What should/could I do next?

[akakindz]

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new here and would love the opinions of people more experienced than me!

I have only passed/been driving my car since the start of 2020 but really not much that year due to lockdown. This week I passed my IAM test with a F1RST.

Now I want to go on to do more but I'm not sure observing is for me or Masters is the best use of the money. I've heard about HPC but I doubt I would even be accepted for the half day with my little 1.25 Ford Fiesta haha. So is there anything anyone can recommend maybe please? Ideally I'm just looking for something to further improve my driving/control.

Thank you so much in advance,
Amy

[angoooose]

Don't worry about the car, HPC is about the driver. People have completed the course with less than a 1.25 Fiesta

[CoreyDog]

RoSPA Advanced course is always an option.

I've done both IAM and RoSPA, courses are similiar but with some subtle differences. They both work from Roadcraft but found the focuses are slightly different and RoSPA put me through a skid pan course at RAF Scampton which I very much enjoyed!

IAM I found was superb for observation and hazard anticipation where RoSPA seemed to focus on making safe but quicker progress even on the test.

[AJB88]

Whats the costs of Rospa and IAM?

Been driving 14 years, never had an incident, got 3 points for speeding last year, want to learn some new skills/ polish up existing.

[CoreyDog]

AJB88 said:

Whats the costs of Rospa and IAM?

Been driving 14 years, never had an incident, got 3 points for speeding last year, want to learn some new skills/ polish up existing.

IAM and RoSPA are both around £150 now. That's for as many sessions as you need/want though. Usually a small fee for the test on top aswell when you're coming up to take it.

It's well worth the cost. I did my IAM way back when I was younger (21ish)and it cost me £90 for the course but I saved over £170ish on my insurance.

RoSPA didn't take anything off my insurance but I was older when I took that and also had discount for IAM still applied.

[AJB88]

I'm 32 with 12+ years no claims so insurance generally isn't an issue for me, but its the skills I fancy for car, I've got full bike licence as well, want to polish that up next year.

[AliMc99]

+1 for HPC and not being put off by having a low powered car.

[tylerjackoliver]

I was in a similar boat to you - also passed my IAM in a low-powered (1.0L Citroen C1) car in 2019, and was looking for something to do next that wasn't IAM MASTERS/RoSPA.

I got myself a day's tuition with Reg Local ( website here) - learned absolutely loads, and very well priced. Reg has forgotten more about driving than most people ever knew! Showed me how to get the most out of the car, and well worth the 300-mile round trip to go see him. In fact, I'm with him again in February...

Edited by tylerjackoliver on Sunday 21st November 18:29

[johnao]

akakindz said:

Now I want to go on to do more but I'm not sure observing is for me or Masters is the best use of the money. I've heard about HPC but I doubt I would even be accepted for the half day with my little 1.25 Ford Fiesta

I suggest that you do IAM Masters before HPC. You’ll get a lot more out of the HPC Course having done Masters first. In many ways HPC picks up and continues where Masters ends . Masters is a useful stepping stone for HPC. But, I accept, it’s not absolutely essential.

Don’t worry about your car and HPC. The “high performance” element refers to the driver not the car.

Good luck with whatever you decide you want to do.

[Glosphil]

The IAM course fee of £149 includes as many observed drives as required, the driving manual & the cost of the test.
Many local groups offer various discounts for the younger drivers. Gloucestershire group offer a 100% discount (i.e. free) for under 26s.

Edited by Glosphil on Sunday 21st November 19:12

[AJB88]

tylerjackoliver said:

I was in a similar boat to you - also passed my IAM in a low-powered (1.0L Citroen C1) car in 2019, and was looking for something to do next that wasn't IAM MASTERS/RoSPA.

I got myself a day's tuition with Reg Local ( website here) - learned absolutely loads, and very well priced. Reg has forgotten more about driving than most people ever knew! Showed me how to get the most out of the car, and well worth the 300-mile round trip to go see him. In fact, I'm with him again in February...

Edited by tylerjackoliver on Sunday 21st November 18:29

Where is Reg based?

[dvenman]

AJB88 said:

Where is Reg based?

Bolton way, IIRC.

[AJB88]

dvenman said:

Bolton way, IIRC.

Yep just found his Youtube that's a Bolton accent for sure. Any idea of Reg's costs?

[The big yin]

You could always buy Advanced and Performance Driving by Reg Local ,
It is a very good book ,as is Roadcraft .

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

If you enjoyed the IAM Roadsmart way of doing things then Masters might well be worthwhile. I found it was the ultimate expression of the IAM way of doing things - potentially producing very high skill, but unlikely to help towards developing your own style.

The kind of coaching you'll get elsewhere will potentially help you with alternative thinking and techniques. If you're going to take it further then eventually you've got to start driving like you, rather than anyone else.

You don't say where you are, but if you can get to Aylesbury then HPC Course Manager Carole is always worth visiting, or even just contacting for a chat.

As others have noted, this stuff is largely vehicle-independent. Nothing wrong with a Fiesta.

[tylerjackoliver]

AJB88 said:

Yep just found his Youtube that's a Bolton accent for sure. Any idea of Reg's costs?

I don't want to put a figure out on Reg's behalf - have sent you a PM. It's very, very reasonable!

[AJB88]

tylerjackoliver said:

I don't want to put a figure out on Reg's behalf - have sent you a PM. It's very, very reasonable!

Just got it thanks, yeh that's good, will get in contact with him.

[LightningBlue]

First of all it’s great that you want to improve, that’s a great mindset to have. As well as trying road base courses I’d honestly say for car control get on a kart track (preferably with 2 stroke karts) and enjoy. If you get into racing it’ll massively improve your anticipation, observation and positioning. I’m sure plenty of people would say ‘a kart doesn’t apply to the road’ but in terms of learning understeer, oversteer, grip limits and car control there’s not a lot better.
The simulator route is also viable these days so you can practice without leaving your house. It’s not the cheapest thing to get into as you’d need a gaming PC, a decent force feedback steering wheel and pedals as well as a good simulator like Assetto Corsa, but it is something that can be applied to road driving. You’ll find F1 drivers among others have heavily got into this.

[AJB88]

S. Gonzales Esq. said:

If you enjoyed the IAM Roadsmart way of doing things then Masters might well be worthwhile. I found it was the ultimate expression of the IAM way of doing things - potentially producing very high skill, but unlikely to help towards developing your own style.

The kind of coaching you'll get elsewhere will potentially help you with alternative thinking and techniques. If you're going to take it further then eventually you've got to start driving like you, rather than anyone else.

You don't say where you are, but if you can get to Aylesbury then HPC Course Manager Carole is always worth visiting, or even just contacting for a chat.

As others have noted, this stuff is largely vehicle-independent. Nothing wrong with a Fiesta.

Any idea of the HPC course? I'm just down the road from Aylesbury, where as Reg Local is closer to where I'm originally from.

[dvenman]

AJB88 said:

Any idea of the HPC course? I'm just down the road from Aylesbury, where as Reg Local is closer to where I'm originally from.

Bank on about £1k. There's a a half day intro, you go away and work on stuff, then there's 2 days which cover among other things car control. Then the real work starts