Proposed New Forum - Drving Tips & Techniques

Unless you are driving on a race track you should have no problems if you do the speed limit and follow the law.

if you do the speed limit and follow the law.

Yes sir, officer. I'm sure that is just what Ron meant to say.

LOL, ROF

Larry

I think obtaining additional driving information is always a good idea. Many different situations can arise on and off the track! It's too bad we have people (like the person who say's if you drive the speed limit and obey the law) who are so closed minded and probally never driven a Pantera over 3,000 rpm...

tell ya what..

..go to www.jacobsracing.com and go to the online forum. I will host it over there fer ya...

Greg

I'll offer up a driving tip/technique to get started:

TIP No. 1:

When going from lock to lock with the steering wheel in a very fast situation, let go of the steering wheel and let it slide through your hands, that is, let the caster built into the front steering geometry turn the front wheels straight again, and then start cranking to opposite lock.

Example:

I was going into a gradual left turn on the freeway and saw a bunch of cars already crashed on the side of the road. It had just started snowing that Thanksgiving weekend. I slowed to 40 mph, a speed I thought was conservative.

As it turned out, the apex of the turn was a "bridge" for a railroad track underneath. What I didn't realize was that the "bridge" was getting hit with sub-freezing temperatures from both the top and bottom of the "road" and had thus "iced over", just the "bridge" part of the turn at the apex.

Things were going well until I hit the "bridge" (unnoticable except for the concrete barriers on the sides). My truck (no not my Pantera) wanted to go straight, so it was hard left with the steering wheel. Well, as I avoided the concrete outer wall, the "bridge" came to an end. Now, my vehicle jerked left, as the front tires caught on the "dry" pavement. Realizing I could not possibly 'correct' fast enough, I let the grip on the wheel loose and used the front caster to go back to the straight position on the steering wheel AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, then when that occurred, I cranked hard to the right with the steering wheel as fast as possible. I saved a crash. 40 mph was way too fast, and I barely had time to negotiate with all my reflexes, and saved an expensive ordeal. I came very close to hitting both outer and inner concrete barriers across both of the two lanes of North-Bound traffic on I-25.

As I was driving away, at what again seemed like a slow 40 mph, I noticed in my rear view mirror a dozen admiring and astonished on-lookers, who were amazed and perhaps a little jealous, that I accomplished what they wished they had accomplished. Their cars were "toast" on the shoulders and median of that curve, in the light frost of snow that was not even covering the ground. The speed limit was 70 mph.

I saw a driver of an F-1 car probably use the same technique at the 1982 Gran-Prix in Long Beach, CA. He avoided hitting the concrete barriers at the end of the 1st long straight-a-way, going from Ocean Blvd to make a right hand turn down Pine St. Bet he used "my" technique! 360 degree spin and never hit the concrete barriers. I still remember that! Wow!! Tell me some of your driving techniques, and maybe we'll all learn something we may need to know.

We're all happy to learn how to drive better on this Forum, aren't we?

TIP No. 2

When it has been snowing, and you have to come to a stop, if you are in a vehcile with an automatic transmission, pu it in neutral, so all the wheel brakes catch evenly, and lightly. If the vehicle is in drive, the back wheel keep turning while under light braking conditions, while the front wheels start to slide if enough force is applied to the brakes to stop the back wheels from turning/spinning.

Same for a Pantera. In the rain or snow, put the clutch in and stop the drive force from the rear wheel, so the brakes can 'catch' evenly, and have maximum stopping force.

In a 4x4, either use 4x4 or put in neutral or push the clutch in in these stopping situations.

Same theory under emergency braking situations 'in dry' conditions.

TIP No. 3:

On the freeway, between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 4:00, stay in the right hand lane, the "slow lane" especially when travelling interstate, between cities.

Most fatal 'head on' crashes occur in the fast lane. It just so happens that when day breaks and everything is visible and obvious again, there are freeway access roads alongside the freeways, and sometime, or rather when a fatal head-on collission has occurred, there was an access road parallel to the freeway, with'two-way' traffic. The only difference is on the 'two-way' road, the stripe in the center is yellow, and on the freeway, it's white.

Do yourself this favor. Only use the 'fast lane' to pass, the worst consequence is you're more likely to have to deal with the ruts in the road from the heavy 18 wheelers carving ruts and bumps.

TIP Nos. 4(a) & (b):

(a) Do not use your 'Cruise Control' device between 12:00 midnight and 8:00 AM.

(b) Do not try and make your destiny if you are only 30 minutes away, but too tired to even stay in your lane (woozie).

e.g. (example given): I saw a 'fatal' a few weeks ago at 4:40 AM. Emergency vehicles already there, but to no avail. Late model Firebird, rollover, body covered in a sheet, body 500-1,000 ft. away from car, no blood. Concluded: broken neck, no seatbelt, driver fell asleep with cruise control on, car didn't slow, went into center 'divider' of 500 ft. of desert between/seperating opposing directions of traffic, centrifical force ejected driver from vehicle, maybe broke neck on window jam/roofline exiting vehicle or upon impact with ground at 75 mph, what's the difference? 25 miles outside of city limits.

Talked w/ a guy @ a party a week later, he said he dozed off 3X, B-4 & 'turtles' awoke him, always 'over-corrected' and lucky to survive, never uses cruise control B/C as sleep induced monotony occurs, foot relaxes off throttle & vehicle slows, avoiding 'fatal' overcorrection and rollover. Oh yeah, uses seatbelt.

P.S. This is not the kind of "driving tips/techniques" I wanted to learn/share, but if I can save a life, then I will.