40 replies to this topic

[jonkelly]

Hi I bought my dream VX220 a matter of weeks ago, admittedly it was a jump from my previous car to the vx220. Due to the incredibly heavy weather a few weeks ago and no doubt lack of experience the car aquaplaned (whilst driving 20mpp below the speed limit..) It has been given a catD write off... i am desperate to get my dream car back! but i now have some fear around it.. since the crash i have taken my self down to a skid pan in Swindon where i learnt A LOT about controlling skids and breaking distances etc.. but unfortunately this was all done in a ford mondeo (so not a great comparison) I have learnt that there wasn't much i could have done to stop the accident, even the police at the time said i was just unlucky about the placement of the lamppost. Hopefully ill get my claim money back soon and ill be able to replace my dream car! But i do now have a slight fear of driving in the wet and i know how twitchy the VX220 can be... so basically im looking for advice! i wont have access to any other cars the VX was/will be my day to day car, so it will need to go out in the rain sometimes... Does anyone know of any where i can go to learn more about the car (that isnt a million miles from guilford..) i have considered lotus "experience days" but will i really get much out of 4 laps around a track?? i dont know.. please tell me!! If you where looking for some great avdice and the possibility to leanr how to drive your vx better where would you go?? what would you do?? Any advice would be great because i really don't want to destroy my next one, i worked too hard to buy that one!!

[mandarinvx]

Sorry to hear about the fast exit from the VX world, they really can bite when the weather turns Walshy days are considered the best - you can go for 2 or 4 person versions - and not all that far from you Pleanty on the market to choose from at the moment

[XXX]

Plans Motorsport is your nearest VX tuition establishment.........<<clicky>>

[Garry.L]

At least you are brave enough to admit it was your lack of experiance that caused the accident and you are willing to learn from the episode To many people in the same situation blame the car, the tyres, the roads, other drivers etc, etc, etc...

Edited by Garry.L, 05 October 2008 - 07:23 PM.

[Toady]

I cant say that I feel mines twitchy?? get yourself to an airfield trackday to learn how the car and your abilities work! best way I've found to learn things! It also makes you realise how fast you SHOULDNT drive on the road imo! ;-)

[LazyDonkey]

I cant say that I feel mines twitchy??

You'll find that with driver training you'll realise it was probably less than smooth inputs that lead to the car feeling like that.

[southpaw]

I cant say that I feel mines twitchy?? get yourself to an airfield trackday to learn how the car and your abilities work! best way I've found to learn things! It also makes you realise how fast you SHOULDNT drive on the road imo! ;-)

Prodrive have 2 skid pan areas, that taught me a lot about wet handling.

Based near warwick.

[chris_uk]

I wouldnt call myself an expert driver but even when its been really wet weather ive found the car quite stable, now whether this was due to decent tread on the tyres, me avoiding standing water where i can im not sure.. but i think that aswell as your day out get some reading done about how aquaplaning actually works and starts.. if you know what it takes to make it happen you will know how best to avoid it..

[jonkelly]

Cheers Guys I'm really not 100% sure how it happened i think it was a lot to do with a completely freak accident that could have happened in any car... BUT just in case that's not the reason i think ill take my self down to the top gear track (plans motorsport) and have some real expert advice and 1-on-1 lessons for a few hours!

[cheeky_chops]

dont be too hard on yourself - a guy called geofflowe was in heavy rain and it just went on the straight (048 tyres couldnt of helped). He had alot of experience rally driving. Sometimes your just a passenger.....

[simonlpearce]

If its any conselation i had a very similar experience yesterday morning on the M40. I was on my way back from dropping the old man at Gatwick in his Audi A6 which is a suitably heavy motorway muncher. Had the auto pilot set to cough "85"cough (it was 5 in the morning and wasnt raining when i left london). Anyway long story short i hit an aquaplane not far from Brum and next thing i know my heart has jumped out my chest and the car is sideways! Luckily for me i reacted fairly quick and as i came out the other side of the aquaplane the car corrected itself. I understand how it happens though, can easily catch you off guard and there is very little you can do.

[Stuey]

It's refreshing to hear someone willing to admit their own shortcomings when it comes to driving these cars. As others have said, standing water, or fcuk off big puddles as I like to call them, can lead to the odd brown trouser moment but rain and wet roads in general do very little to upset the car (as demonstrated to me on a carlimits day in torrential rain). It all comes down to the driver and you're doing exactly the right thing asking about driver training... improving your ability (and in turn your confidence post accident) is the best mod money can buy

[dw1]

It's refreshing to hear someone willing to admit their own shortcomings when it comes to driving these cars. As others have said, standing water, or fcuk off big puddles as I like to call them, can lead to the odd brown trouser moment but rain and wet roads in general do very little to upset the car (as demonstrated to me on a carlimits day in torrential rain). It all comes down to the driver and you're doing exactly the right thing asking about driver training... improving your ability (and in turn your confidence post accident) is the best mod money can buy

Good on you for taking responsibility for your actions, you'll be a better driver for it and probably already are. Value for money and the amount you learn, a Walshy day would be the best, preferably in the rain. After that airfield days are also good as there is very little to hit - you could book last minute ones if you know its going to rain, that will give you practice and restore your confidence.

Wet roads driven sensibly are fine, its standing water that is the big one. If its absolutely torrential rain, then I try to avoid motorways because I find anything over 50mph makes the car go very light when hitting puddles, this is made worse by the fact you tend to be in the slow lane which has lorry grooves so even more standing water.

I'm no expert but once you aquaplane, you're a passenger so the best thing to do is absolutely nothing at all, zero inputs (apart from the tiniest easing of the throttle) until you come out the other side (that bits down to luck as to where you pop out) and then once you have grip back see what corrective inputs you need. I expect the reason for a lot of aquaplane accidents is that the driver reacts whilst the car is still aquaplaning which means that when the car suddenly goes from zero grip to much greater, the steering wheel is pointed in a different direction which had no effect whilst aquaplaning but has an immediate effect afterwards and spears the car in a wild direction.

Normal rain and its absolutely fine, torrential rain just drive very slowly. I've been on nearly bald A048s on Bedford with standing water and the car was surprisingly grippy and you could push on. I did find myself easing off before the large deeper puddles due to a few interesting twitches.

Good luck in getting your replacement

Edited by dw1, 06 October 2008 - 10:50 AM.

[MaDFreeBiRD]

I am in total agreement with you on that one dw1 torrential rain is horrible for drving in and standing water definately makes for interesting drving had some "fun" (really not) on saturday eve on the way to and from smith and western

[Mr_M]

Very sorry to hear about your accident - but as others have said above - admitting that you (may have) made a mistake and looking to learn from it is hugely to your credit and bodes very well for your future VX ownership

i have considered lotus "experience days" but will i really get much out of 4 laps around a track?? i dont know.. please tell me!!

Steer clear of 'experience days' - you'll learn (less than) naff all.

Much, much better as others have said to spend a little more money and get some recognised driver training. Who you go with and what sort of training depends very very much on what you want to get out of it. It may sound abvious, but sit and think what you really want to learn - make a list if it helps and then phone and speak to a few training providers and talk through what you want / what they can offer.

As others have said, Walshy's Car Limits courses are very highly regarded. Likewise, Pro-Drive also get a good write up. Lotus also offer traing at Hethel with their own instructors which can often be subtly tailored to individual requirements. If you look in the back of any Evo (and probabaly other car mags too) you'll see plenty of advertisments from other specialist instructors (e.g. Mark Hales / Don Palmer, Cadence, john Lyon etc etc). If you're with one of the more 'specialist' or 'performance car' insurers then it can be very enlightening to speak to them and ask which courses they'll give a discount for if you've completed.

HTH

[jonkelly]

thanks guys this is all really helpful! my mission is just not to lose my dream again! i had her for such a short amount of time!! looking into locations etc the options i think i will go with are, Car Limits in Essex or plans Motor sport Guildford. Im not looking to learn track day skills as thats not what im looking to do with the car just really good Real World experience. Has anyone been to either of these facilities?? what do you think?? The other thing is, im hoping to go before i buy another one (still waiting for the insurance!) i know car limits allow you to hire a lotus, anyone know if plans motor sports offer the same? admittedly a phone call could solve this but i thought some feedback from you guys if you have tired either of there services would be great! Cheer!

[LazyDonkey]

thanks guys this is all really helpful! my mission is just not to lose my dream again! i had her for such a short amount of time!!

looking into locations etc the options i think i will go with are, Car Limits in Essex or plans Motor sport Guildford. Im not looking to learn track day skills as thats not what im looking to do with the car just really good Real World experience. Has anyone been to either of these facilities?? what do you think??

The other thing is, im hoping to go before i buy another one (still waiting for the insurance!) i know car limits allow you to hire a lotus, anyone know if plans motor sports offer the same? admittedly a phone call could solve this but i thought some feedback from you guys if you have tired either of there services would be great!

Cheer!

IIRC you can hire an elise from carlimits.

Also walshy doens't teach you how to drive round a track on the ragged edge - he teaches you the basics of car control first.

[johnyt]

thanks guys this is all really helpful! my mission is just not to lose my dream again! i had her for such a short amount of time!!

looking into locations etc the options i think i will go with are, Car Limits in Essex or plans Motor sport Guildford. Im not looking to learn track day skills as thats not what im looking to do with the car just really good Real World experience. Has anyone been to either of these facilities?? what do you think??

The other thing is, im hoping to go before i buy another one (still waiting for the insurance!) i know car limits allow you to hire a lotus, anyone know if plans motor sports offer the same? admittedly a phone call could solve this but i thought some feedback from you guys if you have tired either of there services would be great!

Cheer!

IIRC you can hire an elise from carlimits.

Also walshy doens't teach you how to drive round a track on the ragged edge - he teaches you the basics of car control first.

Walshy does a good day. You learn a few bits and pieces on understeer, oversteer and braking around corners. Biggest thing I learnt was to be very delicate with steering inputs on a VX on a trailing throttle when going round a bend.

What tyres was the black one running. Glad you were okay mate.

[jonkelly]

u know what i have no idea what the tyres where?? i just made a point to check the tread and i knew they where 3 months old..

Edited by jonkelly, 06 October 2008 - 01:33 PM.

[jtatum]

do you have the contact / web address for Walshy's Car Limits courses? Wouldn't mind giving this a go.