Lessons Learnt

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Something I've learnt is that there's always something new to learn. So you may read this and go 'idiot, who doesn't know that?', or perhaps even than I'm wrong. Or you may read this and say, 'I never thought of it that way before'. I guess this is aimed at people new to owning and driving a clubman, rather than race-hardened track pros. Particularly as its not anything to do with racing.

So here goes, driving advice from a guy with a car still in pieces.

When I bought my Caterham in the UK, one of the things that got me a discount off my insurance was to take a driving lesson with Cadence (http://www.cadence.co.uk/). These guys are professional driving instructors, but not your usual guy in beige trousers with a clipboad and a dual control Mitsubishi Colt. These guys teach proper and safe driving technique to drive 'progressively', as they call it. And it was probably one of the best things I did. It wasn't focussed on driving fast, it was focussed on driving safe. Driving a Caterham (or a Birkin, Westfield, Fraser, Robin Hood etc) is a different experience, both for the driver and other road users. And while you can't do much about other people being idiots, you can at least anticipate.

Note that there are a lot of parallels in driving a Birkin with riding a motorbike - keeping aware of where you are on the road, and particularly where you are in relation to other drivers. Also constantly asking - did he/she see me? And never, ever assuming they did. Because the 1 time in 100 that they didn't, the consequences in a Birkin are much more serious. Looking around, there are actually a lot of ex-bikers in clubmans, which probably helps keep the acccident rate down ;-)

Anyway, I went out a did this driving lesson in my new Caterham. They guy jumps in, tests a few things out (like the brakes), and off we go.

He then proceeds to demonstrate how to drive progressively. This is much the same as bikers do - moving quickly, but smoothly amongst traffic. The key point is to control what goes on around you, and not let others control you. In other words, you make sure you do not place yourself into dangerous positions, and most importantly, you don't let others do it to you. If you're just happily trundling along and someone puts you in their blind spot, get out of it!

Cornering
This is not a section on how to take a racing line - lots of other places for that, and people get upset when you take a late apex on Albany Highway. This is more about how to drive on a nice country road.

First, look through the corner, not at the corner. If you focus on just your apex, you'll hit the apex to within a centimeter, then hit the cow three feet further on. So constantly look through the corner to the exit, and flow through the apex, rather than drive at it.

Second, position yourself for the corner. On a left hander, move towards the middle of the road - the Birkin is a narrow car, so this gives you quite a bit of room to play with. Don't cross the line, but get into position. Brake progressively (don't stamp, but don't tickle the pedal) and change up to the right gear. Now, look through the corner and hit your apex, and progressively apply the loud pedal. On a right hander, do the opposite (but watch out for rough edges).

Oh, and if you think trail braking is a good idea on a public road, please let me know when you're out and about so I can avoid you.

The emphasis is on smooth rather than fast. This transfers weight from neutral to the front wheels under braking for more turn-in grip, then to the outside wheels for the turn itself. Keeping everything smooth means you have less chance of surprising yourself or others by rapid and unplanned changes of direction. It also gives you more options if something unexpected comes up.

Overtaking
Overtaking for a car such as a Birkin is pretty much an everyday occurrence, especially on open roads. Overtaking is of course a relatively dangerous manoeuvre when compared with just tootling along, but the risks in a Birkin are different to those in a normal car. Whilst we have more power (and therefore require less time to overtake), the nature of the Birkin means some additional techniques are required for safe overtaking.

Some things to consider:

Setting up an Overtake
We cannot see around other cars as easily. The usual approach to overtaking in a tank is to come up relatively close (but still a safe distance, kids!) from the car in front, then pull out and overtake. You need to get closer because the power available isn’t that great (esp in higher gears), so you get close to reduce the time to overtake. Do that in a Birkin and you’ll be unable to see around your target ;-)

Instead, hang back a little. You have all the power in the world to blast past the Lada puttering along in front, so you don’t need to finesse it up close.

Also, by hanging back, you can see up a potential queue of cars. Birkins are also great for overtaking multiple cars at once, but you need to make sure there’s a slot for you up ahead.

Overtaking
In a tank, you overtake by downshifting, planting your foot, then moving into the oncoming traffic lane and booting it until you’re past. Do this in a Birkin and you’re likely to embarrass yourself.

Think about it – changing lines involves turning, basically doing a chicane move with a quick right / left flick of the wheel. Now, when you approach any other corner, do you ever plant your foot and then turn the wheel? Ever? So why do it now? What will happen is you will overtake the car in front, but you’ll do it sideways. Then backwards. Then sideways again. I’ve had a friend do this and he got a free ride in a nice ambulance strapped to a backboard.

1. Make sure you’re all set to overtake
2. Move into the overtaking lane
3. Now accelerate, not before
4. Move progressively past the vehicle/s
5. Lift off gently, and move back into your lane

Additional note – watch out for people driving by using their rear-vision mirrors. They will have noticed this amazing little car rush up to them in their rear mirror, and now it’s overtaking them in full song. I’ve seen some drivers get so mesmerised by this life-changing event that they forget they’re driving their own car. All of a sudden they’re drifting into the middle of the road watching you in their mirror while you’re trying to overtake!!!

Being overtaken.
I know, it never happens. Sure. But there are people on the road who think it’s a big thing to overtake a racing car. What they forget is how damn small the Birkin is, so as soon as the little car falls from view, they pull back in. Of course, they’ve misjudged and are trying to take your nose off. Watch for this!

Another risky thing is when you’re in a line of cars. Again, leave a very large gap between yourself and the guy in front. What happens is the idiot in the Commodore at the end of the line see’s what he thinks is a gap three cars up, tries to overtake, then finds you occupying the same space he was expecting to pull into. If you’re nose to tail, there’s nowhere for him to go, and it gets exciting. If you leave space in front of you, at least he’s got a chance.

And that's it. That's as far as my driving wisdom goes. I'll probably get written off by a truck on the South West highway whilst executing an illegal u-turn, and people will look back and this post and mock, but there you go. But it is important to understand some of the differences in driving a clubman, and I couldn't find anything on the web about it, so I thought I'd throw it out there myself.

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