Advanced Driving Hub

Mine's getting its annual treatment this week.

GTR1400MAN wrote:Over salting is a big issue, but trying to get reasonable discussion with anyone from the councils is impossible. It's just thrown back at you that "you are just a pleb MOP and you don't understand'. I do know the roads are more slippery in the winter than they used to be. I do know they salt at the slightest hint of low temps. I do know they salt in the rain. I do know the hydroscopic qualities of salt keep the roads wet for longer than if they were not salted as much/often. I can find no studies of short periods of frost/ice compared with DAYS of wet slippery/slimy/silty roads. There is a fundamental difference to how things were 10-15 years ago, all the under mantra of 'duty of care' to keep the roads clear for everyone.

I believe it was Spock and Kirk who said:
'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one"

Hmmm, trying to think of any time I think I have pushed grip toward the limit. I suppose if I have perfect vision around a corner and it is 100% clear and conditions are decent, I might "for fun" try and take that corner a little quicker than otherwise I might to see how much grip there is, whilst aiming to keep on my side of the road. At the moment, the only place I have tried to push my pilot sport 4 hard, consistently, is the Nurburgring.

From the car point of view. In general I find with most cars exceeding the level of grip on a bend at a constant speed is relatively rare as vision usually restricts speed except in adverse conditions. Where I find it quite easy to exceed grip (in any condition) is accelerating through or out of a bend or accelerating from 30mph Into a NSL. To avoid this on each occasion I consciously consider road conditions, current speed, rpm, vehicle and tyres. Based on this I select a high enough gear that will avoid grip loss whilst introducing maximum throttle. Interestingly it often results in being one gear higher than others. Seems to work for me whatever type of car I’m driving.
Ps other benefits from this technique smoother, more car sympathy, often more pace from having one less gear change on the straight after a bend, better acceleration management and easier up shift if required.