I got my Ride Drive Advanced TVR Driving Experience as a freebie from Henley Heritage when I bought my last car, a Cerbera 4.5. I didn’t feel that I was a bad driver but I figured that as this was a complimentary session I didn’t really have anything to lose by doing it. My only concern was that it would be a waste of time and just another driving lesson 12 years after I’d already passed my test.

Perhaps the dealership understood that even though I’d owned a TVR before, they actually cared about me as an individual and that I should get the very best enjoyment from my TVR product. I also thought that perhaps there’s always room for improvement, especially since I’d had no performance driving tuition before. How many Golf Gti owners who move up the performance league offered by TVR’s, end up being traffic statistics through their own misjudgement of their car’s capabilities. The result of this affects all drivers; particularly in today’s anti car climate where anti social driving is perceived as being on a par with tree loggers in the rain forests. At worst it’s a waste of life, as well as a nice car, and at the very least it affects us all through higher insurance premiums, tougher speed limits and even more speed cameras.

I have always considered myself to be a fairly responsible driver, the type that likes to speed when the motorway is clear but not one to take chances too lightly when on the twistier bits. It was perhaps clear that there was an awful lot of power going to waste under my right foot so maybe there was something to be gained by doing this Ride Drive thing.

With mixed feelings I met Julian, an actively serving traffic police officer of 25 years and a director of Ride Drive, just outside Aylesbury. This struck me as being a strange place to hold an advanced driving session but, as Julian explained, the 30 mile journey I had just travelled had allowed me to warm to the car thus setting myself up mentally for what lay ahead, rather than jumping in cold.

This was his patrol area and Julian proved to have an intimate knowledge of the roads. As he pointed out, this session isn’t about racing around as though you are on a track, it’s more about making rapid but safe unobtrusive progress on normal roads, this being the environment most relevant to where I use my car, whilst having immense fun doing it. This meant learning to drive quickly, but more importantly, safely and smoothly round country lanes without antagonising local people or other road users by making outrageous manoeuvres.

Country lane driving has never been my favourite pastime. Its fine when I’ve got the road to myself, but more than just a bit tedious when “Omega Man” is determined to slow you down at all costs. Just how do you get passed him without risking your paint job? To be honest, I’d much rather drive my car in town than through the Shires. You know where you are driving along the A406 – no horses parading down the Broadway or old Farmer Giles pulling out of the Mews in his tractor. So what would I be getting out of the session?

Almost immediately Julian set me at ease by reassuring me this wasn’t a back to BSM driving lesson. He let me drive for a while to gauge not only what I was doing wrong, but also more importantly what I was actually doing right. There then followed a technical bit where we discusses weight distribution and weight transfer, and how this affected the driving and handling characteristics of the car.

After driving for a while, trying to think about balance and weight, we then moved onto positioning the car when approaching a bend. I’d never given this too much thought before as I’d always let the corner happen, rather than make it work for me. Most boy racers will cut the corner at the apex thinking that’s the most effective way of getting round, but I quickly realised on the day that it certainly was not. That’s only half the story. How much have those hotheads had to brake before they hit the corner, or worse, whilst in the corner? What do they know about that corner anyway? That method really is a most inefficient use of speed, plus the fact your passengers will find it uncomfortable and it puts an awful amount of stress on you, your car and its component parts.

Through Julian’s expertise I found that by positioning the car properly before you reach the corner has many advantages. You can assess the corner from well back thus giving yourself time to adjust to the correct speed and select the most appropriate gear for that speed. You can see into it to a greater degree and therefore become aware of any otherwise unseen dangers. You see any oncoming traffic a lot earlier, which also means they can see you a lot earlier and are therefore less likely to hit you. And lastly, the line upon which you drive the bend means you can actually negotiate it more quickly yet still remain safe.

The bend management techniques proved to me that I could determine what speed I needed to enter a corner, what gear was required with which to negotiate it and to come out of it ready for the next one a whole lot quicker than before. It certainly gives you more confidence.

A further step to my motoring enlightenment was reached during the bend management phase. I’ve always been conscious that powerful rear wheel drive cars have to be treated with a lot of respect when negotiating corners, especially in the wet. It was made clear to me that by correctly gauging the bend and the launch point when exiting meant that you are always in control. An accelerator pedal is not an on-off switch. It is a progressive device in much the same way as a volume control on a stereo. The process behind it is so simple! To use a cliché, it was like learning to ride a bike, a bit wobbly at first but easy when you know how.

Tea break! By this time I’d already felt that I’d made a lot of progress, so this short stop was a time to evaluate what we’d covered so far and a chance for me to get my head back together.

During the session, Julian made comments about other drivers we came across who kindly, yet unwittingly, obliged us with a display of how you can make things difficult for yourself. By the end I could to some extent determine the quality of other road users and estimate the threat value they posed to my own progress. This might sound aggressive, but it’s meant to highlight what actions I can take by pre-empting their actions and thus avoid conflict.

Julian also gave me numerous advice points on how my driving could subtly be improved. For example, I’d been taught to always move down through the gears when approaching a junction but never questioned why. This now seems completely irrelevant now. What is the point, when you are travelling in fourth gear on the approach when you then leave the junction in first, of selecting third and second in between? You’ve not actually used them for anything have you? And think of all that extra wear on your clutch and gearbox by performing unnecessary changes.

Overtaking is one of the hardest aspects of effective driving and, as Julian pointed out, perhaps the most dangerous manoeuvre you will make. How can one achieve this without getting into a conflict situation?

There is more to it than just having a car four times more powerful than the one in front. My typical overtaking manoeuvre was to have a quick look to see if all is clear, then accelerate hard, whilst getting as close as possible to the back of the car in front, before pulling out still accelerating.

Through our discussions on weight transfer and balance, coupled with the forces acting upon the car, I came to realise that this was really quite a dangerous method to employ. “There are too many forces acting on the car at once for it to be considered a safe strategy,” said Julian. Far better to pull out first, then accelerate, but this time in a straight line. Also by pausing a bit before hitting the gas has the added advantage that the driver in front can see clearly and understand what you are about to do before you make your move – rather than surprising him and risk being pushed off the road. Furthermore, by pulling out and hanging back gives you the opportunity to accurately assess what’s ahead and always leaves you the option of slotting back in should the need arise. Think how untidy it all gets when you try to back out of an overtake using my old ‘slingshot’ method? Scary stuff.

Throughout the whole session we discussed the importance of observation. I thought that this was something I did pretty well anyway, but Julian had a few techniques that once again I’d never even considered and left me wondering how I’d ever coped before. One example was when he highlighted the fact that some fresh horse manure had recently been deposited onto the road ahead of us. The significance of his warning was completely lost on me. I assumed it meant, “be careful, as that can be a quite bad for the paint work.” was his way of saying that the stuff is difficult to remove from the car bodywork, but what it really meant was, “be careful, there may be horses around.” Sure enough, less than a mile further on was a riding class. I won’t forget that one again.

Although my session was only four hours long I came away from it with my head spinning and feeling utterly exhausted. Acceleration sense, steering, braking and acceleration techniques, hazard recognition and management, conflict resolution, observation and planning, to mention just a few of the many things I experienced. The question is, had it all been worthwhile? Well I went back again a few weeks later, this time at my own expense, and found it no less enjoyable so that must tell you something. It’s very subtle the way it is done. I was never criticised or made to feel inadequate or foolish in anyway. In fact the whole experience boosted my self-esteem rather than undermined it, plus the fact I got a real buzz from taking part. I was treated with the utmost respect and I would certainly recommend it to anyone.

Do I still only use those big A roads and motorways in my TVR? Forget it; it’s the twisties for me now – every time!

Syed Ali