My day with Driver Development Programme
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Scooby Regular
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: London
My day with Driver Development Programme
Earlier this week, I took a trip up to Prodrive's proving grounds near Warwick for a session with Driver Development Programme (Advanced Driving Courses and Car Control Training : Driver DP).
Only one other chap came along on the day (in his F430) and we shared our time being instructed by the owner of the business, Carolyn Barker.
Basically, the day involved sessions on a 180m long strip with wetted basalt tiles, a bit of time on a skid circle, time on the adverse handling circuit (which has lots of tight bends) and on the 1.5 mile long tower circuit. Carolyn took us through all of these areas in the morning and then in the afternoon we were able to decide what we wanted to do more of.
It was a really good day and I certainly learned an awful lot and took away quite a bit to think about. At the start of the day, I found it very difficult to get the car to oversteer on the wetted basalt strip and, when I managed it, was far too slow in correcting slides and had quite a few comical spins. When we returned to it later in the day, following a few more attempts, I really started to feel more in control and was able to provoke and catch the slides much more easily.
The skid circle was something else though. I somehow thought it wouldn't be that hard, but my attempts were hopeless! Having driven my car first, Carolyn did say that it was difficult to get the scooby into a slide (needing a bit of a Scandinavian flick type effort to get it going) and then to hold it in the slide. Perhaps it would have been easier in an STi with the ability to send more power to the rear wheels (I know...a poor workman always blames his tools eh
)?
The adverse handling circuit was interesting, particularly as there was a quite a bit of snow around, including on certain parts of the track. Carolyn's speed and control around the track was truly impressive, particularly given that she had just hopped out of the F430, which must feels very different, and into my car.
The tower circuit was also fun and redefined my concept of late braking! It was a good chance to see how the ferrodo ds2500 pads on standard discs would fair and I must say they were brilliant. I had some reservations about them before changing from OEM pads, due to some people warning that their cold performance wasn't too good. I haven't had any issues at all through this winter or on the day with DDP and they are at least as good from cold as the OEMs.
In terms of what I learned, I think the key things were:
1. Assuming a relaxed style (at all times) - I am not a nervous driver on the road, but Carolyn kept telling me to relax and sink into the seat throughout the day to be able to feel what the car was doing and respond more quickly. This really worked. Some of my poor early efforts on the bassalt tile strip were in part down to the fact that I was too tense and therefore too slow to correct slides and to be able to steer freely. Once I allowed myself to believe Carolyn that I should be fully relaxed, I was able to correct skids much more effectively.
2. Raising my horizon - On the road, I consider myself to be a very safe driver, as I do look a long way ahead to anticipate dangers and am generally quite aware of what's going on around me. However, I do know that if I have to negotiate a very tricky series of bends or narrow passage, I tend to focus on what's in front of me. Carolyn was incredibly perceptive in spotting this, particularly on the long circuit, and kept reminding me to raise my horizons and look ahead through a series of bends at where I was heading.
3. Correcting slide quickly - I realised that it was vital to be very quick in responding to the car breaking traction at the rear and Carolyn mentioned that most people are much to slow to respond. Keeping relaxed helped a lot with this.
4. Puting your seat down as low as you can to better feel what the car is doing - which did seem to help.
5. What a fantastic car the scooby is! I can honestly say that I wasn't at all envious of the chap with his F430. That's partly because he was a very friendly and down to earth chap, but mostly because I had so much fun in my car. It's "only" a wrx with a PPP, but it absolutely flew on the tower circuit and handled the bends brilliantly (thanks to Powerstation's stage 1 suspension package!). The conditions were also perfect for maximum performance, the air being cold and dense, with some light snow falling towards the end of the day...more of that in another post.
All in all, it was a very worthwhile day and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
Only one other chap came along on the day (in his F430) and we shared our time being instructed by the owner of the business, Carolyn Barker.
Basically, the day involved sessions on a 180m long strip with wetted basalt tiles, a bit of time on a skid circle, time on the adverse handling circuit (which has lots of tight bends) and on the 1.5 mile long tower circuit. Carolyn took us through all of these areas in the morning and then in the afternoon we were able to decide what we wanted to do more of.
It was a really good day and I certainly learned an awful lot and took away quite a bit to think about. At the start of the day, I found it very difficult to get the car to oversteer on the wetted basalt strip and, when I managed it, was far too slow in correcting slides and had quite a few comical spins. When we returned to it later in the day, following a few more attempts, I really started to feel more in control and was able to provoke and catch the slides much more easily.
The skid circle was something else though. I somehow thought it wouldn't be that hard, but my attempts were hopeless! Having driven my car first, Carolyn did say that it was difficult to get the scooby into a slide (needing a bit of a Scandinavian flick type effort to get it going) and then to hold it in the slide. Perhaps it would have been easier in an STi with the ability to send more power to the rear wheels (I know...a poor workman always blames his tools eh
)? The adverse handling circuit was interesting, particularly as there was a quite a bit of snow around, including on certain parts of the track. Carolyn's speed and control around the track was truly impressive, particularly given that she had just hopped out of the F430, which must feels very different, and into my car.
The tower circuit was also fun and redefined my concept of late braking! It was a good chance to see how the ferrodo ds2500 pads on standard discs would fair and I must say they were brilliant. I had some reservations about them before changing from OEM pads, due to some people warning that their cold performance wasn't too good. I haven't had any issues at all through this winter or on the day with DDP and they are at least as good from cold as the OEMs.
In terms of what I learned, I think the key things were:
1. Assuming a relaxed style (at all times) - I am not a nervous driver on the road, but Carolyn kept telling me to relax and sink into the seat throughout the day to be able to feel what the car was doing and respond more quickly. This really worked. Some of my poor early efforts on the bassalt tile strip were in part down to the fact that I was too tense and therefore too slow to correct slides and to be able to steer freely. Once I allowed myself to believe Carolyn that I should be fully relaxed, I was able to correct skids much more effectively.
2. Raising my horizon - On the road, I consider myself to be a very safe driver, as I do look a long way ahead to anticipate dangers and am generally quite aware of what's going on around me. However, I do know that if I have to negotiate a very tricky series of bends or narrow passage, I tend to focus on what's in front of me. Carolyn was incredibly perceptive in spotting this, particularly on the long circuit, and kept reminding me to raise my horizons and look ahead through a series of bends at where I was heading.
3. Correcting slide quickly - I realised that it was vital to be very quick in responding to the car breaking traction at the rear and Carolyn mentioned that most people are much to slow to respond. Keeping relaxed helped a lot with this.
4. Puting your seat down as low as you can to better feel what the car is doing - which did seem to help.
5. What a fantastic car the scooby is! I can honestly say that I wasn't at all envious of the chap with his F430. That's partly because he was a very friendly and down to earth chap, but mostly because I had so much fun in my car. It's "only" a wrx with a PPP, but it absolutely flew on the tower circuit and handled the bends brilliantly (thanks to Powerstation's stage 1 suspension package!). The conditions were also perfect for maximum performance, the air being cold and dense, with some light snow falling towards the end of the day...more of that in another post.
All in all, it was a very worthwhile day and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
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