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Drivetrain - ‘High performance driving course’


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  • 3 months later...

Thanks Robin cool.gif

I had done (and passed) the IAM course in 2006 - it was well worthwhile, but somewhat "sterile" - all about driving on your best behaviour. It did draw my attention to many of the areas where my driving could be strengthened. However I might as well have been driving a Nissan Micra!

Thus having already done Andy Walsh's Car Control I was tempted by a TSN thread on Drivetrain and booked up.

And I can only say how good it was jump.gifjump.gifjump.gif

It was great - John is more mature and relaxed in many ways than Andy Walsh - and very very prepared to support "my way" and "wants" in my driving beerchug.gif

I think the website statement - "performance car driving" - sums up his approach - yes we drive performance cars, but they don't have to be driven fast. They do have to be driven safely and efficiently ECLIPSe.gifFIREdevil.gifECLIPSe.gif

I learnt loads and will happily go again in 6 - 12 months time for revision notworthy.gif

The Prodrive sessions on the skid tracks - one a straight line track and the other a circular track - were both brilliant and added much to my "skid" experience with Andy. In fact it fundamentally changed the way I'd like to think I should be driving..... particularly with regard to sight lines wink.gif

It was a great day - if a little exhausting.... but very rewarding and I am driving differently (again)

For GTI DSG drivers it was also very handy to see how the DSG can actually be used in a very positive way. I'd clearly lapsed (albeit unknowingly and unconciously) into "D" or "S" user with occassional paddles - however seeing and being taught how to use the paddles for potential overtakes and for car control on surfaces was new to me.... and a complete eye opener

And entirely brilliant. I must say having had the GTI for just over a year (11K), post-course it's like having a brand new car - much zippier and smoother - and this is all without a remap

Thanks Dave 169144-ok.gif

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[ QUOTE ]

I had done (and passed) the IAM course in 2006 - it was well worthwhile, but somewhat "sterile" - all about driving on your best behaviour. It did draw my attention to many of the areas where my driving could be strengthened. However I might as well have been driving a Nissan Micra!

[/ QUOTE ]

....Exactly what I had been told and why I haven't bothered with it.

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[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

I had done (and passed) the IAM course in 2006 - it was well worthwhile, but somewhat "sterile" - all about driving on your best behaviour. It did draw my attention to many of the areas where my driving could be strengthened. However I might as well have been driving a Nissan Micra!

[/ QUOTE ]

....Exactly what I had been told and why I haven't bothered with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Check out the RoSPA courses if you want something a bit less sterile/more relevant 169144-ok.gif

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Well they are linked in several associations and coincidences - John is the Chairman of the Oxford Group linked to RoSPA and John's qualifications include the RoSPA Diploma for Advanced Driving Instruction.

RoSPA driver training is offered all over the country by local groups so would certainly be worth a thought to help consolidate what you've learnt with John 169144-ok.gif

RoSPA also offer a portfolio of driver training for a diversity of users coffee.gif

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And entirely brilliant. I must say having had the GTI for just over a year (11K), post-course it's like having a brand new car - much zippier and smoother - and this is all without a remap

[/ QUOTE ]

Good comment. Never understood why people are prepared to throw hundreds of pounds at their fast cars to make them even faster without learning to get the best out of the standard car first. smashfreakB.gif

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  • 1 month later...

I did my Drivetrain day with Big John yesterday and what a great day it was - One of the very best days spent in a car and one of those to always remember. You're not going to find any details of what we did on the course in this review because you really need the benefit of Big John sat beside you. I could tell you how I was taught to do this and that, but I'm not a highly qualified police instructor like John is and it might easily lead you into serious danger without putting it all in context and also tailoring it to you as an individual driver and what car you drive. It's all about getting the most out of your own potential and also out of the car but keeping you safe and surprisingly legal!

I must admit to being quite nervous and even scared of booking the course until one particular TSNer and GTI driver who had done the CarLimits course with me told me how good Drivetrain was. So thankyou nhs and also Sam_D and Dansky who also encouraged me - Smitten too. Once I had spoken on the phone to Big John I immediately felt relaxed and couldn't wait for the day. What 'scared' me was the idea of driving on a limit beyond one's experience on public roads and furthermore on roads I didn't know. You have to have Trust....Trust in Big John and to realise that he knows absolutely what he's doing and that he's very highly qualified and, very importantly, that he knows the law - If he told me he actually was a policeman I would have believed him.

Until I did the Drivetrain course I thought I was a well-above average and even good driver, and perhaps I was very focussed and above average (not difficult unfortunately!) but now I've learnt how to be so much more aware, much smoother and safer, This doesn't mean that I'm suddenly overnight an expert, but only that I feel I have improved - Vastly! And that I am on the road to maintaining that improvement and learning it to the point where it becomes natural. This doesn't make me invincible either. Accidents can still happen and I can still make an error of judgement.

Everybody who has said "Don't worry about remapping your car, remap your brain!" is absolutely right. I've got no regrets about the sequence of 'mods' I have done, but Drivetrain is the most important one and furthermore allows me to enjoy my other mods even more.

Regarding the famous Mk5 GTI, I learnt how to use the car's potential far more efficiently and at the same time keeping the car more in a permanently alert and ready to go, or stop!, state. I'm now using ALL of the DSG's offerings and Manual especially. How I love those paddles and how I'm hearing my Milltek exhaust. Ian_C paid me a huge compliment at last night's Windsor meet when he told me he wound down his window so he could hear my car while following - I was working that box! It's not about maximum bhp.

Big John is great company - We shared a great day and had great fun as well as learning some very important fundamentals. Everyone here knows how enthusiastic I can get about something I like, but I cannot recommend Big John's course highly enough and it's not just the course itself but the man himself. He'll make you feel very relaxed and he's extremely professional.

You drive a performance car - Don't even think about whether to do this course - It's a no-brainer, just do it!!

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I didn't want to say anything for fear of possibly appearing to be trying to have one up on you, but - If you remember following that hay-laden pickup and you looking for a chance to overtake....Drivetrain would have taught you a technique regarding positioning and distance whereby you would have safely and easily overtaken. Just because of what I learnt on the course, I could have safely overtaken both of you on more than one occasion, in fact I counted three times.

Please don't take this the wrong way (I'm not trying to claim I'm a better driver than you) - I'm only saying that the Drivetrain course teaches some very good things.

I would deffo do it, Ben - You'll love it 169144-ok.gif.

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