Tips, tricks, techniques to improve driving?
 

What is some good advice to improve one's driving? This forum seems a little slow, and I wouldn't mind learning a few new things as I wait for more news on the FT86.

Depends on what you define as "improving"

Are you trying to be a lime driver and have the smoothest ride?

Or are you trying to race around every corner?

For me, I'd say push your car to its limits, find out what they are, and then when the time comes you will be prepared since you know what those limits are, instead of one of those people that drives 40 MPH on the highway in the rain because they don't know their own vehicle and are afraid of it.

Pin it to win it

+1

Teaches you how your car works.

Mmm I think either type of driving still requires certain skills and techniques no? But that's true, testing the limits of the vehicle is definitely important.

What made me "improve" was focusing on my cars grip and where the limits are in traction. When i started to understand where my cars grip was, i was already confident higher speeds.

I think another "improvement" you can do for your driving skill is making your ride smooth. Focus on making your braking and acceleration smoother, which could help you find how your car shifts its weight. Eventually when you understand how your car rotates you can get more aggressive with braking and the accel.

basically...just learn to understand your car and its characteristics and temperment during motion..when you get that down you pretty much have learned the basics of the basics.

learn your grip limits, know the roads your driving on, and for some real fun... find the powerband and abuse the crap out of it :P

heres a tip, turn off the radio when driving, you'll feel in touch with the road

Going back to the basics are important too, imo. Steer w two hands. Re-practice clutch in & out. Gas & brake pedal levels. Stop & go on up hill. Parallel park & reverse parking. Lists are unlimited.

I know some of the stuff are lame or pointless, but it doesn't hurt to go back & improve again.

This helps keep the wife quiet in the passenger seat too. :thumbup:

Well I'll take a different direction to this one because all of my driving is done on streets and not closed courses.

Driving attention is probably the one thing that can't be over emphasized. Chances of accidents can be minimized if you're paying attention to the road users around you, as well as intersections and traffic lights.

Communicate. Know the appropriate times when the horn and high-beams can and should be used to give the right of way, or notify the other driver of potential accidents that may occur due their driving. Always use your turn signals.

Be Courteous. It goes along way in minimizing stress.

Relax and Take Your Time. People do stupid things in vehicles, try not to let it get to you. People will run red-lights, make sure they are stopping before making that turn in front of them.

I drive a little but differently then most people. I try to go the fastest I can go, while getting the best mpg I can get with the way I drive. My car is rated to get 27mpg highway, and I manage to get at least 31 mpg city/highway combined on average- and as much as 33mpg with my automatic transmission. How do I do it?

I don't exceed 3000 rpm when I accelerate, and once I hit 3000 rpm & the transmission shifts, I ease the gas pedal slightly so I'm at around 1500 rpm, then I build more pressure on the gas on the next gear and I repeat this until I reach my desired speed. I also add more gas going downhill and ease up on the gas while going up once I reach the top of the hill. From my experiences, going 55 on the highway doesn't save gas- the faster you go (and the less you brake) the better mileage you will get- assuming you stay at a constant speed. I've cruised at 85 mph and have achieved 31 mpg, and it was mostly because I was holding a constant rpm/speed. The more you change gears and accelerate/brake on the highway, the worse mpg you will get.

Note that every car is different, so my techniques won't apply to all cars (like CVTs). You can't drive all cars like you stole it, unless you're willing to cough up the maintenance. I have a steady 192K miles on my car, so in my mind, I feel as if I mastered it's efficiency.

iff2mastamatt's strategy is what I do as well, since on an auto it coaxes the upshift and doesn't make it shift down again. Under acceleration you want to use most (usually 80%ish) of the engine's torque for most cars since it reduces losses through the throttle (if you have a BMW or G37 or a European Toyota with Valvematic you'd want to press the gas down enough that you'd be just filling the cylinders with enough air/fuel so it expands to atmospheric pressure, which I think would occur at 50-60% max torque or so). Unfortunately on an auto this isn't really possible without having it downshift and try to rev super high, so you try your best to mess with the programming with your foot.

Improve your comfort with the car. It makes it a lot easier to pay attention to everything else. Once you're comfortable, safely play with the limits - traction, braking, steering, acceleration. If you're familiar with the limits, brush up on how your specific car responds to weight transfer, and make adjustments based on that. I'm not sure what's after that, I'm still playing with weight transfer.