Sunny day, empty airfield.
Discussion
Myself and 2 other PH'ers - Grifftastic and Ffirg 005 attended the 1st Lotus airfield driving course today and what a good day it was. For £120 each (4 drivers) it has to have been one of my most cost effective driving days.
Andrew, the instructor completely changed our perception of how to drive.
If you are planning on doing track days this year, do this course as it will improve your driving. If you only use some of the techniques on the road, it could save you an accident.
If, on the other hand you drive like Grifftastic and donut around most of the cones, it may cost a little more for a new pair of tyres. Well done to Ffirg 005 who, if any of the coned circuit was timed, may have gone round 1/10th of a second quicker than Grifftastic and me. The lotus could have been a second further back, nice car though.
Sorry about the roofs being on, but it was bloody cold.
Andrew, the instructor completely changed our perception of how to drive.
If you are planning on doing track days this year, do this course as it will improve your driving. If you only use some of the techniques on the road, it could save you an accident.
If, on the other hand you drive like Grifftastic and donut around most of the cones, it may cost a little more for a new pair of tyres. Well done to Ffirg 005 who, if any of the coned circuit was timed, may have gone round 1/10th of a second quicker than Grifftastic and me. The lotus could have been a second further back, nice car though.
Sorry about the roofs being on, but it was bloody cold.
powelly said:
Can you expand a little on what you feel you've learnt/would now do differently... been considering it for some weeks.. just a long way from sunny (for a change) Manchester!!
Yes. I have been on RideDrive days and last year did all the TVRCC trackdays. What I didn't learn on these days was;
Steering, using a different technique to the usual feeding (for road) style so you know where the wheels are pointing and allowing quicker input to follow oversteer. Using the throttle to move the car in wider or tighter arcs without steering input.
Cornering, carrying speed into the corners on the brakes giving a tighter turn in and allowing for a faster and more controllable exit.
This no way negates the excellent RideDrive instruction, it enhances it. For a track, I can see it knocking a large lump off of lap times.
Andrew teaches at your level, we were all new these methods today and he therefore only taught us the basics. Beyond this there is left foot braking and all sorts nifty tricks. His experience even stretches to F1 testing. You would need to contact him if you have specific requirements.
Hope this helps, Dave.
1st Lotus days are superb .... I agree with all the comments below and will be going back to see Andrew again this year ...
The difference of steering the car via the brakes and accelerator that Andrew taught us has saved me a lot of time round a track and is great fun for the right road.
It gave me even more confidence in what the car was capable of with the right driving inputs and by the end was at around 95mph through 'the corner' ...
Best bit for us was that it rained in the afternoon and the coned run was done in the wet ....
1 x 400se
1 x S2000
1 x 111s
1 x Griffith 500
who was quickest in the wet then ?????
I was
in the Griffith !! Awesome day !!
The difference of steering the car via the brakes and accelerator that Andrew taught us has saved me a lot of time round a track and is great fun for the right road.
It gave me even more confidence in what the car was capable of with the right driving inputs and by the end was at around 95mph through 'the corner' ...
Best bit for us was that it rained in the afternoon and the coned run was done in the wet ....
1 x 400se
1 x S2000
1 x 111s
1 x Griffith 500
who was quickest in the wet then ?????
I was
in the Griffith !! Awesome day !! Good summary of the day Marino. This is the first time I've done anything like this (apart from corporate driving days) and the things that have stuck with me were:
- Steering technique - Andrew's is simple but very effective and I was amazed at how quickly it became second nature.
- High speed braking, getting a feel for being on the edge of traction and keeping control (sometimes).
- Braking into corners, when you should ease off and get onto the gas. Too early is fun but not fast.
You can read all this stuff and hear other people say it but it doesn't mean anything unless your brain and body have learned it. With Andrew's guidance and lots of time to experiment "on the edge" it's a real learning experience.
The Elise chap is hopefully going to send me a DVD video which I'll put up on a streaming server when I have it.
Edited 'cos my spelling "Merino" isn't quite as cool a tag as Marino
>> Edited by Ffirg 005 on Friday 27th February 08:53
- Steering technique - Andrew's is simple but very effective and I was amazed at how quickly it became second nature.
- High speed braking, getting a feel for being on the edge of traction and keeping control (sometimes
). - Braking into corners, when you should ease off and get onto the gas. Too early is fun but not fast.
You can read all this stuff and hear other people say it but it doesn't mean anything unless your brain and body have learned it. With Andrew's guidance and lots of time to experiment "on the edge" it's a real learning experience.
The Elise chap is hopefully going to send me a DVD video which I'll put up on a streaming server when I have it.
Edited 'cos my spelling "Merino" isn't quite as cool a tag as Marino
>> Edited by Ffirg 005 on Friday 27th February 08:53
I did this the day before you guys in my Griff with a friend in a Westfield (without screen and in the snow!!
- Andrew was pretty keen to get back in the Griff!)
Echo your comments - I've read more than I will ever remember about driving but actually driving with someone who can instantly pick you up on the mistakes you're making is simply unbeatable.
We had icy conditions in the morning - good for all that skidding about and drier conditions in the afternoon - but still b
y cold!
BTW the Welsh location is Llandow and is a track based course rather than the airfield car control course.
- Andrew was pretty keen to get back in the Griff!) Echo your comments - I've read more than I will ever remember about driving but actually driving with someone who can instantly pick you up on the mistakes you're making is simply unbeatable.
We had icy conditions in the morning - good for all that skidding about and drier conditions in the afternoon - but still b
y cold! BTW the Welsh location is Llandow and is a track based course rather than the airfield car control course.
I am the lone Lotus owner! Nice pic Dave..
It was a fantastic day, and the video footage is just great. I have done some editing so that I have a short 3 min film left and will send it off to Don this week. Couldn't put all the TVR spins in though, as it would have been too long!
Sold my car this morning...not a happy chappy.
What's all that about being a second behind?!?! More likely to be my driving skill then the car!!
Take it easy
Rich
It was a fantastic day, and the video footage is just great. I have done some editing so that I have a short 3 min film left and will send it off to Don this week. Couldn't put all the TVR spins in though, as it would have been too long!
Sold my car this morning...not a happy chappy.
What's all that about being a second behind?!?! More likely to be my driving skill then the car!!
Take it easy
Rich
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff