- Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:38 pm
#1239527
Well I've been rather naughty and taken over a week to write this. My Mac course with Dave took place on the 1st June, here's a mini review...
Well I live in South B'ham and we agreed to meet in Bridgnorth at 9am. Another option was to meet more central and drive near the Pennines, but I'd never ventured much into Wales so I gave that a go.
We went into the Cafe onsite after Dave had pursuaded him to open early
and discussed what I'd like out of the course. I wanted as much as possible, but being so limited for time, the A/B roads seemed like good fun, the times where you can get the most of the acceleration/handling of the CTR.
I drove for a little and then we stopped again. That was the "Initial Assessment". It was quite strange driving with Dave next to me, because you knew he was looking out for all the mistakes
This is where my errors were pointed out. Here's a brief list of the things we talked about:
- Gears, need to set off in 2nd more often, and don't do the multiple block changes I usually do It's good to take this on board but not sure if I'll treat it as gospel. Setting off in 2nd was ok in some of the situations, but I certainly wouldn't do it at a fast roundabout for instance. And as for block changing, sometimes if I set off fast and then suddenly I see traffic in front, I may just go from 2nd to 6th...
- Observation, wow! I usually look quite far into the distance, but dave looks that extra bit. He's looking at hedgerows and roof tops, assuming there's a road next to that house and that it'll join our road in the future. Something that'll take a lot of practice...
- Steering, almost got it right. I don't cross hands, but the mistake I was making is sometimes I'd move the wrong hand first. You need to use the left hand for left corner, right for right...
- Positioning&corners, I loved this bit the most. Learning about the limit point and putting it into practice, excellent for those country roads you don't use regularly! 8) Oh, and matching with this the position to see as much round the corner as possible.
Some smaller and funnier things were how Dave covers the horn so much and moaned at me for covering the brake in case of emergency braking.
Right, next on the agenda was a demo drive from Dave. It didn't scare me and didn't feel as fast as I was expecting.... but, now here's the big BUT, Dave was able to carry on looking around, miles into the distance, and drive at that speed. It felt very safe that's for sure.
The rest of the day was spent with me driving and putting into practice what Dave had shown me. This was good but also slightly annoying. Because it was literally too much to learn and put into practice so I kept doing things wrong, which I fully knew about but couldn't do anything about! This is where you need the day split into 2. The first half could teach you, with the 2nd half a few weeks later to see how you'd practiced.
You can see why Police drivers need to have 3/4 weeks training!
Dave was a really nice bloke, and was always very professional. Professional is the key word here, he know's what he's doing and puts it over very well. You wouldn't be able to get to know him like a mate, because he's making you get the most of his expertise to become a better driver in the short time he's allowed.
I was suprised the MAC course was still available on my car (52 plate), so it was a very worthwhile day, and hopefully I'll take in a few things and it'll help me become that little bit safer...
I'd recommend it 8)
Cheers Dave!
Mike
Well I live in South B'ham and we agreed to meet in Bridgnorth at 9am. Another option was to meet more central and drive near the Pennines, but I'd never ventured much into Wales so I gave that a go.
We went into the Cafe onsite after Dave had pursuaded him to open early
and discussed what I'd like out of the course. I wanted as much as possible, but being so limited for time, the A/B roads seemed like good fun, the times where you can get the most of the acceleration/handling of the CTR.I drove for a little and then we stopped again. That was the "Initial Assessment". It was quite strange driving with Dave next to me, because you knew he was looking out for all the mistakes
This is where my errors were pointed out. Here's a brief list of the things we talked about:
- Gears, need to set off in 2nd more often, and don't do the multiple block changes I usually do
It's good to take this on board but not sure if I'll treat it as gospel. Setting off in 2nd was ok in some of the situations, but I certainly wouldn't do it at a fast roundabout for instance. And as for block changing, sometimes if I set off fast and then suddenly I see traffic in front, I may just go from 2nd to 6th... - Observation, wow!
I usually look quite far into the distance, but dave looks that extra bit. He's looking at hedgerows and roof tops, assuming there's a road next to that house and that it'll join our road in the future. Something that'll take a lot of practice...- Steering, almost got it right. I don't cross hands, but the mistake I was making is sometimes I'd move the wrong hand first. You need to use the left hand for left corner, right for right...
- Positioning&corners, I loved this bit the most. Learning about the limit point and putting it into practice, excellent for those country roads you don't use regularly! 8) Oh, and matching with this the position to see as much round the corner as possible.
Some smaller and funnier things were how Dave covers the horn so much and moaned at me for covering the brake in case of emergency braking.
Right, next on the agenda was a demo drive from Dave. It didn't scare me and didn't feel as fast as I was expecting.... but, now here's the big BUT, Dave was able to carry on looking around, miles into the distance, and drive at that speed. It felt very safe that's for sure.
The rest of the day was spent with me driving and putting into practice what Dave had shown me. This was good but also slightly annoying. Because it was literally too much to learn and put into practice so I kept doing things wrong, which I fully knew about but couldn't do anything about!
This is where you need the day split into 2. The first half could teach you, with the 2nd half a few weeks later to see how you'd practiced.You can see why Police drivers need to have 3/4 weeks training!
Dave was a really nice bloke, and was always very professional. Professional is the key word here, he know's what he's doing and puts it over very well. You wouldn't be able to get to know him like a mate, because he's making you get the most of his expertise to become a better driver in the short time he's allowed.
I was suprised the MAC course was still available on my car (52 plate), so it was a very worthwhile day, and hopefully I'll take in a few things and it'll help me become that little bit safer...
I'd recommend it 8)
Cheers Dave!
Mike
