Reg's Youtube thread

[Reg Local]

Hang on - nearly forgot!

The latest Siberian driving video is now online. Part 2 - Country roads.

Worth watching to the end to see that none of us are perfect!

https://youtu.be/MiZf4nHuymQ

[Reg Local]

My top "locals" tip if you're driving in these temperatures - it was -32C on a couple of days - is to leave all the car's doors open for a couple of minutes when you stop & park up. This allows the cold, dry air into the car, pushes out the warm, moist air and prevents the inside of your windows from icing up.

The outside glass doesn't freeze, because the cold is so severe, it freezes the moisture in the air & you can see tiny ice crystals floating in the air, which settle on the car overnight, but just need sweeping off with a soft brush in the mornng.

[Reg Local]

greygoose said:

Good videos in Siberia, it isn't tempting me much for a holiday though!

It's an amazing country - the scale of the place is beyond anything I've experienced before. The people are tough and resiliant, very straight-talking, and appear, when you first meet them, to be serious, humourless and suspicious of foreigners.

Spend 5 minutes with them, crack a joke and be straight-talking back, however, and they suddenly drop their barriers and become your bestest-ever friend. Behind the very thin mask, they're a remarkably warm, hospitable and good-humoured people.

I've come home with a whole new respect and admiration for Russia and the Russan people.

I'll definitely be going back.

Probably in summer next time though...

[Reg Local]

Billy Connolly once said "there's no such thing as bad weather - just the wrong clothes", so if you wear a few layers, keep your head and hands covered and take a properly warm coat, you'll be fine.

Having said that, at no point did I even come close to getting used to -30C & you have to be very careful not to leave any skin exposed when there's even a hint of a breeze.

The roads are ploughed, but salt has no effect below about -8C so they don't spread salt and it's essential that everyone swaps to (mostly studded) winter tyres from October to April. They do a little spreading, on hilly sections of road, where they use the waste ash from coal-fired power stations to help with traction. We saw a truck spreading one day - it had a bloke in the back with a shovel, chucking out the ash. A quick pomp on the horn stopped him from spreading it on our bonnet before he continued with probably the worst job in Russia.

Scrub that - whoever empties the unspeakably awful roadside toilets has the worst job in Russia.

Studded tyres were, quite honestly, an absolute revelation. The amount of grip in braking and cornering on what was, essentially, snow-covered sheet ice at times was remarkable.

[Reg Local]

Latest Siberia video is now online:

https://youtu.be/ZzCW80oClvE

I don't want to give the impression that Andy and I enjoyed this day in any way. We didn't. It was all very serious.

Honest.

[Reg Local]

And part 4:

https://youtu.be/ubOjFnACIBA

Driving a Ural truck & a military tank.

[Reg Local]

It's been a while, but here's the latest video - advanced drivng in a Tesla Model S 90D:

https://youtu.be/SPhbZ33eU-I

The plan is to upload content on a more regular basis in the coming weeks or months, so lets see how that works out!

[Reg Local]

DanL said:

nteresting - here's a question, not sure if you know the answer. Given that you don't seem to need to use the brakes much in order to slow, does the Tesla show brake lights at the rear when you lift of completely? Is the deceleration enough that it should?

Yes it does. There was no braking into the right hander at the end of the video, but you'll see the brake lights come on at 17.09.

If you watch the acceleration runs where I've got the camera on the instrument panel, it displays a little picture of the car. amongst other bits of information, this picture shows you when the brake lights are illuminated. A small lift on the accelerator won't light them up, but a sustained lift will make the brake lights come on.

[Reg Local]

wst said:

Does it have adjustable levels of regen-coast? I had a ride in a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV once and it up to "regen level 3" it would not illuminate the brake lights, and it went up to quite a harshly-decelerating 5.

One thing which surprised me about the car, considering how advanced it is, is the lack of adjustability on parameters which, in pretty much all other cars in this price range, would be fitted as standard.

It sits on passive dampers, has no seperate driver modes, throttle response, eco modes, adjustable steering weight or, as you've mentioned, regen modes.

You simply get in it, put it in drive and go.

To be fair, the dampers have been very well executed and the suspension in general does a good job of disguising the car's mass, and the feel and response of the cars controls are also very well engineered, so I never felt the need for any further levels of adjustability.

I was left with slightly mixed feelings about the car though. On the one hand, it's a very nicely presented thing with a comfortable and well-styled interior and extremely strong performance.

On the other hand, it left me a little bit cold at times. The performance is excellent, but it's lacking the engagement of a high-performance internal combustion engined car. Efficiency without drama is just a bit dull isn't it?

I completely get what Tesla are doing and it was interesting what a positive reaction the car got from people who would normally not be in the slightest bit interested in cars. But if I were looking to spend this kind of money on a car, I still think I'd be looking elsewhere.

[Reg Local]

I've made another video of our drive up to Northern Scotland. I've included some commentary this time, rather than Ride of the Valkyries and kept it mostly to overtakes, of which this new car makes fairly light work!

I've also included someone else's overtake in there so you can - ahem - compare techniques!

https://youtu.be/pp4rzmCQAgM

[Reg Local]

gdaybruce said:

Hi Reg,

Having failed to identify your car from the video, what is it? It makes a good noise and certainly seems to go well!

A few people have asked the same question, so I've made a little video about my car:

https://youtu.be/Mvr8ROzRKcw

[Reg Local]

No, i's not a Roadcraft technique, but it does get mentioned an awful lot when the subject of "advanced" driving is mentioned, so here's my take on heel & toe:

https://youtu.be/9owdffLKES4

[Reg Local]

Another one. Cornering balance:

https://youtu.be/NGJLNKQxZ98

[Reg Local]

And another. Flow:

https://youtu.be/6_y2N6hnM3g

[Reg Local]

We're back in sunny Bolton again after travelling back from Northern Scotland yesterday, but here's a new video I filmed whilst we were away. Point of view drive with commentary in Northern Scotland:

https://youtu.be/ZUlWBrRE_LA

[Reg Local]

Another one - More Scottish overtakes:

https://youtu.be/NLB_C7HgG3Q

ETA - Includes a nice 10-vehicle overtake and a few other multiples.

Edited by Reg Local on Friday 18th August 19:37

[Reg Local]

Rick101 said:

Had subscribed ages ago but had never got round to watching the videos in full until now.

Am working my way through in chronological order, just finished watching a couple of people just larking about in the snow Looking forward to the next few as they are of particular interest to me.

Keep them coming. How about something on tyres, drive chain, engines etc? I think all AD's should have some understanding of how it works and how it affects the drive.

Edited by Rick101 on Sunday 20th August 13:49

I'll put it on the list.

If the numbering seems a little disjointed, I'm just in the middle of numbering them from oldest to newest & making new thumbnail pics which seemed the most logical way to structure the channel - should be finished soon.

[Reg Local]

Rick101 said:

One question, or more something that surprised me, is the speed you pass over cattle grids.

I've always slowed to a sedated sloth when going over grids in anything remotely sporty. The suspension can prob take it but I wouldn't put it through the mill needlessly. There is of course the horrendous noise and vibration through the seat. I'd imagine thee is chance of damaging wheels too.

Am I worrying without cause? Is it a case of the faster you go the quicker you are through? Should I be aiming for airtime over the grids WRC style? That would be a spectacle!

It's always amused me when I see people slowing down to a crawl for cattle grids - the vast majority will cause no issues whatsoever if you carry some speed over them, as long as you follow one simple rule - no inputs.

The metal surface has significantly less grip than the surrounding road surface, particularly in the wet, so if you're steering or braking or accelerating as you pass over one, you may experience a momentary loss of grip, which could make the ABS kick in, or kick the car sideways or result in wheelspin or wheels locking.

So treat a cattle grid like standing water - make all your inputs either before or after and travel over it in a straight line with no inputs.

You do need to look out for the occasional poorly maintained cattle grid, where the most common problem is the tarmac at the edge of the grid sinking and creating a harsh lip, but in most cases driving over them with some speed is fairly smooth and can barely be felt in the cabin (heard, definitely, but not felt).

[Reg Local]

TartanPaint said:

You should consider arranging a week of 1-to-1 training days based up north. I reckon I could pull together some like-minded customers who would book you up in advance for days based out of Inverness or Ullapool. I'd be on the list! Just a thought.

Thanks for the positive feedback!

I'd certainly consider a coaching trip to Scotland - drop me an email to [e-mail] & we'll discuss it.

[Reg Local]

Just uploaded a new video - UK Winter Driving:

https://youtu.be/sfxY8hT2BQs