did you change any of the route/s after we went out and a certain womans voice kept warning us of annoyances ahead of us?

Not sure the route we took is one of the Andover day ones. Still, it's a good way of improving your observation skills

Chris

Looking to finalise the driver matrix today so I can "go to press" and get some copies of the handouts run off for those unable to print the pdf themselves.

Anyone who'd like to come who wasn't included in the first draft of the matrix (if you haven't seen the matrix, you weren't included ) please let me know. Likewise, if anyone isn't able to make it, please also let me know.

Chris

A friend has kindly put the routes into Garmin Sat Nav format so if you'd like a copy of them, drop me a PM with an e-mail address and I'll forward them on to you......

Chris

Thanks to all those who came to this and made it a great day. Hopefully people got something out of it and gained a better understanding of what advanced driving is about and how different it is from the pipe-and-slippers wheel-shuffling image it has

Would be interested to hear feedback and people's feelings on the day and what could be done better if we were to run another one. Feel free to post in the thread, or drop me a PM

Chris

Thanks for taking the time to organise this Chris.

I learned a few good tips on cornering which I hope will be useful in the future and will certainly take some adjusting to.

I can't get used to the thought of driving everywhere in a lower gear than I feel I should be Might just have to give that part a miss.

Nick says it seemed as though I rushed off, hope this didn't cause offence but sadly I had some mundane digging to do in the garden to bury a new cable before the landscapers come back next week and getting it done this afternoon helped a lot.

Thanks Chris - had a good day and good drives out with Jon and Gareth. The Elise is a great little car.

Hope to put into practise what was mentioned from both people.

glad you all have learnt something and have had the experience, hopefully it will tempt you into doing the rospa or iam advance test.

Im sorry to chris who i texted this week to say i wouldnt be able to make it and to be truthful when i woke up at 11am i felt knackered from all the driving this week, so i wouldnt have benefited from it being in that state, but will make a future one.

Anyone looking at this thread and thinking "what if" or "maybe in the future" have a go on the next one, its a great day and you learn things even if you think you know most of it.

Did anyone get taught the "Third" rule today?

Good to hear there was some useful content in the day - Stu I was only worried you'd had a bad experience, glad you got the digging done.

Thanks for the little errand of mercy this morning, too

Edited 18 October, 200817 yr by ncarring

Did anyone get taught the "Third" rule today?

Thirds/Halves (depending on who you talk to)?

Rob.

i guess your a halves man and scooby is a third's man

i guess your a halves man and scooby is a third's man

Halves is really a step up from thirds, imho. With halves there is no wastage and you're accelerating or you're braking. With the thirds you buy yourself more time with the constant speed phase by having a lower maxmium speed between hazards and giving yourself more "thinking" time to plan.

Thirds is a great teaching tool as I've found when people start to lift their vision they see and react to hazards in the distance a lot earlier. Using thirds forces them to plan for the hazard when they see it, but only react to it when they're near it (in the third phase). As a result the drive becomes much smoother and more fluid

If you fancy a drive out we can look at comparing the two and see what you reckon?

Chris

Edited 19 October, 200817 yr by ScoobyChris

so halves is better then chris?

I didn't feel the halves method would be useful unless you were wishing to really make progress. It felt a little excessive for the general pootle, etc. The principles behind it though could be applied. It would just be more of a 5/6 pootle, 1/6 brake as needed, find gear, corner taken with an amount of throttle.

I definitely found it a useful day though.

i guess your a halves man and scooby is a third's man

Me, no I'm neither which is part of the problem...

Rob.

so halves is better then chris?

Depends what you mean by better If I'm sat in the passenger seat next to someone who isn't doing commentary who starts to brake half way along a straight for what I perceive to be no reason, I'm not happy, and chances are they're dealing with the hazard well before it's necessary.

So thirds forces them to leave dealing with it until later. As a passenger I'm happier as the drive is more flowing and I know what they're doing.

So now, as the driver gets a bit more experience of planning for and dealing with hazards, they look at eating into that middle phase by accelerating further and possibly braking earlier (will depend on speed). So as you continue to eat into the middle phase, there comes a point when there is no middle phase. And so we have halves.

Of course, the halves are seldom equal so you could argue they're not actual halves

Chris

I prefer halves. Then there is no doubt about what you're doing in the middle. You're either accelerating, or you're not. Note I didn't say "or you're braking". For a smooth drive, try driving without using the brakes. See if you can judge the point at which you need to stop accelerating, in order to take the next bend without braking (safely, and smoothly, and driving round the corner, not lurching round it with the tyres squealing ).

Jason, your method (5/6 and 1/6) sounds a bit rushed to me. If you accelerate for 5/6 of the straight, you're going to need quite a lot of brakes for the corners, most of the time. That cuts down your safety margin, and makes your drive scarier, and less smooth, for your passenger.

Jason, your method (5/6 and 1/6) sounds a bit rushed to me. If you accelerate for 5/6 of the straight, you're going to need quite a lot of brakes for the corners, most of the time. That cuts down your safety margin, and makes your drive scarier, and less smooth, for your passenger.

I was using that example when it pottle mode - so it would be more like accelerate gently for 1/6, pottle along at a pleasant speed for 4/6, then brake, etc for 1/6. It's like having halves, but with a big pause in the middle for driving miss Daisy.

Last few posts = :confused:

I'll definately have to book myself in for the next day to find out where I stand on this divisive 1/2 or 1/3 technique

I was using that example when it pottle mode - so it would be more like accelerate gently for 1/6, pottle along at a pleasant speed for 4/6, then brake, etc for 1/6. It's like having halves, but with a big pause in the middle for driving miss Daisy.

Isn't that thirds then? :P:D

Chris

Last few posts = :confused:

I'll definately have to book myself in for the next day to find out where I stand on this divisive 1/2 or 1/3 technique

Tsk - I was encouraging you to use thirds on our drive together. I'm not sure I was using either - I might have just been "giving it death" :rofl:

Chris

Tsk - you know very well "giving it death" is copyrighted :P

Isn't that thirds then? :P:D

Chris

Thirds yes, 1/3rds no :P

Isn't that thirds then? :P:D

Chris

Nope - sixth's's's.

1/6: accelerate

1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6: sit back, admire the view, think about the meaning of life

1/6: brake, gears etc.

Around the Ring, I would definitely be thinking about halves. I'm sure a smoother lap would mean a faster lap.

I guess the reason thirds or halves are used is because it's very easy to mentally divide a section of road into two or three. If you're dividing into more sections there's the possibility to tie yourself up in knots about how many sixth's you've covered and how many you have to go

Unless you've divided it into three ... accelerate for this portion, hold speed for this portion and brake (or accelerate again) for this portion. Ala thirds Imho thirds and halves do not need to be equal distances, although this is how they typically work when you start out to force you to separate the planning and dealing-with of a hazard. Flexibility is the name of the game

Interesting that Nick mentions 5/6 accelerating and 1/6 braking - I was out with someone yesterday who must employ close to these proportions

Chris