lost my driving ability, confidence entering bends

[lockey1995]

So to start with I like a bit of a b road drive as everyone I think does but my main priority is to stay safe, enjoy my car but make decent progress. Which I was doing but it seems over the last few weeks it's gone literally gone. I've had some general anxiety last few weeks on and off so that could play a part. Last September I had an incident with a van short story he pulled out of a blind exit and I wrote car off luckily no injuries low speed.

My old mk1 mx5 I seem to have had more confidence this one not so much allignment is straight not professionally done 195 50 15 Toyo proxes if you're interested. But having my friend in the car with me the other day he says the same from what I can pick out.

But the fear I have after the van is something is just going to jump at me out of no where and thats what totally stops it, also I can't heel and toe the car because the throttle pedal seems to be way lower than the brake for some reason.

Things we picked out

- braking either too much and entering incredibly slow
- braking too little and too long so I'm not really loosing any speed and going in a little faster than I should
- getting freaked mid corner and barely on power so cars unbalanced
- accelerating way too damn early before an apex point.

I think judging entry speed is the big one and trailing throttle until exit is totally clear but I seem to get carried away at times and feels like the car is just getting away from me.

I really wanted to ask here because I wanted some tips on how to enjoy my car but be safe.

[lockey1995]

lockey1995 said:

So to start with I like a bit of a b road drive as everyone I think does but my main priority is to stay safe, enjoy my car but make decent progress. Which I was doing but it seems over the last few weeks it's gone literally gone. I've had some general anxiety last few weeks on and off so that could play a part. Last September I had an incident with a van short story he pulled out of a blind exit and I wrote car off luckily no injuries low speed.

My old mk1 mx5 I seem to have had more confidence this one not so much allignment is straight not professionally done 195 50 15 Toyo proxes if you're interested. But having my friend in the car with me the other day he says the same from what I can pick out.

But the fear I have after the van is something is just going to jump at me out of no where and thats what totally stops it, also I can't heel and toe the car because the throttle pedal seems to be way lower than the brake for some reason.

Things we picked out

- braking either too much and entering incredibly slow
- braking too little and too long so I'm not really loosing any speed and going in a little faster than I should
- getting freaked mid corner and barely on power so cars unbalanced
- accelerating way too damn early before an apex point.

I think judging entry speed is the big one and trailing throttle until exit is totally clear but I seem to get carried away at times and feels like the car is just getting away from me.

I really wanted to ask here because I wanted some tips on how to enjoy my car but be safe.

Edit: also the irrational fear of spinning out by powering mid bend but I'm guessing in a 5 that's very unlikely esp in higher gears

[TheOctaneAddict]

Tuition is the answer, long time PHer Reg can sort you out - https://reglocal.com/

[LuckyThirteen]

your first issue is one of vision.

Start researching limit point analysis, and get a copy of roadcraft.

And, frankly, tuition.

[LuckyThirteen]

lockey1995 said:

Edit: also the irrational fear of spinning out by powering mid bend but I'm guessing in a 5 that's very unlikely esp in higher gears

Likely also, start reading books on car control and other roadcraft books too.

[lockey1995]

LuckyThirteen said:

Likely also, start reading books on car control and other roadcraft books too.

The thing about that I did before done allot of sim driving too it's just it seems to have all vanished lol, what would you recommend and I have looked into the limit point videos with reg on youtube i think it's training that though and becoming hyper aware of it

Edited by lockey1995 on Tuesday 30th July 20:56

[wc98]

TheOctaneAddict said:

Tuition is the answer, long time PHer Reg can sort you out - https://reglocal.com/

This^ and in the meantime stick to slow entry and gentle application of the throttle once turned while looking for your exit point. A good exercise is maintaining a steady pace with no use of brakes focussing on being smooth over and above speed even if it feels incredibly slow. The worst thing you can do on our bumpy b roads is be on a steady/closed throttle through a corner, there is little else short of exaggerated steering/throttle/brake inputs that will unsettle your car more.

[sherman]

A day on a circuit with an instructor will help with confidence to show you limits.
Somewhere like porsche centre at silverstone or MB world near London with a skid pan will help.

IAM if you want to go for proper tuiton.

[MB140]

My wife had a bit of a problem like this when she first moved from her 370z to a Mustang GT, going really slowly round a roundabout (20mph) max it really stepped out on her. I saw the dash cam footage and it snapped really violently for the speed.

She was going to sell it but decided to get some professional tuition and spent a day at bruntingthorpe and a day at milbrook about a month about.

At bruntingthorpe she still struggled with confidence and the instructor decided to take her for a spin to prove it wasn’t a bad handling car.

Apparently he came back in to the pits. Walked around the car. Went get those bloody tyres of it (Perelli) and put some pilot sport 4S on it and get a good geo done.

Sure enough after that and the second day of tuition at millbrook she was happy as Larry. Went on to make some more suspension mods and actually made the thing handle really well and really predictable.

Tuition though from someone good at teaching as mentioned by others is worth every penny.

Edited by MB140 on Tuesday 30th July 21:29

[TREMAiNE]

Tuition more than anything else.
Book a track day and get professional tuition for the whole day, not just for one session.

I can personally recommend Wil Arif, who taught me to race. I found him to be an excellent teacher and I learned how to lean on the car and improve my car control dramatically. It's made me a better driver on the public highway within the speed limit, as well as during high speed track driving in prepped cars.

[ScoobyChris]

Sounds like there are two components to this. First and foremost you want to avoid being in a position where something unexpected happens (get some Roadcraft tuition) and then if it does happen, you want to have the confidence to be able to control the car (get some limit handling tuition).

Fwiw, one of the things I came away from limit handling tuition with was an appreciation of how much space can be needed to correct a loss of grip (and even then it’s not always salvageable) so best focus on that Roadcraft

If you’re anywhere near the west of London I’d be happy to go for a drive and sit next to you and offer feedback…

Chris

[lockey1995]

wc98 said:

TheOctaneAddict said:

Tuition is the answer, long time PHer Reg can sort you out - https://reglocal.com/

This^ and in the meantime stick to slow entry and gentle application of the throttle once turned while looking for your exit point. A good exercise is maintaining a steady pace with no use of brakes focussing on being smooth over and above speed even if it feels incredibly slow. The worst thing you can do on our bumpy b roads is be on a steady/closed throttle through a corner, there is little else short of exaggerated steering/throttle/brake inputs that will unsettle your car more.

Yeah this definitely makes sense I do have a video on YouTube I put up on one of my roads at 3am last year which I scouted before hand of you did want to see it.

But on the closed I get that's no throttle, steady guessing you mean trailing or light? But I'm guessing the best thing to do is open up as the bend opens up and you can see so it's more like enter quarter open to half and then open up more on Apex of bend to full in an mx5.

[lockey1995]

ScoobyChris said:

Sounds like there are two components to this. First and foremost you want to avoid being in a position where something unexpected happens (get some Roadcraft tuition) and then if it does happen, you want to have the confidence to be able to control the car (get some limit handling tuition).

Fwiw, one of the things I came away from limit handling tuition with was an appreciation of how much space can be needed to correct a loss of grip (and even then it’s not always salvageable) so best focus on that Roadcraft

If you’re anywhere near the west of London I’d be happy to go for a drive and sit next to you and offer feedback…

Chris

I'm staffordshire way so a bit far away thanks for the offer though, I will be reading through all of this and I think tuition would be the way to go overall.

[Scootersp]

lockey1995 said:

So to start with I like a bit of a b road drive as everyone I think does but my main priority is to stay safe, enjoy my car but make decent progress. Which I was doing but it seems over the last few weeks it's gone literally gone. I've had some general anxiety last few weeks on and off so that could play a part. Last September I had an incident with a van short story he pulled out of a blind exit and I wrote car off luckily no injuries low speed.

My old mk1 mx5 I seem to have had more confidence this one not so much allignment is straight not professionally done 195 50 15 Toyo proxes if you're interested. But having my friend in the car with me the other day he says the same from what I can pick out.

I really wanted to ask here because I wanted some tips on how to enjoy my car but be safe.

Last September and the last few weeks doesn't really add up to me, I'd expect initial issues not so delayed? When did you get the recent Mk1? I'd ask a forum person to come drive yours and see what they think? You need to rule out the car being a bit woolly/worn/tired.

Do you feel ok in other activities, can you identify the same anxiety in other things, if it persists it may be worth seeing someone, perhaps ask a friend family if they've noticed any changes, probably nothing but worth voicing I'd say.

[_Hoppers]

As above, start with limit point analysis if you’re unsure about what it actually is!

[lockey1995]

_Hoppers said:

As above, start with limit point analysis if you’re unsure about what it actually is!

I have watched it a few times in the past I think it's putting it all into deliberate practice though but I am aware of the concept

[_Hoppers]

lockey1995 said:

_Hoppers said:

As above, start with limit point analysis if you’re unsure about what it actually is!

I have watched it a few times in the past I think it's putting it all into deliberate practice though but I am aware of the concept

I was 'taught' about limit point analysis when I did the IAM test on the bike. When I became an observer I reiterated what is was 'taught' to the associates. What in fact I was doing was using words to explain it but had no understanding how to apply it! I'm sure this was the case for most of the other observers in the group too?! It wasn't until I did the RoSPA test in the car that I (and the Tutor) realised I wasn't using limit point analysis. After driving a couple of corners and the tutor talking it through as the limit point moved/opened up etc, it clicked! For me it was the best 'advanced driving' technique I learnt. If you're like me, perhaps you need someone next to you to go through it whilst you're driving?

[spoodler]

This is something a lot of motorcyclists go through - especially after a near miss, or when back on the road after an accident. 'Tis certainly a normal reaction. Most folk I know have tried to ride properly, concentrating on doing things right rather than doing things fast and have gradually settled down again after "X" amount of miles without incident - some more than others.
Fifteen years ago, I was following my better half when a car driver pulled out of a farm entrance and, basically, took her leg off. I have never ridden with quite the same confidence since (I find it very difficult to put my trust in others), despite having been someone who was happy to wheely, stoppy and perform rolling burn outs and the like. Sometimes, the image is just not going away.
Best of luck, it's not a nice feeling and I can understand how unsettled it makes you feel.

[lockey1995]

Scootersp said:

Last September and the last few weeks doesn't really add up to me, I'd expect initial issues not so delayed? When did you get the recent Mk1? I'd ask a forum person to come drive yours and see what they think? You need to rule out the car being a bit woolly/worn/tired.

Do you feel ok in other activities, can you identify the same anxiety in other things, if it persists it may be worth seeing someone, perhaps ask a friend family if they've noticed any changes, probably nothing but worth voicing I'd say.

Yes you are kind of right I've just been having it on and off I think the anxiety and yeah it does affect other areas aswel it seems to come and go for the car last October and yeah it's only been recent this has happened so yeah it's weird and the memories of that van came back.

To be honest If I could find someone to drive it yes I'd take the offer up or have someone sit with me.