I've long shared the opinion of a number of other members on here that there's only so much you can do to a car, and so often give the advice "learn to drive better" as a semi-facetious response to threads asking "how can I make my car go faster?" But up until recently, I've not practised what I preached. A day spent on Don Palmer's Creative Car Control course changed all that! Unlike most Experience Days, the course is done in your own car so you really learn to make the most of what you've got.

The format is surprisingly simple, but reflects the "less is more" philosophy of the rather unassuming man himself. We used a portion of the Bruntingthorpe runway marked out with a long straight, a chicane, a wide U-turn and then a slalom course back to another chicane. This didn't change all day (see later), but despite my surprise at this, it really didn't need to. The day starts with Don driving the students around the course fairly gently to explain what's what, before we each take turns to drive him round ourselves. It's obviously not as easy as it looks, and everyone either messes up royally or completes the course in geological time. At this point, Don then takes the opportunity to show each driver how it should be done, which is actually more than just showing off, because it demonstrates that your car won't flip / understeer / spin whilst cornering at speed, despite what your instincts might tell you. :eek: This is the cue for a bit of a rest and some theory before another set of laps with Don coaching from the passenger seat. By this stage, hunger's kicked in and it's off into the village for some lunch (and a bit more theory!)

The afternoon then involves individual efforts to improve lap times, and in our case we were "helped" by fairly constant, heavy rain. This was honestly a blessing, as we'd learned the course in the dry and now had to contend with it in the wet so we'd got a bit of confidence up and now had an additional level of difficulty. Having said this, Don pulling on my handbrake on the exit of one of the bends to see how I'd cope with a spin certainly reminded me to expect the unexpected! Something that I didn't cotton-on to until I was told about it were some subtle changes to the position of the cones marking the course. Not so much that you'd notice, but another thing to catch you out! Lessons learned, practice continues, with yet more difficulty being added by driving between the two cones that mark the apex of the slaloms, rather than around both of them.

Despite the weather reducing how much I managed to cut my lap time over the course of the day (never less than a few seconds under DOUBLE the course record, but OK for a slightly breathed-on diesel shopping car IMO ), I could tell I was much smoother and more confident in my braking, steering and acceleration, and have since been able to make good use of my learning, especially on the odd occasion I had certain German saloons stuck to my backside on the Scottish country roads round where I went on holiday. Just goes to show that ultimate horsepower might be all very well on a drag strip or Indy Car oval, but what you do in the twisties can matter more in normal road driving.

So was it worth the cost? I reckon so unconditionally, and in fact one of the other students on the course told me how Don's course taught him a lot more than the course he was offered when he got his Exige, which cost almost the same amount of money. So for less than £500, I reckon I've got a handle on the skills that will help me make up in the corners (even on my wobbly standard suspension) what others with super-duper power might gain in the straights. And as Don's teaching principles are so simple, I'm still learning and getting better, whereas a performance mod naturally stays the same.

A word of warning, though: do the course on old tyres or factor in some new rubber when you're saving up. Mine were trashed by the end of the day - mostly due to excess enthusiasm on my early laps. :( And take a camera - the other students will no doubt be glad to take some snaps or film a lap while you're having your turn on the course, and I really wish I'd thought to bring mine with me...

Anyway, I reckon the day has made me faster in my Furby than any number of extra horsepowers could (except maybe going into Jason territory!), and if it sounds of interest to you, Don's Creative Car Control course is here, with links to all sorts of other useful and interesting stuff dotted around, including a vid of the man himself driving a GT3 around the course.

HTH

Edited 29 July, 200817 yr by ap0gee
Correcting lap time

Nice write up:thumbup:

I'm thinking of that performance mod myself, but spending some money on training with another guru at present.

Thanks for the write up! Nice to see you on your path to enlightenment!!!

Nice write up there

Don is a great guy and has taken a fair chunk of money from me over the last couple of years One thing I find about his coaching style is that he very rarely gives you information and a lot of the day is self-discovery under his guidance which can be quite frustrating until you have that eureka moment.

I did the course on crappy Michelin Primacies and even crappier Conti's with the aim of destroying them so I could get some decent tyres. It also meant that I had oversteer on tap to play with! Sadly, thanks to it being cold and wet there was barely any wear to the tyres, unlike the OEM brakes which got a bit spongey after a couple of high speed emergency stops :(

Chris

Good review that - certainly something I'm considering, just a case of having the pennies available

Steve

Good right up.

One of the things that amused me looking at other people's comments on Don's site was someone who said that he didn't dare follow Don down to the training area at top speed in his 'twice as powerful' Japanese jobbie, whereas I just stayed four seconds behind and just did my best to follow his line (his daily drive is a tuned diesel Golf, so I didn't reckon there'd be much in it!) :confused:

It was when the driving got super-technical that I struggled to keep up!!!

In case anyone got five numbers on the Idiot Tax last weekend and is struggling to think of something to do on the week of the Bank Holiday, I've just got wind of two late places on Don and Mark Hales's uber-Masterclass at Anglesey. Obviously it's a long shot (I can't go because of the dates and the cost!), but if it's like the one-day course only more so, then it's got to be worth it if you have the time and cash spare!

Don Palmer: Pricing and Booking

(NB: The dates I got told are the Tuesday / Wednesday, not the Thursday / Friday it says on the site! :confused: )

Maybe that new girl Vickywossname should go, then she might not keep crashing?!

I know a few people who've been on that course who say it's excellent. Sadly, I too am struggling to justify the cost

Chris

I knew I'd find a good use for my entirely spare £1762.50 eventually! :P

Bet it's a cracking two days though

Steve

You drive a Corolla and a 3-series apparently - it's everything you ever wanted to do to a hire car, but were afraid to dare!!!

Time and money, eh?

A good write up and a good point made in the thread title. You can have an incredibly fast car, but being able to drive it properly makes such a difference.

Phil