Don Palmer Car Control Course
Discussion
Morning everyone - this is my fist ever post :-)
Spent yesterday with Don palmer and two other chaps who I believe are also on pistonheads (Noble M400 and Elise Sport190 owners). Don is a superb coach; he taught us to understand WHY cars behave in the way they do and the importance of steering in relation to that. Subsequently my car control has greatly improved.
This is the course we did (the 'fundamentals' one):
www.donpalmer.co.uk/carcontrol.htm
Highly reccomnemded!
Joe
ps: hopefully the other chaps will turn up and agree with me soon
Spent yesterday with Don palmer and two other chaps who I believe are also on pistonheads (Noble M400 and Elise Sport190 owners). Don is a superb coach; he taught us to understand WHY cars behave in the way they do and the importance of steering in relation to that. Subsequently my car control has greatly improved.
This is the course we did (the 'fundamentals' one):
www.donpalmer.co.uk/carcontrol.htm
Highly reccomnemded!
Joe
ps: hopefully the other chaps will turn up and agree with me soon
I haven't "done a Don" for a few years now - when I did it was at the Mira wet grip handling facility - and it was, and from what you're saying still is, a damn fine educational day out (and a right good titter).
It sounds like he's still on the pace.
He bases the handling stuff at Bruntingthorpe now, is that right?
I think there are pros and cons of the Mira wet grip (and skid pans generally) - it's such a controlled environment that you can keep experimenting at consistent levels of grip (or more to the point - lack of grip). It was interesting to try several different cars - some seemed almost trivially easy (BMW 325, Nissan 200SX) and others seemed many times more difficult (911RS).
In case people haven't been - there is a wet grip circle with three different levels of grip at different radii (i.e. concentric circles) - the idea being you can experiment with the speed, steering and throttle input that will keep you stable, just starting to slide, constant tail-out drift (for lap after lap), or spin. It all happens slowly and gracefully an with almost wear to tyres or car - a great way to learn.
Whereas, I think somewhere like Bruntingthorpe is great for playing with (tyre-stripping) real-world handling - being good on a skid pan does not mean being good at high speed in the dry (although clearly a first step) - the forces involved are so much higher in the dry and demand significantly more from the driver.
It sounds like he's still on the pace.
He bases the handling stuff at Bruntingthorpe now, is that right?
I think there are pros and cons of the Mira wet grip (and skid pans generally) - it's such a controlled environment that you can keep experimenting at consistent levels of grip (or more to the point - lack of grip). It was interesting to try several different cars - some seemed almost trivially easy (BMW 325, Nissan 200SX) and others seemed many times more difficult (911RS).
In case people haven't been - there is a wet grip circle with three different levels of grip at different radii (i.e. concentric circles) - the idea being you can experiment with the speed, steering and throttle input that will keep you stable, just starting to slide, constant tail-out drift (for lap after lap), or spin. It all happens slowly and gracefully an with almost wear to tyres or car - a great way to learn.
Whereas, I think somewhere like Bruntingthorpe is great for playing with (tyre-stripping) real-world handling - being good on a skid pan does not mean being good at high speed in the dry (although clearly a first step) - the forces involved are so much higher in the dry and demand significantly more from the driver.
Yep, our course was at Bruntingthorpe, although I understand Don also runs some courses at Millbrook Proving Ground.
The runway we practiced on wasn't exactly silky smooth -probably a good thing as it was more comparable to the average British road. The tyres were worn significantly, but not to the extent I thought they would be, considering the driving we were doing and the fact that it was mostly dry.
>> Edited by eoj on Monday 14th February 14:34
The runway we practiced on wasn't exactly silky smooth -probably a good thing as it was more comparable to the average British road. The tyres were worn significantly, but not to the extent I thought they would be, considering the driving we were doing and the fact that it was mostly dry.
>> Edited by eoj on Monday 14th February 14:34
animal said:
Chaps,
been thinking seriously about 'Doing a Don' for a while now, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it, given that my car, whilst RWD, is not particularly powerful by any stretch of the imagination - should I wait until I get something quicker?
Oh I wouldn't worry to much about that - you should have seen what he managed to get his Golf TDI to do
Seriously though - pop him an e mail with your quiery or give him a call - he's a friendly chap (see the link above for contact details).
eoj said:
Morning everyone - this is my fist ever post :-)
Spent yesterday with Don palmer and two other chaps who I believe are also on pistonheads (Noble M400 and Elise Sport190 owners). Don is a superb coach; he taught us to understand WHY cars behave in the way they do and the importance of steering in relation to that. Subsequently my car control has greatly improved.
This is the course we did (the 'fundamentals' one):
www.donpalmer.co.uk/carcontrol.htm
Highly reccomnemded!
Joe
ps: hopefully the other chaps will turn up and agree with me soon
Hi Joe
What good fun - Don's course certainly made me think about what the car was doing and to spend time on correct steering. As he says "less is more".
Now I just need lots of practice ...
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