Getting ready for the braking exercise.

In Part 1, you learned about the problem with teen driving and what you can do about it. Here’s a look at what you’ll be getting into if you decide to enroll in a high performance driving event. I recently had the opportunity to participate in Bridgestone’s Drivers Edge program (www.driversedge.com). It is specifically geared towards teens and is free (yes, I said free). Their motto is “Know yourself and know your limits.” Believe me, by the end of the day that could not ring so true. The leading cause of death for teenagers is car crashes. One day at the track thrashing a car around might not make you a master in car control, but a least you will able to know a little bit about yourself and the road.

It’s only one day long and is like drinking from a fire hose, but it serves as a good eye-opener. The day starts off with a quiz (that’s where I got those questions from Part 1). Most teens and parents do poorly; surprise, surprise. It’s not your or your kids’ fault because no one is taught properly. Imagine that your child has a Biology test and the teacher didn’t cover the material on the test. As a parent, you would be furious if you found out, especially if your child attends an expensive private school. Before I even attended this particular event, I had already attended two other high performance driving schools and still, there were questions I really had to think about.

There were also some interesting statistical questions such as, “rate yourself as a driver on a scale of 1-10 then rate your friends on a scale of 1-10.” Guys, of course, would think they are heaven’s gift to driving and the rest of the world is filled with mere followers. The girls were much more modest, rating themselves average or poor while thinking very highly of their friends. It’s really just a way of showing that no one has a real way of judging good driving because no one was shown what good driving really is. Following the quiz and subsequent lectures, students were brought out to the cars. The instructors stressed the fact that the students did not own the cars and therefore treat them accordingly. We all know what that means…

Don't worry, it's not your car...

The first exercise was designed to dispel a couple of myths about ABS. There are two common misconception that ABS will stop a vehicle faster or keep it under control. In the exercise, the driver must accelerate in a straight line and apply maximum braking force to stop the car within a box. Then the driver must perform the same maneuver, but must brake and swerve around some simulated pedestrians/cars/objects (road cones) and stop. Sounds simple right? People quickly learned that the solve-it-all ABS is not all it’s cracked up to be. Several students went careening into the cones during the braking and turning task even though the car was equipped with ABS. ABS allows you to brake and steer, nothing more. The car has a limited amount of grip and will not respond to abrupt inputs. The driver must smoothly apply a surprisingly small amount of steering to successfully stop inside the target area. For all the Harry ham hands behind the wheel, this was a bit of a challenge. Enter the teenage random excuse generator: “My car’s brakes didn’t work! The cones are set unfairly!” After few minutes of reflection, the students really begin to see the light and actually become more motivated to learn more.

The second exercise is in car control or more specifically, skidding. The DMV’s driving handbook says that you should steer into the skid… what does that mean and what do you do after that? The answer is not in that handbook. In this exercise, the driver must accelerate to about 50mph and make a turn while the instructor pulls the hand brake causing the car to spin. The driver must then try to stop the spin. This was the most fun to watch both from inside the car and outside. The small circuit the instructors had coned off  was soon destroyed by spinning BMWs.

So if you’ve never experienced something like this allow me to enlighten you. You get behind the wheel of a brand new (brand new in age not in condition) BMW with the instructor at your side. You pull up to the starting line and are instructed to put the gas pedal to the floor. The car starts hurling down the course where at the end is a curve you have to negotiate. As you turn the wheel you hear a very soothing chime telling you that the hand brake is up. Before your brain can even process the sound, the scenery in front of the car no longer is coming toward you but strangely going from left to right. A light bulb goes off in your head as you suddenly recall what you had been taught in the classroom earlier. At this point the car has already come to a stop now facing the direction from where you came.

The onlooking parents laugh at their children’s lack of experience, but when mommy and daddy are placed behind the wheel, the result is the same: endless pirouettes and a cacophony of tire noise. Enter the parental random excuse generator: “I’m not used to this car! This exercise is not realistic! The instructor made it hard on purpose!” The majority of the students and their parents in their three attempts could not regain control of the car, but everyone began to realize how important all the day’s shenanigans are.

Collecting cones in the braking exercise.

Obviously three attempts at each task is hardly enough to become proficient. Bridgestone’s aim is to increase awareness instead of instantly improving teen driving in all the areas they visit. It’s also a way to motivate teens and parents to invest in better driving education. After all the day’s dancing lessons, everyone is brought back into the classroom where there is no student who isn’t grinning from ear to ear. The hope is that they will go home and tell their friends who tell their friends and so on.

Now, most parents will say “I don’t want my kid driving like a race car driver!” Let me be the first to tell you a little secret. They are going to drive like racing drivers whether they know what they’re doing or not. Imagine a race track with a long straightaway followed by a sharp blind corner. The lead driver comes barreling down the straight and brakes as hard and as late as possible to enter the turn at the car’s highest potential while carefully balancing it to maximize his lap time. Now imagine a long freeway or highway where debris suddenly falls from a car ahead. A driver following notices the debris and must brake and swerve to avoid a collision with the debris and other cars. The same driver must brake as hard as possible and carefully balance the car while maximizing its turning potential. It’s more about what happens in certain situations and why they happen rather then about going fast. Performance driving schools are not only about senseless tire carnage and conical destruction. One particular school offers a two day driving class that goes over proper passing on narrow two way roads and the proper way to set your mirrors as well as the in-car fun.

Learning to slide a Bimmer

In my teenage years, I’ve spun my fair share of cars.  Fortunately I was at a driving school rather than on some twisty mountain road or a busy city street. So for your children’s sake, make sure they have their mishaps on a closed course with a professional instructor in a car you don’t own. Go to the Driver’s Edge website for more information on event dates, locations and registration. If you’re still wondering what the answers to the questions in part one are, the suspense is over.

What is a “contact patch,” and how many does your car have?
It is the portion of the tire that is in physical contact with the driving surface and its size is directly related to the amount of grip it produces. Your car has four (unless you are doing something epically wrong).

What is “oversteer,” and “understeer?”
Oversteer occurs when the rear tires have low grip or the front tires have too much grip causing the rear of the car to rotate or slide around the front.

Understeer is the opposite. It occurs when the front tires lack grip or the rear tires produce too much grip causing the car to move towards the ouside of the turn.

How do you correct for excessive amounts of oversteer and understeer?
Remember the acronym CPR for oversteer: Correct Pause Recover.
Correct the slide by steering into or in the opposite direction of the rotation. If you were turning left and the tail starts to slide, steer to the right. This is known as countersteer.
Pause when the rotation stops. Hold the wheel where it is. The car may still be sliding sideways but the rotation has stopped.
Recover when the car begins to rotate in the opposite direction. In other words, remove your countersteer and center the wheel.

Understeer is a little simpler. When your turn the wheel and the car appears to continue straight ahead, do not turn the wheel more because the front tires have run out of grip. Instead leave the wheel where it is and slowly lift off of the gas pedal and slow the car down. Avoid the brake pedal as braking with a steering input will unbalance the car and will lead to more understeer or even oversteer.

By arming your kid with the skills they need, you increase their chance for survival on the road. Not only can it help lesson their chances for tickets and accidents, but if you attend the event, you might learn something yourself.

-KF