Esp

[Mat]

Really? I think i need one of these courses :angry:

[wozza]

well think about it if your back end goes out towards the left and you turn right its going to cause the car to spin more isnt it?

 

Where as if you spin into the skid cause the back end is out your really making the tyres straighten up and point in the direction you would have gone anyways had the skid not aoccured resulting in the back end following the front wheels eventually.

[hertsnminds]

Depends on the type of skid if its wet icey etc to what you shoudl do. Basic thing is though you steer into the skid so if your skidding left you turn left it will bring the car back into a straight line which you can then adjust.

 

But with ESP and ABS the car does what it needs to so you can keep your foot on the pedals and just steer where you want the car to go.

 

There was an item on 5th Gear last night about Police drivers being retrained to learn how to drive cars with ESP as the old techniques needed updating.

 

 

Ian

Black VTR+

[Stuey]

Depends on the type of skid if its wet icey etc to what you shoudl do. Basic thing is though you steer into the skid so if your skidding left you turn left it will bring the car back into a straight line which you can then adjust.

 

But with ESP and ABS the car does what it needs to so you can keep your foot on the pedals and just steer where you want the car to go.

 

There was an item on 5th Gear last night about Police drivers being retrained to learn how to drive cars with ESP as the old techniques needed updating.

 

 

Ian

Black VTR+

beat me to it :D

 

I have a performance driving course in july that teaches the basics of high speed cornering etc in a safe enviroment oh and I get to rag an Aston Martin DB9 and a Bentley Continental GT ho hum :ph34r:

[Safety Engineer]

Would heartily recommend the IAM course, well worth it, and they are not the anoraks that are often associated with IAM.

 

Have also done the Police Class 1 training but failed on the fast driving test for hesitancy and failure to make progress :blink: was told that I should have been doing a bit more than I was...

 

Don't think much of the idea of re-testing as IMO the standard test isn't much cop especially when compared with the likes of Germany, Australia and NZ that all have a multi stage test & licence system that includes motorway tuition and testing.

[Mat]

And also, under the current system, you can take you test as many times as you can afford. If you can't pass in 3 attempts, i think you should be banned.

[Stuey]

I am with safety engineer on that the test is really not that difficult, but it will make white van man/BMW driver think a bit...

 

Mat, with you all the way...if you cant pass it in a couple of goes driving probably isnt for you...no offence if you passed on try number 4 :blink:

[Mat]

...no offence if you passed on try number 4 :blink:

35 on theory and passed first test with 4 minors. :huh:

[Stuey]

...no offence if you passed on try number 4  :blink:

35 on theory and passed first test with 4 minors. :huh:

same car, same score on test!!

 

Fooking hell its a clone!!!

[Welshguy]

35 on theory first time round - can't remember the practical but it was enough to fail!

 

34 on theory second time round (left it more than 2 years!) ...

 

and 2 minors on practical...beat that :blink:

[wozza]

Not passing after 3 times and being banned is well a bit of a stupid idea in my mind.

 

I could show you people who are deffinately better drivers than us who passed after 5+ attemps.

 

It just depends if your nervous, Something on the day doesnt go quite right. I didnt pass first time yet i would say im a very good driver. Yet all my friends that passed 1st time have all been in accidents and all of them i can honestly say scare the living ***oops*** out of me behind the wheel and i can see why they had accidents.

 

Passing after a couple times or more actually can have the opposite affect and make you a better driver makes you more determined to be a better driver.

[Mat]

The scariest rides i've had have been people who claim to be 'above average' drivers (one had had IAM lessons). Just watch 'Britains Worst Driver' or whatever its called. They all think they are good drivers, but are definately not.

(Wozza, this isnt a dig at you. I can't comment on your driving, as i've never been in a car with you)

[Welshguy]

lol I've had a few scary rides - just yesterday I was chucked into the back of a transit van (I'm not lying!) and given a terror ride. All I did wrong was refusing to goto the pub with my brother - he didn't take the rejection that well... :huh:

 

I think the pitch blackness and not knowing if he was gonna hit anything were my 2 biggest points... :blink:

[ham's c4vts]

i think everyone should take compulsery basic training (CBT)on a motorcycle(125cc) before even driving, it would nmake people think about their actions on the roads.

[Welshguy]

Yeah I'd agree with that m8. I did CBT, and it was a lot harder than I expected - damn those figure of eights! :blink:

[Safety Engineer]

Failed my initial driving test 5 times, but whilst I made mistakes I wasn't to impressed with the standard of instruction my fails were:

 

1st test - Lack of observation, when in the RAF was taught to use eyes to scan rather than moving head as eyes can move faster and moving head a lot whilst wearing 4kg of flight helmet makes the neck sore. Why not havce a running commentry or if examiner isn't sure ask 'what was the last sign you passed?' a good way of establishing observation.

 

2nd test - Made very sure that the examiner could see I was observing, even adjusted my mirror before pulling off, was failed on the basis that he felt I had driven to the test centre with an incorrectly adjusted mirror.

 

3rd test - same idiot as tests 1 & 2, failed for refusing an emegency stop and an incorect ES, first one he called I had a tailgater, and wasn't going to chance him rear ending me. Second it was a bit icey and felt the car start to go so eased off and re-applied the brakes, was told that a proper emergency stop should make the tyres squeel, mised the point that squeeling tyres normally indicates a skid...

 

Took a couple of years out from test in the hope that the doddery old git would retire.

 

4th test - failed for not being aggresive enough. WTF surely trying to overtake on a blind corner is just plain silly, not according to this examiner!!

 

5th test - too close to vehicle in front on a dual carraigeway, hands up my mistake, also marked down for block changing rather than going up through every gear.

 

6th test - made a complete hash of it, stalled it forgot to change up, made a right howler at a roundabout. but passed, my two worst drives were the closest to passing and a pass.

 

Am very sceptical about the standard drivning test, especially since doing the Class 1.

 

Wouldn't be against a limited number of passes given the standard of tuition and testing improves, would go for 1o tests, bearing in mind that there are some people who are now good drivers but go to pieces on a formal test, 10 cracks gives them a chance to get past test nerves. I think the drivers that have had 60-70 tests should just give up.

[wozza]

1st test i was failed while paralle parkign because where he told me to park there was no kerb so apparently i hit his imaginaery kerb....there wasnt even a line around to judge where it would be.

 

2nd one i failed cause i didnt look left when doing my 3 point turn. Now i could describe to her in detail exactly what was to my left at that time...It went somethign along the lines of. "There was a giant metal fence and a load of fields" Why exactly do i need to look into a field with a massive fence in front of it to see if a car could come and hit me? She still failed me.

 

3rd passed with 3 minors. There was actually a guy coming back to the test centre though done his manouvers and his emergency stop and the women called another one right outside the test centre he had gone all the way through the test without getting even 1 minor and she wasnt happy so she basically did somethign to make him get one. Same women i had on my 2nd test actually. Quite a lot of complaining from the guys instructor and the guy that she made him do extra bits to make him get a minor though. She was a complete idiot of an examiner. The othr guy there was fine when i got him really chatty etc. She just grunted and breathed so damn hard i could hear her all the way through the test.

[Welshguy]

I think a lot of it comes down to nerves & prep work...

 

My first driving instructor felt like my best m8, and I think looking back that was a mistake - I was far too casual with him. The driving test instructor was also like hitler in a posh suit. Very carried away with his own importance.

 

My second driving instructor wasa lot more serious while still being friendly. Also made sure he gave me every tip, and worked on my areas of weakness. The second test instructor was an older guy and was far more experienced. Before I even got in the car he simply said to me "I'm not here to fail you...just to make sure you obey the law". Put me at ease straight away! And I passed :P