Rate your driving ability

I just cant believe how many people are giving themselves 8's and above, someone needs to contact the WRC/F1 talent scouts. :D

Personally I've done years of karting and some track days, etc. so I know how well I measure up against the pros :D I'm good but not that good. Myabe 8-9 is being a tad generous but when I can chalk up times within 100ms of the track record for karting and managed 5th out of ~400 last time on track (.84 of a second behind whats considered "pro") I don't consider myself too bad.
 
Personally I've done years of karting and some track days, etc. so I know how well I measure up against the pros :D I'm good but not that good. Myabe 8-9 is being a tad generous but when I can chalk up times within 100ms of the track record for karting and managed 5th out of ~400 last time on track (.84 of a second behind whats considered "pro") I don't consider myself too bad.

Cool, but i'm probably the best driver here by a long way. This one time I was go karting and I was so fast the owner came over to me and said "oi mate no F1 drivers allowed". I told him I wasn't. He said I bloody well should be.
 
Personally I've done years of karting and some track days, etc. so I know how well I measure up against the pros :D I'm good but not that good. Myabe 8-9 is being a tad generous but when I can chalk up times within 100ms of the track record for karting and managed 5th out of ~400 last time on track (.84 of a second behind whats considered "pro") I don't consider myself too bad.

Wait...you are comparing a go kart track to the road, Jesus wept.
 
1) 8, apart from when sleepy :p General awareness/anticipation
2) 9, only person in my family who can parallel park! Parking ability
3) 8 nice and smooth despite knackered engine mount. Brakes/Clutch control - nice and smooth or bucking bronco?
4) 4... nuff said :p How patient and courteous are you to other road users?
5) 7. What is your knowledge of the Highway Code?
6) 9 would say very good, know where it's limits are :) High speed control of your car in dry conditions
7) 6, P6000s make this more difficult. " wet/icy conditions
8) 8, saved myself from many a kerb! Your ability to correct your car when out of shape
 
I don't suppose there's an option for us lowly civvies to get driver training of that sort?

Unforunately not and you are not lowly. :)

Some retired traffic officers do driving instruction such as ADI and you can learn a lot from them.

When I did my panda commander course in 2001 it cost around £5000 for an advanced police driver to be trained in a 4 week course and that excludes T-Pack, VIP, Cat A escort and ARV courses that can follow. ( I am not an advanced driver by the way. )
 
The trick, so I've heard, is to get a job involving driving of some description, then get the company to sponsor you. Not always possible of course, but good when it is.
 
My girlfriends answers.....

1) General awareness/anticipation - 7
2) Parking ability - 7
3) Brakes/Clutch control - nice and smooth or bucking bronco? - 7
4) How patient and courteous are you to other road users? - 2
5) What is your knowledge of the Highway Code? - 5
6) High speed control of your car in dry conditions - 7
7) " wet/icy conditions - 7
8) Your ability to correct your car when out of shape - 7

Overall - 7
 
How on earth did I miss this first time around?

1) General awareness/anticipation 9
2) Parking ability 8
3) Brakes/Clutch control - nice and smooth or bucking bronco? 9
4) How patient and courteous are you to other road users? Courtesy 8, tolerance of idiots 2
5) What is your knowledge of the Highway Code? 7
6) High speed control of your car in dry conditions 8
7) " wet/icy conditions 9
8) Your ability to correct your car when out of shape 9

Wow, maybe I should just suck myself off.
 
Have any of you considered going on additional driving training? I have done a a couple of courses now and I like the result. I used Jon Cave at DriveTrain - great ex-police driver instructor.

Various types of courses too - gets great write ups from most of the forums I've seen him on.

Quite ironic when the majority of people rate themselves as above average as a driver isn't it! I took the training simply because I thought no matter how unlikely, it must be possible to improve on perfection. Or something.

Output from my initial one in my '4 here:

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Hmm, here goes:

1) General Awareness - 6. It used to seem a lot better, but I feel myself allowing for a reaction now. Might just be experience kicking in.
2) Parking - 6. Never been particular good, really. Although I always get in without a lot of effort, just usually on the 2nd try.
3) Brakes/Clutch - 7.5. Despite driving a car with a 120k clutch and over-sharp pinching brakes, I feel quite proud of bringing the car to a stop smoothly by releasing the braking pressure before the car has halted to raise the nose and stop the suspension wrenching the car. With clutching, I can pretty much smooth out every gear change when at very low and high revs alike.
4) Patience - 8. I'm very patient with other road users if they are courteous. I'll very often flash people out of junctions if I think they are hesistating, use my hazards to thank, waving and ALWAYS give way to people indicating. I almost go in to the crazed opposite mode, though, when people don't indicate or barge others out of the way.
5) Highway Code - 7. I'd say it's pretty comprehensive. Certainly enough for day-to-day use without problem.
6) High Speed Control - X. Haven't really ever been able to try it. My car has so little grip in any conditions its hard to judge. If I'm making quite rapid progress I'll use a racing line where at all possible and start making a concerted effort not to flex the suspension or make abrupt movements.
7) Adverse Speed Control - X. Same as above, really.
8) Car Correction - 6. I've had some understeer moments that I've managed to correct by overriding instinct and turning less rather than more, but nothing much amazing.

Overall - 6.5 / 7. I'd like to think so anyway :p
Lets have an update!

1) General Awareness - 7. I'm fairly good at picking up on people's road attitude and positioning etc.
2) Parking - 8. I can park in a gap big enough for the car. Some points docked for occasionally hitting things, like other cars.
3) Brakes/Clutch - 10. I can push the brakes fine. What's a clutch?
4) Patience - 1. Move over or I'll overtake kthnx.
5) Highway Code - 7. Same as in 2006.
6) High Speed Control - 7.5. I've never had any issues at very high speed.
7) Adverse Speed Control - 0. My approach to the snow is akin to Jeremy Clarkson.
8) Car Correction - 10. DSC.

Overall a 5 with a standard deviation of 5.
 
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I'm going to be realistic here, if a 10 is indeed "Ken Blocks got nothing on me" then most of the answers above are purely to massage your egos.

1) General awareness/anticipation - 6.5 don't quite deserve a 7 however I do consider myself above average. No one is 100% focused on what all other road users/pedestrians are doing, everyone has their dodgy moments.

2) Parking ability - 6 again I don't deserve higher because I can't seem to drive into a space without having to adjust the car, parallel parking however I can do, working in a busy city centre it became second nature. Struggling slightly with the celica though as the rear visibility isn't great so I find myself being overly cautious with distances.

3) Brakes/Clutch control - nice and smooth or bucking bronco? - 6.5 Again I consider myself above average on this as I do try and drive smoothly especially with others in the car. Economical driving also helps as it means less stopping and starting and more gentle reduction in speed leading to a smoother rolling start.

4) How patient and courteous are you to other road users? - 3.5 I will nearly always let other motorists out in traffic etc, I dont tailgate or drive particularly aggressively, but when it comes to patience I have a very low tolerance.

5) What is your knowledge of the Highway Code? - 5 I did consider myself to be well versed in this as I still consider myself a fairly new driver so all the theory should be fresh in my mind, however it's been almost 8 years since I passed my test, and I'd have to consider myself average.

6) High speed control of your car in dry conditions - 6 being a tad generous here as in my opinion I'm pretty good but have never been to a track day and have no racing experience but I believe I know the limits of my car. I know the fundamentals of driving fast I've just never had the opportunity to try it properly barring the occasional spirited run on a nice day.

7) " wet/icy conditions - Can't honestly say, never driven anything other than normal road conditions. Not had any incidents in the wet or ice but I will admit in not great in the snow. I just drive carefully and get in fine however I did get stuck last year on two occasions when hills were involved but that was down to extremely poor performing tyres.

8) Your ability to correct your car when out of shape - Again can't comment. Never driven a rwd car and haven't gotten properly out of shape in the fwd save for some minor understeer.
 
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Ah this old chestnut!

I wonder if atpbx is going to be driving for Ferrari at Monza?

:D

No still excellent, also I am now even more excellent because I am excellent at driving HGV's as well now.

Although I am not the best winger in the league any more.
 
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1) General awareness/anticipation - 8
2) Parking ability - 6
3) Brakes/Clutch control - nice and smooth or bucking bronco? - 9
4) How patient and courteous are you to other road users? - 6
5) What is your knowledge of the Highway Code? - 7
6) High speed control of your car in dry conditions - 7
7) " wet/icy conditions - 6
8) Your ability to correct your car when out of shape - 5
 
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