Cadence Driver Training
Discussion
Just thought I'd give Dave @ cadence a plug as I did a morning with him in the RS the other week and it was very enlightening. He's a member of the HPC club as well as an instructor for Roada and IAM training.
He's shown me how to more safely pilot a 911 on the road, and suprisingly he wasn't just telling me to slow down. There were frequent calls of 'more throttle' when I was reticent putting down power on corner exit. He's also got me using more throttle (not speed) into and through the corner keeping the weight from the front of the car which works a treat - particuarly in the RS which has a tendency to be bounced off line if you load up the front. I no longer feel like I'm fighting the car and I'm beginning to grasp what slow in fast out really means. He's reminded me to relax when holding the wheel too, rather than grasping it - it really is fingertip control stuff. Interestingly I now get deflected about less as a result because I'm not always trying to play catch up with the wheel or control it directly - mostly when it would have gone straight without my intervention. Some of these points are particularly noticeable in a car as firmly damped as the RS, but still stand in more road biased models.
He's also focussed a lot on observation. I hadn't realised how poor I was until I saw what level he was functioning on. I tend to look down the road, and often not far enough. He was peering through hedges etc looking miles off into the distance for side roads and traffic thereon. We did one overtake around an unsighted corner because he'd been able to observe it was clear on the way into it.
Also paying a lot of attention to cars in front to provide hints on the severity of corners (as they can obviously see further around). Working out what kind of traffic may be around the corner (farm proximity etc). All sorts.
Another factor is using the full width of the road, and controlling oncoming traffic through the position of your own car.
Oh and lots of work on safe overtaking technique. I had a tendency to slingshot past because I thought it was the only way to get past quickly enough on our congested roads. Thats because I'd been narrowing my safe window through lack of observation, poor road positioning both on the road and relative to other cars. It really has made a difference to how safe I feel overtaking, although I was amused last weekend to perform a safe overtake on 4 cars, pull in and then 3 seconds later have an oncoming Range Rover flash me with a big thumbs down despite an ENORMOUS gap. Most people just don't like overtakers! Still first rule of advanced driving 'me first' as Dave said ;)
Anyway I'm sure plenty of you already know this stuff, but its really opened my eyes. I went to him realising I needed to improve aspects of my driving, having previously focussed more on track work, with the ultimate goal of entry into the HPC. I just wasn't aware of how many!
He took me for a demo drive at the end in his mx5, and the speed he can pedal that thing is stunning. We were all setup for a 4 car overtake when some idiot in a BMW took umbridge and veered out in front of us. Fortunately his overtaking technique meant we weren't overcommited and no harm done.
Even half a morning has really helped me, and I intend to go back for more once I've had more practise to integrate as much as what he taught me into my driving as I can. I intend to do the whole day next time, but frankly I was shattered after half a day.
http://www.cadence.co.uk/
barry_j said:
Nice report Dan. I've been thinking about doing one of these. How much does it cost? Where does it take place? What does the HPC entail and what are the benefits? Sorry about all the questions!
165 for a half day, although there are supplements if you want to do it on a weekend, or have them travel to you. I did mine in Essex/Cambridgeshire although they have a few instructors around the country. Anyway I think thats incredibly good value compared to some of the training I've paid for.
HPC is the high performance club ( www.hpc.org.uk/ ), and it has a test to enter that has much stricter requirements than passing IAM or Roada Gold. Something to really aspire to in terms of road driving skills imho. Have a look at their website for more info.
Dan - BIG thanks for this.
I've just bought a 964RS and really want to get to grips on how to drive it properly both on road but mainly on track.
I'd posted a few questions on the PCGB forum and had some good responses but this looks great because..
Cadence Driver Development is centrally based between Nottingham and Grantham in the Vale of Belvoir
THEY ARE 4 MILES FROM MY HOUSE!!!
Cheers
I've just bought a 964RS and really want to get to grips on how to drive it properly both on road but mainly on track.
I'd posted a few questions on the PCGB forum and had some good responses but this looks great because..
Cadence Driver Development is centrally based between Nottingham and Grantham in the Vale of Belvoir
THEY ARE 4 MILES FROM MY HOUSE!!!
Cheers
porsche 993 said:
Dan - BIG thanks for this.
I've just bought a 964RS and really want to get to grips on how to drive it properly both on road but mainly on track.
I'd posted a few questions on the PCGB forum and had some good responses but this looks great because..
Cadence Driver Development is centrally based between Nottingham and Grantham in the Vale of Belvoir
THEY ARE 4 MILES FROM MY HOUSE!!!
Cheers
Fab, thats their primary instructor there I believe. He's one of 2 gatekeepers into the HPC so should will undoubtedly be very good.
You should mention my name as at this rate I'm going to deserve some commision
I hope to do a day with the legendary Bernard Aubry at Goodwood & Chobham in mid-Nov. I did a PDE last year in my 986S; it really helped my road driving technique and now i have a 911 i want to have a better idea of the dynamics of this car (especially as it doesn't have PSM.) I will pass on this Cadence recommendation
[quote]I hope to do a day with the legendary Bernard Aubry at Goodwood & Chobham in mid-Nov. I did a PDE last year in my 986S; it really helped my road driving technique and now i have a 911 i want to have a better idea of the dynamics of this car (especially as it doesn't have PSM.) I will pass on this Cadence recommendation[/quote]
I did a half-day with Bernard Aubry a couple of years ago. What we went through was almost exactly like DanH's experience. The session included about 90 minutes at Chobham.
tat
I did a half-day with Bernard Aubry a couple of years ago. What we went through was almost exactly like DanH's experience. The session included about 90 minutes at Chobham.
tat
tat said:
[quote]I hope to do a day with the legendary Bernard Aubry at Goodwood & Chobham in mid-Nov. I did a PDE last year in my 986S; it really helped my road driving technique and now i have a 911 i want to have a better idea of the dynamics of this car (especially as it doesn't have PSM.) I will pass on this Cadence recommendation
I did a half-day with Bernard Aubry a couple of years ago. What we went through was almost exactly like DanH's experience. The session included about 90 minutes at Chobham.
tat[/quote]
Cadence do limit handling to on a test track, but I didn't indulge having already done 5+ full days of it with another instructor.
Did discuss Cobham with Dave though. Apparently its not a good place to come off with concrete blocks all around the edges of the track?
p.s. the instructor I had posts on pistonheads as StressedDave.
[quote]
Did discuss Cobham with Dave though. Apparently its not a good place to come off with concrete blocks all around the edges of the track?
[/quote]
Chobham is a bit rough and ready - old style track made of concrete slabs, and not much in the way of run-off areas. However, it is used only as a test area, and has lots of facilities, like concentric circles, 1-in-3 slopes, etc. The track itself is has two high speed banked corners, which is quite unusual. I felt completely safe with Bernard Aubry - even when I was driving he seemed to know exactly what the car was doing, and would tell what to do accordingly (usually "go faster". When I was there we had the track to ourselves most of the time.
Slightly aside, does anyone know how insurance companies regard on-track training days?
tat
Did discuss Cobham with Dave though. Apparently its not a good place to come off with concrete blocks all around the edges of the track?
[/quote]
Chobham is a bit rough and ready - old style track made of concrete slabs, and not much in the way of run-off areas. However, it is used only as a test area, and has lots of facilities, like concentric circles, 1-in-3 slopes, etc. The track itself is has two high speed banked corners, which is quite unusual. I felt completely safe with Bernard Aubry - even when I was driving he seemed to know exactly what the car was doing, and would tell what to do accordingly (usually "go faster"
. When I was there we had the track to ourselves most of the time. Slightly aside, does anyone know how insurance companies regard on-track training days?
tat
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