Training Day
Submitted by SharpMan Editorial Team on Friday 15th October 2010- Honing your skills with BMW Driver Training.
- Learning about driving technology.
- The stages of instruction.
In Europe, advanced driver training is a given; to gain the privilege of rocketing along the autobahn at unlimited speed requires focused study and hours of practice.
In North America, perhaps in part because of our relatively low speed limits, it’s relatively easy to become a licensed driver. As a result, the average driver knows little about accident avoidance, coping with poor driving conditions and the performance capabilities of a modern car.
Little wonder, then, that the car manufacturer responsible for the Ultimate Driving Machine has brought driver training methods over from Europe to help bring our commuters up to scratch.
The Basics
For nearly 25 years, BMW Driver Training has been shuffling drivers through its turnstiles, then spitting them back out more confident and more capable than ever before. Now that they’re offering their unique approach to teaching road manners to North Americans, how will the driving public respond?
For these answers and more, I recently attended the first training level of the school, confusingly called the Advanced Course.
As someone who’s been driving for quite some time and who has attended many race-driving schools, I questioned how much I would learn from a "safe-driving course." (In fact, much of my race driving over the years has been carefully calculated to erase the desire to drive safely from my persona.)
Still, this was a BMW-sanctioned school, so I knew to expect the best. And the best is just what I found.
The course begins with a classroom segment that covers the basic starting points: the optimum seating position, how to adjust rearview mirrors, where to look when driving in traffic. In this area, there wasn’t a lot of new learning for me.
But for many drivers, it provides the starting points for driving safely… before you even start the car. (For example, how many of you know that your side rearview mirrors should be adjusted so that you can not see any part of your own car?)
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Following the classroom segment, it was time to get behind the wheel and get adjusted. Students were paired up according to size with each student team commandeering their own BMW 330i sedan — pretty much the finest handling small sedan in the world. (For the more, uh, advanced courses, students get to use the "there-oughta-be-a-law-this-thing-is-so-much-fun" BMW M Coupe.)
Getting behind the wheel, properly. What will probably surprise you most when the instructors show you proper seating position is how close you are to the steering wheel. For those who love the classic cruising style (seat raked way back, one hand on the wheel), you’re out of luck here.
Why? In the early days of racing, drivers used to sit far from the steering wheel, their arms fully extended like forged pistons. But about 30 years ago, race drivers figured out that having your arms bent when you’re turning the wheel gives you far better leverage and control.
According to the folks at BMW Driver Training, for maximum car control at all times, your seat must be close enough so that your wrist drapes over the steering wheel when your shoulder is in contact with the seat and your arm is fully extended.
Keeping your eyes on the ball. With the seat and mirrors perfectly adjusted, it was time to tackle the hands-on part of the training.
First up, the instructors had everyone run through a slalom course set up with pylons. The idea here was to train drivers to look as far forward as possible. As the speeds increase, the only way to make it through without knocking over the orange markers was to look at the very last one and rely on your peripheral vision to clear the closer ones.
(Interesting sidebar: By affixing walkie-talkies inside all the cars, the instructors are able to stand outside and watch the driver’s progress then relay messages in real time. This is a great aspect of the BMW Driving Training system and something I hadn’t encountered before.)
Dynamic Stability Control. Following the slalom, students hit the skid pad traction circle. Here, again, pylons are used, but this time, they form a circle on the tarmac. Then, with the aid of a water truck, the pavement is drenched. This exercise is designed to familiarize the driver with the capabilities of the BMW’s traction control system, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC).
On all BMWs, the DSC can be turned off with the flick of a switch. The watered down traction circle demonstrates — clearly — how this electronic driver aid works. When switched off, as the drivers try to stay as close to the outer perimeter created by the pylons, the 330 slides and swivels all over the place. With DSC in action, though, all sliding is electronically controlled at a moment’s notice and the BMW hangs on for dear life.
Braking 101. With the traction circle negotiated, the next exercise demonstrates — again, with abundant clarity — the difference between normal braking systems and those aided by anti-lock technology. Again, a wet surface is the proving ground. Drivers are encouraged to hustle along the damp course at 40 mph, then hammer on the brakes.
The first run is with the anti-lock braking (ABS) engaged; the second run is with the system disengaged (through the use of a special switch not found in road cars). The braking distances are then measured and comparisons are made.
Inevitably, on a wet surface, the BMW with ABS stops in about a third of the distance as the BMW without ABS. Once again, this is strong evidence that the high-tech wizardry found in many mid-level cars and higher is worth the price of admission.
The real test. Now, I have to confess something. Up until this point in the day, I still hadn’t learned much. You see, I’d run the slalom course, the traction circle and the braking exercises before. I was the proverbial know-it-all… but the next exercise would be a real eye-opener.
The gauntlet, as I branded it, consisted of driving down a narrow corridor of pylons that then split into a fork — and two more narrow corridors of pylons. On either side of the fork stood an instructor with a red flag. As the drivers approached the fork at ever increasing speeds, one of the instructors would wait until the last second before raising his flag. That was the signal for the driver to choose the opposite "tine" in the road.
This is a lot more difficult than it sounds, mainly because the instructors really do wait until the last second to signal which way to go. Throughout this exercise — designed to make you use your peripheral vision and to focus on avoiding accidents — pylons were getting knocked every which way but loose. And I was no exception.
(If you see a red flag in your field of vision, you tend to look right at it. And if you look right at it, you tend to steer right towards it. Now, replace that red flag with a car stopped in the middle of your intended destination and you get the picture.) After completely blowing it on the first two, lower-speed runs, I focused like never before and nailed it on the final, high-speed run.
Getting your timing down. To close out the day’s activities, the instructors organized a relay race that incorporated the slalom, the traction circle, the braking exercise and the accident avoidance exercise. And this time, they timed all the students.
The idea was for the pair of drivers to complete the exercise as close to each other’s time as possible. Being an ego-fuelled maniac, I pushed it through the course and hoped my partner would be able to match my pace. No such luck. I emerged with the fastest time of all the students, but my partner muffed one of the sections and finished many seconds behind me. So, no prizes… but huge ego intact.
Still, outright speed wasn’t the point. Rather, it was to learn how to operate behind the wheel in a safe and competent manner. As such, it was mission accomplished and much more.
BMW Driver Training is open to anyone 18 years or older who holds a valid driver’s license. The Advanced Course is a full-day, catered affair with a class size limited to 20 drivers. For information on rates, locations and schedules, visit www.bmwdrivertraining.com.
This article last updated on Friday 15th October 2010