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Driver training?
Slimy38 - 11/5/12 at 07:48 AM

Since I've never driven a rear wheel drive car let alone a superlight kit car, I was wondering whether it might be worth me doing a bit of training before I earn myself a Darwin award with a sideways slide into the nearest roundabout. Has anyone got any recommendations?

I'm tempted to do some drift training rather than simply circuit time, so I know what happens and how to avoid it. The most logical one would be Caterham's drift school, but it seems to be following Caterham's trend of being twice as expensive as the competition for no real reason.

Alternatively, there is actual skid pan training, which is the cheapest and probably the safest training. It seem logical to learn how to get out of a skid rather than how to deliberately induce a drift. But the one I found uses a Ford Focus, which is obviously front wheel drive. Are there any skid pan training schools that use rear wheel drive cars?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

tegwin - 11/5/12 at 08:44 AM

RWD car + empty carpark= Fun

Slimy38 - 11/5/12 at 09:16 AM

I wish that were an option, unfortunately all the local 'boy racer' meets have completely removed any possibility of getting on to an empty car park anywhere local! They're either locked, patrolled or both...

scudderfish - 11/5/12 at 09:27 AM

www.carlimits.com. Excellent course, only wish I'd done it _before_ I stuffed my Elise.

coyoteboy - 11/5/12 at 09:32 AM

Empty car parks with get you section 59'd (IIRC) and at risk of losing your car, unless you can find one seriously out of town and away from anyone.

ChrisW - 11/5/12 at 09:40 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
www.carlimits.com. Excellent course, only wish I'd done it _before_ I stuffed my Elise.


That looks like a good day. Will definitely consider one of those when the MR2 is back together.

Chris

Bluemoon - 11/5/12 at 11:34 AM

quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW
quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
www.carlimits.com. Excellent course, only wish I'd done it _before_ I stuffed my Elise.


That looks like a good day. Will definitely consider one of those when the MR2 is back together.

Chris


Looks good but expensive (but not as much as putting kit in a ditch!).

scudderfish - 11/5/12 at 04:51 PM

It may not be cheap, but upgrading your skills is a very cost effective upgrade you can do to your car. Even better, it magically upgrades every car you drive!

Nickp - 11/5/12 at 05:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
www.carlimits.com. Excellent course, only wish I'd done it _before_ I stuffed my Elise.


My mate did it and then stuffed his Elise Said it was good though

Slimy38 - 11/5/12 at 06:20 PM

That carlimits one does look good, but the price puts it above the Caterham course. And the destinations are also extremely remote for me, I think it would be a six hour round trip to either of them.

T66 - 11/5/12 at 07:21 PM

There is another slant to look at - Durham police as an example do bike friendly weekends, instructors follow you on a bike and give you top tips on riding.

There might be a Police based training for car users in the UK. They wont teach you to rag the car about, but you will learn how to read the road at pace.


This is all about progress, given the conditions you have available. Skidpan stuff is well worth while.



I have a number of pals who thought they were fast & safe, and they were well short of the benchmark. Anything else you did in addition to this would only be a bonus.


Just an alternative maybe....

Slimy38 - 11/5/12 at 07:32 PM

Our local police force does those biker training courses, I keep meaning to get myself on one. I'll have a look if they do an equivalent car one, thanks.