and causing deaths on the roads. I believe police driving technique is an excellent method of making safe progress on the roads. You are obviously an expert in this discipline. But Jules, I practice Ninjitsu, but don't try and claim it's the best and only method of martial arts.

I'm not an arrogant man Julian, and find that the wonderful thing about driving is that you can never know it all, and constantly learn new tricks from the wonderful portfolio of driving disciplines. I'd invite you to rewrite the road driving page of my site with some fresh ideas of your own, and I will gladly credit and link to your site.


I apologise deeply for having to inflict this onto other PH users, and many thanks again for constructive criticism.

Edited by jonnogibbo on Thursday 20th September 10:42

Edited by jonnogibbo on Friday 2nd November 13:55

[jonnogibbo]

I am genuinely sorry, but was annoyed by the aggresssive and personal comments that Julian plastered on my guest book. Maybe we should draw this topic to a close?