The Course takes place entirely on Steering Pads and Paddocks. With a series of exercises, performed in a safe environment, you learn to control the car in every situation of poor grip.
By knowing the car's reactions, you will be able to face every unforeseen event on the road.
The day on the track is not included, but it can be done at a later time.
Duration: Half day - One day - Two days
Location: Specially equipped Steering Pads at the Monza racetrack or at the main Italian and European Racetracks.
Daily schedule: from 8 AM to 6 PM approximately, including the theory lesson.
Group Composition: 8-10 students with 1-2 Instructors + 1 track assistant + 1 group assistant.
Cars available for each group: 1 VOLVO T5 front-wheel drive, 1 VOLVO T5 all-wheel drive.
Option: 1 NISSAN 350Z
PROGRAM
Theory - Reasoning around the car
Driving position: correct positioning of the seat and steering wheel. Correct grip of the steering wheel and related movement in curves. Importance of these movements in active driving safety. Influence of the driving position on passive safety. Why seat belts must absolutely be fastened. Analysis of the forces gravitating around the car. Acceleration and braking. Rectilinear motion, curves, and centrifugal force. Concept of friction and grip.
Analysis of tire behavior on the road surface. Importance of road surface conformation and tire type. We talk about "little hands" and "little pyramids". Emergency braking on dry and wet roads, with and without ABS. Dodging a sudden obstacle, in the same situations. Understeer and oversteer.
Axle directionality on front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and 4x4 cars. Kamm circle and grip oval. Dynamic weight variation and dynamic variations of grip ovals. Longitudinal and transverse load transfer. Car reaction in curves and management of emergency situations both in straights and in curves. How to prevent and react to hydroplaning.
EXERCISES ON EQUIPPED PADS
Safe Driving 1 day
It starts with some elementary exercises: slow slalom to automate hand position on the steering wheel, then precision wheel alignment. Then the "lively" exercises on the wet pad begin.
Taking advantage of differentiated section tires and using inflation pressures absolutely unfeasible in normal driving, the "movement" begins.
We start with understeer exercises, to understand how important directionality is and how negative drift is. Then the Powerslide, a power skid where you learn to control the rear end.
One of the fundamental exercises is the Skid Car: we do the "Angel's flight"; in a straight line, at low speed, we have the opportunity to correct the car while it travels a long stretch in an almost continuous skid. Many emergency brakings are done: how to avoid sudden obstacles, braking with and without the help of ABS, at speeds varying from 60 to 100 km/h.
Of course, to complicate things a bit more for you, everything is also done on wet asphalt!
...Driving in reverse looking only in the rearview mirrors... seems easy! We also try this exercise, moreover with a stopwatch.
We deepen the concept of understeer by doing a long repeated "figure eight": to better understand the importance of fluid driving, we do it timed. Then we exploit what we have learned by driving through a hairpin bend, still on slippery asphalt in the manner of rally drivers.
Another very useful exercise is precision in curves, which in Monza we do on the legendary high-speed oval.
EXERCISES ON EQUIPPED PADS
Safe Driving 2 days
After learning the Powerslide on the first day, here is the brainteaser: the "donut" (tondo), that is, a complete lap of the slippery pad in continuous counter-steering in the manner of Scandinavian rally drivers. With the donut, in addition to having fun, you manage to exorcise a situation that is very dangerous on the road. Handbrake turns are done, in order to become more and more familiar with the car. A reflex speed test is performed, the Brakes On, and an "asymmetrical" braking with the two right wheels on a slippery surface: this is also a very common situation on the road, where you can find sand, leaves, or a painted part. Of course, it is also done without ABS. And, again, we simulate emergency braking at high speed on the highway. If in the Figure Eight it is essential to drive clean, in the "slap" (schiaffo) we do a maneuver like those seen in action movies. We continue with skids by doing the "pendulum" slalom, deliberately provoking the rear skid. Maneuvers like the pendulum and the slap are not done just for fun, but above all to acquire absolute control of the car, in every situation.
TRACK EXERCISES
They are not included in this Course, but we await you on another occasion... to experience new emotions!
