How Not To Drive
(24 January 2006)
"Everything you wanted to know about improving your driving but were afraid to ask." So went the introduction to a guide booklet included in a recent publication of one of the UK's leading car magazines. The advice on how to conduct oneself with regard to road driving was sensible and straightforward but nothing really new. It was what came after that which made me sympathise with the reader's possible trepidation with regard to enquiring further.
The author was apparently going to offer a performance driving masterclass, although in all fairness adding that one could take it or leave it. According to the script, if one wanted to take it, the ideal candidate was someone who lay awake at night wondering how he or she could make their BMW M3 go sideways for 100 yards in third gear, and if this was the case then maybe the next few pages would be worth reading. I must confess that over the years I have seen M3s do much more than that on race circuits in 100 yards, although it did not appear to be a planned attempt.
The two main objectives of the masterclass with regard to circuit driving were as follows: firstly how to drive your car faster and more safely on a circuit, and secondly how to avoid an accident before it happens on a track. Unfortunately, in my view, if one followed the training instructions to the letter and drove fast, the first objective might be somewhat difficult to achieve. As for the second, while avoidance might present a problem, at least one could get plenty of practice.
In the section on track skills, one is instructed to understand the particular handling characteristics of the mechanical layout of the various types of car and alter your driving style accordingly. I feel there is a considerable amount of hype generated about personal driving style which, in my experience, is merely a combination of a driver's own particular mistakes.
In the section on front-wheel drive cars, we are told that they have a basic understeer characteristic, therefore one must turn earlier into corners. This of course automatically produces the problem the driver is trying to avoid, namely terminal understeer. If you want to drive an FWD car really fast, don't change your line - use the correct technique. With the right amount of knowledge and technical skill, you can get the power on often before the apex and the more it comes in, the better the car will handle with no understeer at all.
My FWD saloon car racing clients commonly achieve a dramatic improvement in their results, often overnight, and experience far better performance and handling from their cars together with an equal reduction in front tyre wear.
I recall coaching an F3 driver at Albacete who was having problems with his driving, and with a good car was only a midfield driver. We spent half a day at the circuit in an FWD car working on the correct lines, technique, and corner speed. I was told that the following day, at an official F3 test on a slow track, he had fastest lap which equalled the lap record.
In the section dealing with four-wheel drive cars, we are told that this type of car is rarely fun to drive on a track because they tend to understeer either a little or a lot, although exceptions are the Mitsubishi Evo and the Subaru Impreza WRX. The Impreza apparently has to turn way earlier than the rear-wheel drive car mentioned, and it understeers most through the illustrated bend in the feature, even more than the FWD Clio. An amazing conclusion, made even more ridiculous by the fact this is not meant to be a joke.
I have driven both Imprezas and Evos on various circuits, doing demonstration laps on track days, and coaching race drivers. The real fact is that, driven correctly, they are fantastic through the corners with no trace of understeer or excessive tyre wear even with three passengers in the car.
I meet many people who drive on circuits, not because they want to race but because they want to enjoy their cars. So many of them say to me that every time they have coaching, each instructor gives them different advice which they find very confusing. This is a perpetual problem, but there is so much you can teach yourself if you approach the subject in the right way.
Remember there is only one way to drive a road or race car, simply because you cannot change the laws of physics. It entails using a system of actions that allow the car to work as well as it can. This entails focusing your mind completely on doing what is best for the car not what is easiest for yourself. If the car does something in a corner for instance that does not feel right, the first thing you must ask yourself is, "What did I do to make the car do that?"
Whether driving on a track, or at reasonable speeds on a road, it is surprising how much you can teach yourself in this way. The more you practice, the easier it gets.
