Where can I learn to drive?
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preferably not on public roads....
If he's insured he can drive it however he likes, if something goes **** up it's his problem and he's insured.
oh im sorry i didnt know welsh roads were the equivalent of the autobahn
reads as bombing around like he was doing a rally
What, in the rain, on an unfamiliar road? You know what they say about assumptions...
No, I can assure you we weren't going at high speeds, neither of us have the power ( <100 bhp) to achieve high speeds in the distance between corners. We were going round corners at perfectly safe speeds, although clarkey was going faster than I was and I didn't feel confident to push on. It doesn't mean we were breaking speed limits or driving like sebastian loeb!
Anyway, that wasn't the point of the OP, I was looking for somewhere to learn how to drive
Nothing wrong with being ballsy through the corners, so long as you know what you're doing. I was up in the Lake District the other week in my Focus (Mk2 Zetec, so probably a comparable experience) and that was pretty exciting at times. Only had one moment when I minorly cacked my pants because a 5 series loomed round a corner and took up all the room as I was approaching. Even then my ABS didn't kick in as I braked, so it was nothing excessive.
There is a lot to do with just knowing the car, like knowing how it steers, how it grips, how fast you can go round a corner. This is the kind of thing you need to learn from the bottom up, not the top down, though, which is obviously the mistake people want you to avoid. It's all well and good knowing you can take a corner at 50, but you want to find that out by finding that your car is getting close to giving up at 45, not by putting it into the hedge at 60 and working back down.
Sometimes it's just more about being pro-active (some would say aggressive) like taking a straighter line through the bends on the wrong side of the road, though obviously only when you can see 110% that it's clear, or just sticking in a lower gear when you're going uphill.
There is a lot to do with just knowing the car, like knowing how it steers, how it grips, how fast you can go round a corner. This is the kind of thing you need to learn from the bottom up, not the top down, though, which is obviously the mistake people want you to avoid. It's all well and good knowing you can take a corner at 50, but you want to find that out by finding that your car is getting close to giving up at 45, not by putting it into the hedge at 60 and working back down.
Sometimes it's just more about being pro-active (some would say aggressive) like taking a straighter line through the bends on the wrong side of the road, though obviously only when you can see 110% that it's clear, or just sticking in a lower gear when you're going uphill.
Excellent, thanks for that Vonhelmet!
You're right - car + hedge/tree/wall/ditch/someone else's car/pedestrian etc. is precisely what I want to avoid. The road between my house and my gf's is quite the driver's road, I have been gradually increasing my cornering speeds along there, mainly subconsciously I think as I get to know the road better.
I only understeered a couple of times this weekend - in a car like the focus, will it gradually undresteer out indefinitely if you're say 5mph over the limit, or will it start to go and then suddenly kill me?
This is the kind thing I'd rather find out on an airfield with cones than a welsh mountain road
I would love to take the car well past it's limits and learn what happens, and what would happen if I were to power/brake/steer etc. in these 'loss' situations.
You're right - car + hedge/tree/wall/ditch/someone else's car/pedestrian etc. is precisely what I want to avoid. The road between my house and my gf's is quite the driver's road, I have been gradually increasing my cornering speeds along there, mainly subconsciously I think as I get to know the road better.
I only understeered a couple of times this weekend - in a car like the focus, will it gradually undresteer out indefinitely if you're say 5mph over the limit, or will it start to go and then suddenly kill me?
This is the kind thing I'd rather find out on an airfield with cones than a welsh mountain road
I would love to take the car well past it's limits and learn what happens, and what would happen if I were to power/brake/steer etc. in these 'loss' situations.
That's more to do with your tyres than your car. The Focus is supposed to be a pretty nice handling car so you shouldn't really be seeing much understeer unless you're provoking it or driving too fast for the corner/road conditions.
I'd get some better tyres before getting a CTR. I like to fully exploit a car's capabilities before moving onto the next one.
I know first hand that crap tyres will make even great handling cars like the Mx-5 poor to drive.
Do you consider yourself as one then?
Build or destroy?
I hate the M25 with a passion, especially before 8pm, everyone drives like a **** so I'm always on edge!
I drive a mapped 535d; I am a King of the M25.
Soldato
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Having someone with a bit of skill sit with you on a slightly above normal drive on a B road isn't a bad thing, its likely that you're doing something totally wrong.
I know people who turn in by immediately applying a fixed amount of lock, then brake, then wait until they have negotiated the corner with more jerky steering inputs before changing down and/or applying the power in one big stomp, and are off and on the power 100%->0%->100% in high speed bends. It makes me want to get out the car.
My brother (some of you know some of his exploits) does some of that, especially the on and off the power bit. He's recently had his 5th write off and at least 10th crash in 5 years driving. While I (some of you know how I drive) have never hit a thing in 7 years, not that I'm cocky about it, I've had some epic brown trouser moments...
I know people who turn in by immediately applying a fixed amount of lock, then brake, then wait until they have negotiated the corner with more jerky steering inputs before changing down and/or applying the power in one big stomp, and are off and on the power 100%->0%->100% in high speed bends. It makes me want to get out the car.
My brother (some of you know some of his exploits) does some of that, especially the on and off the power bit. He's recently had his 5th write off and at least 10th crash in 5 years driving. While I (some of you know how I drive) have never hit a thing in 7 years, not that I'm cocky about it, I've had some epic brown trouser moments...
ah I'm not that bad lol
Generally change down during braking before the corner, have clutch engaged the whole time and back on the power as early as possible without spinning up/sliding wide. I cannot claim smooth steering wheel action though, but working on it.
Generally change down during braking before the corner, have clutch engaged the whole time and back on the power as early as possible without spinning up/sliding wide. I cannot claim smooth steering wheel action though, but working on it.