Best place to learn the limits of my car?
Discussion
Having just bought a fairly high powered car I'm looking for somewhere that I can explore the power & handling limits without putting other road users in danger. A track day is what springs to mind, but ideally I'd like to do it in an environment without the pressure of other drivers hacking it around a track, and I want to get a feel of what is needed to regain control of the car by intentionally loosing control (which I almost did driving it home!)
What would you all suggest?
What would you all suggest?
A trackday is not the place to do it - if you are continually losing control/sliding you'll probably be black flagged.
I suggest you do what I did when I bought my first RWD car and wanted to learn how it drive it properly, which was do a day with a proper driving coach. I used Don Palmer and had a full day at Bruntingthorpe learning about (and practicing) getting, holding and coming back from oversteer/understeer and all other elements of finer car control.
I suggest you do what I did when I bought my first RWD car and wanted to learn how it drive it properly, which was do a day with a proper driving coach. I used Don Palmer and had a full day at Bruntingthorpe learning about (and practicing) getting, holding and coming back from oversteer/understeer and all other elements of finer car control.
Club MSV do novice only track days where you'd be with similarly minded people and also taster sessions at normal trackdays where I think you pay something like £25 and get 15 mins. To be honest I just went straight into a normal trackday and found it fine. Just pay attention in the briefing, take your time learning the circuit and you should be fine. You'll have to do sighting laps anyway behind one of the instructors so you'll get some idea of it.
Check it out here
http://www.clubmsv.com/car-home/novice-only.aspx
Check it out here
http://www.clubmsv.com/car-home/novice-only.aspx
jimxms said:
DanielC4GP said:
Skidpan?
Can you take your own cars to skidpans? I thought they all had the stabiliser things fitted?The cars you see with stabiliser's on are skid cars. The stabilisers lift the wheels off the ground which obviously means the tyres have less weight over them to grip the surface.
Edited by DanielC4GP on Sunday 8th January 10:55
th85 said:
Club MSV do novice only track days where you'd be with similarly minded people and also taster sessions at normal trackdays where I think you pay something like £25 and get 15 mins. To be honest I just went straight into a normal trackday and found it fine. Just pay attention in the briefing, take your time learning the circuit and you should be fine. You'll have to do sighting laps anyway behind one of the instructors so you'll get some idea of it.
Check it out here
http://www.clubmsv.com/car-home/novice-only.aspx
This. the novice days are great and with an instructor (i recommend Jamie Stanley though i think mine was called Ed.) they are great days. Well worth it and well run.Check it out here
http://www.clubmsv.com/car-home/novice-only.aspx
Simon
I went to RAF Cottesmore on a trackday, you could literally drive like it was you last day on earth, realised you could go a hell of a lot faster than i thought, and there was literally nothing to hit, not many other drivers eaither, only about 10 cars on the day and open pit lane all day.
What car have you bought?
You sound like a bit of a mong to buy a car, nearly crash it then declare you need lessons on how to drive it - is this really the car for you?
What car have you bought?
You sound like a bit of a mong to buy a car, nearly crash it then declare you need lessons on how to drive it - is this really the car for you?
snotrag said:
My thoughts - I did one of these a couple of years back in an MX5.You go one at a time, so no other traffic to worry about out.
Knocking over cones is not a major issue if you get it wrong - get it spectacularly wrong and you might even get a hearty round of applause
Back in the day, Don Palmer's "Wetter The Better" at MIRA was the course to do. Sadly he can't use MIRA these days but a day with him is very educational. Rockingham has a wet grip facility which is good fun but by far the best way of learning the limits is on a "wet roundabout" type facility like at MIRA or Mercedes Benz World. It's a large circle with concentric tracks with different grip levels, so you can practice provoking, catching and holding oversteer in a consistant and safe environment without worrying about other drivers or gravel traps or cones or all the other issues that a trackday or airfield day will present you with.
jimxms said:
Having just bought a fairly high powered car I'm looking for somewhere that I can explore the power & handling limits without putting other road users in danger. A track day is what springs to mind, but ideally I'd like to do it in an environment without the pressure of other drivers hacking it around a track, and I want to get a feel of what is needed to regain control of the car by intentionally loosing control (which I almost did driving it home!)
What would you all suggest?
Ha ha - is it the E55 that you almost stacked on the way home? I did exactly the same thing mate - don't worry about it!!What would you all suggest?
Picked it up on a very wet Sunday from MB Portsmouth, had a very scary moment on a wet roundabout.
A track day won't help - I'd go with the airfield suggestion, but a slightly cheaper way is to find a very large, scarcely used roundabout......and wait for rain!
In the "old days" when I wanted to learn the limits of my car I would go on a Bedford Autodrome track day. Nowadays, the noise regulations are so strict that if you make a slight tyre screech they call you in for a warning. Other than that, it is a decent track with plenty of run-offs and by mid-afternoon most the people have had enough so you get plenty of track space often without another car in sight in some places.
Get a 15 minute session with an instructor and you can learn a lot about your car.
But yes, the point of a track day for me is to be able to let yourself loose in your own car in a safe environment but the nanny state has now plagued Bedford Autrodrome.
Get a 15 minute session with an instructor and you can learn a lot about your car.
But yes, the point of a track day for me is to be able to let yourself loose in your own car in a safe environment but the nanny state has now plagued Bedford Autrodrome.
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