right, well, when my car is finished, I really want to drive it to its full potential otherwise it won't really have all been worthwhile

(gonna be a big power 4x4 cossie'd MK6 Escort for those who don't know)

I've driven quite a few powerful cars, exotic cars etc, but never really gone too mad with them as they haven't been mine. Given them some stick, yeah, but only when there's been plenty of room etc. Never on a "proper" track or anything

I know the theory behind driving fast, car control etc, but theory and practice are always worlds apart, so I wanted to have a bit of coaching in a similar-handling, high powered turbocharged 4wd car from someone who REALLY knows what they're doing.

Can anyone recommend anything for a "beginner" without having to pay the earth?

 

best thing to do mate is get booked in to an airfield track day, an instructor will sit in with you and give you tips on driving, car control etc.

do a few of am end push the car to its limits, plus being an airfield there is nothing to hit lol

ps GET SOME FOOKIN PICS UP!

 

Silverstones rally school would be a good start for car control, but I dont think the cars are very high powered really.

Worth checking it out.

Or book a day with don palmer I think his name is. His coaching methods seem brilliant.

 

any links to them kinda things?

Been on an airfield in a few quick cars before, never my own though

pics in the Restorations/Projects forum, will get more ASAP

Have an engine lined up for it now though, just having trouble getting hold of the bloke selling it

 

I did silverstone rally school about a month ago, its fun, MK2 escorts but as said above, its not like a big BHP cossie, but you do learn some good basic skills

 

http://www.donpalmer.co.uk/

http://www.silverstonerally.co.uk/

 

http://www.silverstonerally.co.uk/ beat me to it

 

that does sound great

both look good tbh

will listen to people's recommendations

 

www.motorsportvision.co.uk

or

www.easytrack.co.uk

easy track always have pro photographers their as well so you can get ace snaps of you in yr motor

bedford autodrome is your best bet mike, decent tarmac surface their as i know some of the airfield places have shonky surfaces

 

Don Palmer sounds a good choice aswell

 

i would start by setting the boost low until you start to get used to it, and then gradually increase it as you feel that you can handle it. during that time, an airfield or other track day is a good idea, especially with a bit of tuition.

my mate did one at north weald airfiled off the m11 near stansted and reckoned it was well worth it. bit far from you, but there'll be similar things closer i guess.

http://www.carlimits.com/

 

I'm booked into an Airfield track day, with a full days tuition, in May.

The car's a race prepared Focus RS (270bhp) and apparently competed in 24hr Nurburgring!

Ł399 for the whole day including a DVD of you driving with telementry data on the screen.

I'll look up more info tonight, and also get pics!

They offer the same course in a couple of Noble M12s, which may be more use to you, rather than FWD

 

www.motorsport-events.com

 

the first thing that i suggest is not to try and impress your friends with your new car as soon as you get it... i ve seen and i know mayny people who bought a very powerful car and totalled it within the first month of own it... (when i was 19-20 years old, now i am 28)...

as many people suggested, take the car to a nice track and find or hire someone to help you learn how to handle your monster...

 

The low boost etc is all a good idea

I will get used to its capabilities gradually, but such a big step up and I wanna make the most of it after spending so much cash on it and not bin it

Yeah, Bedford does look quite a nice track, but a decent airfield sounds good for starters

 

bedford has all the runoffs you could want and you wont destroy your tyres on it like you would somewhere like brunters or get shit loads of stone chips

 

bedford aint that great for run off, when #13 took me out in his we came off a couple of times lol, but one was at 100mph+ and going sideways at that speed over grass made me stain my pants i was sure i was gonna faceplant the turf

at least on an airfield its all tarmac, unless your really shit and end up on the grass

and my mates mate mate rolled his turbo E30 BMW at brunters too

fuck it mate, stick to the bus

 

I don't want to sound patronising, but something we could all benefit from is learning how to drive in the first place...
Let me explain.

We've all got powerful cars, great, but we (well most of us) also only have the bog standard driving licence.

ROSPA and others run free advanced driving courses which cover the type of day to day driving you and I do all day, improved awareness, etc....

Surely, that would be the right first step, at least it's realistic... Learning to go fast round an empty airfield isn't going to help during the school run.

I am seriously considering either ROSPA or IAM at the moment

 

just get in and drive m8 just take it easy and get to no the car went from a 100 bhp xr2 to a 300 bhp 2wd saff and still not smashed it up lol

 

but ended up backwards on a few roundabouts eh dan

 

part of the learning sort of

 

So? He did that in the XR2 too