Advanced driving course

[weetbix]

Anyone dont one of these?? Particaulary the Neal Bates one in Canberra???

Whats involved? Do you get much out of them???

Do you need a manual to do one?? I ask this as i only have an auto R31 exec.

CHEERS

[SKY031]

I think the idea of these courses is to find what your car is capable of... there's not much point if they give you a loaner car that has stuff all power, huge brakes, and is front wheel drive, because it wouldn't be representative of the majority of cars out there, and you still wouldn't know how your own car handles in the situations that are created as scenarios.

rs73 did a Jim Murcott driving course earlier this year, if you do a search for 'Advanced driving' you should be able to find it.

As for the Neal Bates one, I can't say I've heard of it, and I couldn't find anything about it on the net, so it makes me wonder how good it would be?

Surely if someone thought it was worthwhile it would have been mentioned somewhere...

You can get some info on the Murcott school here

Personally, I think it's a great idea, and everyone should have to complete some sort of advanced driver training (as well as basic first-aid) to be able to drive on the road.

Maybe you could get a few Canberrians together and organise to go as a group.. you may even get a group discount. :uh-huh:

Look into it a bit further....

......and don't knock the R31 auto!

[Silver-Arrowz]

Very recommended. Did course with Finlay and learned so much. Everyone thinks their good until they find out how to use the brakes and steering wheel.

If it's the defensive driving course then I think auto is fine. It's when you do the circuit racing course that manual is needed.

[aybee]

ive done the jim murcott defensive driving course and it was great to see how much you improve over the day.

BUT... if think that if i did that again right now i would be back at square one and would take the whole day to pick it up again. my point is that these skilla are only valuable if they are practiced all the time, like everything you do in life you cant just do it once and expect to do it again whenever you have that 1/4 of second to think about it. good for insurance purposes and keeping parents happy, but in the long run it doesnt make a difference to you driving skills.

peace out

[TSTG33R]

I did the Jim Murcott, I thought it was pretty good, and well, I guess most of it I would remember. It's like some things you learn just stick in your head, for some reason I also always remember what the speed of light in a Vacuum is..umm...anyway...

Not a Hard Core Driving course, but did teach me a bit about the car and made me feel a bit safer driving.

Paul

[rs73]

R31 Chick, I actually just did the level 2 of Murcott driving school, the whole day was just out on the track practice, instead of half half like in level 1. More fun, more speed and stuffs like slalom and wet cornering.

It's a very good idea for us who drive performance cars, gives you the idea of how dangerous things can get, and it could save your life by knowing your car's limit, when not to push it too far.

Too many ppl now end up wrapped around a tree, in a hospital or even in the morgue. This would not have been so bad if all drivers were required to take advance driving course as a compulsory step in obtaining their permits. But again, the authority prefers to use the tax money to buy more speed cameras to fine ppl so they can buy more speed cameras.

And oh, the course are not only for young drivers, some older guys (even older than me) also attend the course, sometimes even for a refreshing.... and older age also does not make you a better driver. It all comes down to each person's attitude towards driving.

Oh, and you don't need a manual to do the course. Auto are ok even for Motorsport Racing Course. They teach you to use auto gear properly for those ppl who still dunno/not sure when to shift down from D to 2 or 1. Believe me some ppl still dunno how to use auto gear properly as they only ever touch Park, Reverse and Drive their whole life and not even know what Neutral or Overdrive is for...

[Airzone]

Interesting... How much do they cost generally.. I've been wanting too do this sort of thing, but I can't find an area to practice in (and no, I don't do this sort of thing on the road).

[rs73]

It was $286 for level 1 and $275 for level 2. Don't come in cheap but if you're concern of safe driving, it's worth going on a course like that.

The motorsport cost $330 and only in VIC. But you need to do at least level 1 first. So prepare to spend at least close to $500 for any two courses above, and around $700-800 for all three.