That very first driving lesson is a pretty big step – gears, pedals, steering, all to be thought about and controlled with totally uneducated muscles. Okay, we pass the driving test and most people leave it there. Those of us who are interested in driving, who want do it better, derive some enjoyment and to be safer, see it as nothing more than a first step.
The next step can be a big eye-opener; sitting alongside someone whose attitude suggests that there’s always more to learn, and who actually looks at what is happening – or might happen – and plans accordingly. As part of improving, we might take a better driving course and perhaps pass the IAM test. For many, that’s the goal reached and they leave it there. Some of us realise there’s a whole lot more, and want to go further.
For my part I chose to take a performance driving course. That course was when I really started to learn how to drive enjoyably and safely. It made a big difference, and I went on to drive with people who made it all look easy, with seamless inputs and above all levels of observation that translate into the best use of the car, and an attitude that safety is paramount. I drove with police instructors and some of the best civilian instructors around, and each time I’d come away with something that made a big difference to how I drove or thought.
Over a period of years my driving improved enormously. I would spend time with the best, and came to recognise and develop the mental attitude that made these people special. I’d continue to pick up little subtleties that I liked and which suited my style, but it was unusual by then to come away with something that made a really big difference. I was now helping other people who were on the same path to improvement. I could probably summarise what would make the difference for people as attitude, observation and interpretation, and smoothness; hopefully there’d be some enjoyment there as well, if that’s still acceptable nowadays……
It came as a bit of a surprise, then, when I realised that something new had transformed my driving. Steering. I’m not talking about push-pull versus fixed hold; I’d long since realised that a fixed hold was a much more natural method and only used a form of push-pull for manoeuvring; this was something subtle. Subtle, and fundamental. I found I was using the palms of my hands to feel what the steering was telling me. Really feel it, so that I could communicate with the car instead of trying to force it. Here’s a bit of initial slack, wait for the steering to catch up with me, feel the grip, ask the car if it would like to turn, feel when to start unwinding the lock. Sooo much nice information.
The more I became aware of the feel of the steering, the more I realised the difference to be found in using the feedback available. How much power should I put on through this corner, and when? Simple – ask the front wheels. The answer was almost invariably “less, and later”. Cornering with little or no power on goes against the grain; it’s not the generally accepted approach. Try telling that to your front tyres. There is a good argument that suggests that constant power through a corner is more comfortable for passengers, which is probably true, probably why it’s taught, and something to be considered if you’re out to give a chauffeur drive. But if you’re chauffeuring you’re driving more sedately and what you do in a tight corner is far less relevant; if the corner tightens unexpectedly, it hardly makes a difference. But at any reasonable pace, things are not the same. Corners on mountain and moorland roads have a habit of doing all sorts of unexpected things to the wary and unwary alike. By having power on in the corner the car is already being forced to do something it doesn’t really want to, which is to run wide. Coming to think of it, why should you as the driver want the car to do that, anyway? If the corner now turns back on itself, there’s already a force trying to take you off the road, and you put it there! Without the power getting in the way, you can readily adjust the steering, and still feel what it’s telling you. You can feel how much lock to put on, because you’re feeling the tyres working; so you work with them instead of against them. And it’s easy.
There are numerous things that affect how a car changes direction; braking, accelerating, road surface, puddles to name a few. The effect can be felt through the front tyres and the subtleties of the feeling can translate into the appropriate action with the controls. Forget trying to understand all the complex dynamics that are going on, just feel what’s happening. It’s all about the steering.
Although I suggested earlier that I just realised what was happening with the steering, it wasn’t quite that sort of Damascus experience. Something, or rather somebody, had brought about the biggest and most important transformation in my driving in, say, the last ten years. That somebody was Don Palmer. I’d done a couple of Don’s limit handling courses, the last time in a Lotus Elise with its wonderful steering feel and quick responses. Don’s whole approach is unusual; he uses coaching techniques that are commonplace in the world of top sportsmen, but possibly unique in driver training. Most of the time he isn’t telling you what you must do, but suggesting you should notice what happens if you try something. You learn – quickly; you just don’t realise you’re doing it! In my case it was after a couple of sessions that I discovered for myself just how relevant to safe and enjoyable road driving are the techniques he imparts.
It’s not really something that you can pick up from the written word, but here’s a little taster: sit in your parked car, take a light hold on the steering wheel and turn it slightly. Notice any resistance? Now turn it until your palms feel resistance and notice how far you’ve turned it. Why so far? Has your car’s steering really got that much slop in the linkages? Now stand outside the car, put your arm through the open door and try the same thing whilst watching the front wheel and tyre. Does the wheel move fractionally before the tyre, or at the same time? What do you feel? Hmmm. Turn the wheel and feel what happens when the tyres the tyres start to move. Try the same exercise on wet grass. Try a different car; learn to feel.
There is a slight delay between the initial steering input and when the tyres start to respond; Don can explain and demonstrate this, but most important he guides you to the point where you can feel it for yourself. He imparts a technique where the initial steering input is subtle, feeling for the response before applying the rest of the required steering. He calls it “hinting”, and it works for any transition – brakes and gas as well as steering.
That something so subtle can make such a profound difference is wondrous, but true. You’re in tune with what the car is doing, and everything becomes so much easier and flowing. I just wonder why I used to choose to make it hard work…….
