SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.

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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.

Manufacturer-supported advanced driving courses: road and track - BMW

We got in touch with our adventurous side during a BMW High Performance Driving course at the old Roy Hesketh circuit recently.

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Forget logic; just do what I show you

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday April 6, 2011

"Don't do what logic tells you," grinned Christo Evangelo, a coach with the BMW Driver Training programme, "do what your instructor shows you." He then proceeded to show participants at a High Performance Driving course held in Pietermaritzburg recently, just what he meant. Understeer and oversteer are situations we commonly find ourselves in when we try to be heroes but run out of talent. That's his polite way of saying that cars do not cause collisions - people do. 

By means of graphics in the hour-long classroom presentation that goes before the practical training session, he showed delegates the technicalities of what happens and the ways in which we make the situation worse. He then explained how a modern car's on board electronic safety systems help set things right. Further hints, tips and commonsense included this pearl: "Stability programs and traction control are not there to help you go faster. They are there to assist you when you get yourself in trouble."

For those ready to put ego aside, this is just one of various courses designed to help ordinary people either avoid everyday driving hazards or be prepared to handle them when they present themselves. Think collision avoidance and skid control, defensive driving or hijack prevention; all are about being informed and prepared, being aware of what is going on around you, anticipating the other driver's actions, exercising good judgement and being just plain courteous.

High performance driver training helps people drive more smoothly, get where they are going unflustered, work together with their cars' in-built systems to gain full advantage of the technology they pay for and to simply enjoy driving again. It incorporates many of the basics included in other courses, like looking ahead and being aware, not provoking erratic car behaviour and being polite.

After the presentation, students were split into groups of two or three, with a dedicated instructor, to share one of the school's high-performance cars. These include 330i, M3 and X5M models. Every effort is made to place each student in a car closest to the BMW he or she owns as daily transport. This doesn't mean that non-BMW owners are excluded. Any licensed driver can attend, in which case you would be placed in a 330i as we were, sharing with a petrol station owner from Kloof whose daily wheels are a Land Rover Discovery3.

Lesson one entails sitting comfortably, being in the best position to react quickly and decisively and applying certain commonsense rules. These include holding the steering wheel correctly at nine and three, being able to reach its topmost point without leaning forward and retaining flexibility in one's left knee when the clutch pedal is all the way in. This not only guarantees enough leverage to stomp hard on the brake pedal when necessary, but can prevent broken bones should the unthinkable happen.

This is followed by a familiarisation drive with the instructor at the wheel. Then come three sessions of practical laps for each student, interspersed with a demonstration of just how long it takes a skilled driver in an immaculately maintained car to stop from 60, 120 and 160 km/h. This is an education in itself and should be part of every driver's basic training. If nothing else, it might discourage hotheads from driving insanely fast in inappropriate circumstances ever again.

Each instructor rounds off the training with a practical demonstration of how it should be done. "Forget logic, just do what I show you," is sometimes the hardest advice to follow. This is because we all have ingrained survival reflexes that sometimes work against us. If you can overcome these and do as you are shown, you will be a quicker, smoother and more accomplished driver. You will also discover the quickest way around the track, blowing off some steam in the process and that can't be bad. You might even find you're good enough to justify some of that inflated drivers' ego you have been carrying around for years.

Running six days a week at Zwartkops Raceway near Pretoria where all four courses are presented, the school visits Cape Town, East London and Pietermaritzburg twice yearly for about a week at a time. Its next visit is tentatively scheduled for October or November 2011. For details, prices and contact information visit the school's website at: www.bmwdrivertraining.co.za

 Instructor Christo Evangelo makes a point during a trackside presentationAn instructor demonstrates a 60-km/h panic stop

 Veteran instructor Lucas Monyanyedi (front) discusses tyre wear after just one training session, with student Michael Johnson

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax. 

So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

Comments?

Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.