Advanced driving courses

[Joetidman]

I just wondered if anyone had done any of them, from pass plus to other advance courses to race track lessons? I'm interested in which ones are worth considering? I'm not too fussed about reducing insurance bills or anything but always keen to advance my skills!

 

[alimc99]

If it is a road rather than track based course you are after I can strongly recommend the High Performance Course.

hpc.org.uk

You can do a 1/2 day or full day taster. There are 2 instructors to chose from- Andy Morrison based in Oxfordshire or Clive Jones based in South Wales. Both are senior class 1 police advanced driving instructors.

 

[Joetidman]

If it is a road rather than track based course you are after I can strongly recommend the High Performance Course.

hpc.org.uk

You can do a 1/2 day or full day taster. There are 2 instructors to chose from- Andy Morrison based in Oxfordshire or Clive Jones based in South Wales. Both are senior class 1 police advanced driving instructors.

Sounds good, so is it how to drive a performance car well in the road?

 

[PilotAudi]

Try the Blue Lamp trust in Easleigh Hampshire they should be able to help. David is a useful contact.

 

[alistairm1]

I did one years ago when I worked for BMW.
It was run by IAM, and was a day's driving. Had to do commentary and drive to The System.
Also had half a day at Silverstone on the skidpan training there.

All paid for so no idea of price.
Have found the skidpan of most use, but not in everyday driving.

 

[h5djr]

I just wondered if anyone had done any of them, from pass plus to other advance courses to race track lessons? I'm interested in which ones are worth considering? I'm not too fussed about reducing insurance bills or anything but always keen to advance my skills!

I did one many years ago now when I went out a lot as part of my job with a County Council. It was a course run by the local Police Traffic Section just for CC employees. It included a 'very' fast drive in the passenger seat of one of their cars which was great fun. It also included one of them assessing my driving sitting next to me as I drove in my own car. Fortunately they were quite happy with my driving. I must say it was all very enjoyable and they were a good bunch of guys.

 

[s3 owner]

or you could try AA drivetech can't give you a price but would look good on a c.v. I did my training as per emergency response driving unfortunately its not available outside the emergency services. the point I'm making is that its held me in good stead and its surprising how your driving and attitude to other road users changes.

 

[alimc99]

Sounds good, so is it how to drive a performance car well in the road?

Yes although strictly speaking the 'high performance' tag relates to the driving rather than the vehicle so you could still undertake training in a low powered car- however in practice the majority of people tend to do it to learn how to safely drive a higher powered car on the road. The full course is 2.5 days and includes half a day on a track or testing ground.

whether or not you do any training I'd recommend buying a copy of 'Roadcraft' which is the police advanced driving handbook.

 

[alistairm1]

Haven't read Roadcraft for years, and I've misplaced my copy.
One of the main things I took away from it was to make a separation between gears and brakes.
Not sure how you can apply this to s-tronic, though, unless you have paddles.

If anyone can enlighten me, otherwise it's off to Amazon to get a new copy.

 

[SteveMcB]

Haven't read Roadcraft for years, and I've misplaced my copy.
One of the main things I took away from it was to make a separation between gears and brakes.
Not sure how you can apply this to s-tronic, though, unless you have paddles.

If anyone can enlighten me, otherwise it's off to Amazon to get a new copy.[/QUOTE

Can't you put the gear lever across to the manual position and change that way, I've got paddles but use the gear lever as well.

The book is a worthwhile read, lots of useful tips on observation links, anticipation and reaction designed to give the driver more time to react.
Limit point analysis for judging how tight a blind bend is is also something everyone should know about.
Content of the manual should be part of the knowledge test for all new drivers IMO.

 

[Toadoftoadhall]

Yes although strictly speaking the 'high performance' tag relates to the driving rather than the vehicle so you could still undertake training in a low powered car- however in practice the majority of people tend to do it to learn how to safely drive a higher powered car on the road. The full course is 2.5 days and includes half a day on a track or testing ground.

whether or not you do any training I'd recommend buying a copy of 'Roadcraft' which is the police advanced driving handbook.

The "blue book" (Roadcraft) is the basis of all Police driver training - "Standard" and "Advanced". Yes it certainly is a useful read for anyone and some useful things can be picked up quite quickly from it however to apply the "system" properly really does take weeks of tuition and practice. Police driver training includes weeks and weeks of tuition, practice and assessments with regular driving reviews. I believe the IAM used to offer tuition over a longer period with regular tuition sessions which allowed time to practice and get the "system" ingrained so to speak.

Using the "system" with an S-tronic is no problem at all. With a manual yes you should not be braking and changing gear at the same time but clearly this will just happen with S-tronic - almost un-noticed. Key things with the system are excellent observation and early identification of hazards (anything really - a bend- passing a junction - parked car - a roundabout - an overtake - a pothole or debris - anything potential or actual) and then being at the correct speed to safely negotiate the hazard before accelerating away. So really the s-tronic simplifies the "system" a little for you as theoretically you are always in the right gear at the right time! :busted_cop: