That "Senna" Moment
Discussion
Having watched the excellent film again recently, I remembered a couple of drives where you get that "detached" feeling. Where it's just you and the road, the car becomes an extension of your body, you don't consciously think about your actions, you just flow with the road and make progress you never thought possible. It could be a road you've driven every day for years, but something about today was different. Or a road you've never been down before, but just clicks with your car and your driving.
It's only happened to me a couple of times. You can never force it, something will go wrong. Has this ever happened to you? Please share.
It's only happened to me a couple of times. You can never force it, something will go wrong. Has this ever happened to you? Please share.
HereBeMonsters said:
Haha. I have had the same sort of thing in a game before. Sega Rally was always a good one for that "telepathic" feeling.
Me too with Colin McRae 2! I would drive a whole stage and then once finished couldn't remember any of it! I occasionally get a similar experience in real life in the Elise, but not quite to the same extent!andym1603 said:
Do you mean that when you are driving everything falls into place, you become focused and everything is natural?
If it is then, I have no idea what you mean, as it involved serious speed.
Precisely.If it is then, I have no idea what you mean, as it involved serious speed.
It doesn't have to involve illegal speed though, only speeds you never thought possible on that bit of "private racetrack"...
HereBeMonsters said:
Precisely.
It doesn't have to involve illegal speed though, only speeds you never thought possible on that bit of "private racetrack"...
I'll say no more then , but serious miles were consumed in little time when I had to get home to the family. I was definately in "The Zone" that trip. Car done me proud that day.It doesn't have to involve illegal speed though, only speeds you never thought possible on that bit of "private racetrack"...
Not as often as I would like, but I have experienced this a few times.
It's a well-known phenomenon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
It's a well-known phenomenon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
Happened couple of days back. Been trying to learn heel-and-toeing but was hard to do when you're not braking sharply for a corner in my daily. So I was driving in my favourite bit of road the other day, when everything fell into place perfectly and I was doing rev-matched downshifts while braking, without even giving thought to it. Usually I never quite find the driving position right for this in this car but it all came together really well on that bit of road. Been trying to replicate it ever since with no luck. 
I've had that when everything seems to flow smoothly and once you get to your destination you don't fully remember the journey. Its almost like vehicular meditation where the mind is cleansed of thoughts and is focussed subconsciously. Either that or I have a problem with concentration!
Oh I also have experienced in a small way what Senna was talking about in karting, where you keep pushing yourself lap after lap, thinking you couldn't possibly go quicker after the previous lap, but somehow you manage to get quicker and quicker (or you feel like that anyway!), and everything else is a blur...
That is funny seeing games mentioned. Years ago I used to do hundred of laps on the playstation - Gran Turismo. Some laps were done in a very detatched way. Spooky sometimes.
In real life, it has been known on twisty country roads I've been driving for 20 years. Fast, easy, no thinking. I guess talented drivers can do the same in no time at all.
In real life, it has been known on twisty country roads I've been driving for 20 years. Fast, easy, no thinking. I guess talented drivers can do the same in no time at all.
Dr Z said:
Happened couple of days back. Been trying to learn heel-and-toeing but was hard to do when you're not braking sharply for a corner in my daily. So I was driving in my favourite bit of road the other day, when everything fell into place perfectly and I was doing rev-matched downshifts while braking, without even giving thought to it. Usually I never quite find the driving position right for this in this car but it all came together really well on that bit of road. Been trying to replicate it ever since with no luck.
gratz, I remember the first time I did it, was driving a rover 820 coupe turbo (vitesse) and flying back home from a day out, sharp long left hander at the bottom of the mountain and timed it perfect for 2nd gear downshift, It's a great feeling when you finally get it right. Been doing it ever since, no matter what "lemon" i'm driving. 
I did it in a mates scooby turbo last week with him in the car, he didn't even notice that i'd done it
re: driving like a boss, I rebuilt & upgraded the front suspension and brakes on an MGB GT about 2 years ago and did a good 50 mile run, 25 miles to make sure everything was good and bed the brakes in, then drove it proper all the way home, was well pleased with it.
heebeegeetee said:
HereBeMonsters said:
Precisely.
It doesn't have to involve illegal speed though, only speeds you never thought possible on that bit of "private racetrack"...
Er, if it involves a road car and a public road, no serious speed will be involved. It doesn't have to involve illegal speed though, only speeds you never thought possible on that bit of "private racetrack"...
Isle of Man?
No one said UK or anything but an empty road.
I had that Senna moment driving my Evo over the mountain road on IoM as the sun rose. It was flippin epic.
Last time I went Karting I think I experienced this. I did two sessions, the second in a much slower kart. Basically I just kept pushing and pushing trying to get better times, then everything sort of just clicked and I was throwing the kart into corners faster than I otherwise would. But then the tyres which were already on the way out sort of just dropped off the cliff and I kept pushing so hard that by the end of the session I was struggling to hold myself up.
For clarity, this is a very specific thing that's recognised in psychology. Here's a checklist from the article linked above:
Wikipedia said:
Components of flow
Nakamura and Csíkszentmihályi identify the following six factors as encompassing an experience of flow.
1. intense and focused concentration on the present moment
2. merging of action and awareness
3. a loss of reflective self-consciousness
4. a sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
5. a distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered
6. experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience
Those aspects can appear independently of each other, but only in combination they constitute a so-called flow experience.
Nakamura and Csíkszentmihályi identify the following six factors as encompassing an experience of flow.
1. intense and focused concentration on the present moment
2. merging of action and awareness
3. a loss of reflective self-consciousness
4. a sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
5. a distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered
6. experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience
Those aspects can appear independently of each other, but only in combination they constitute a so-called flow experience.
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