Every driver would be safer behind the wheel if they had some drift tuition
Car control is a bit of a taboo subject, with too many non-enthusiasts assuming that learning over-the-limit driving is the preserve of yobs
Picture a car in a slide in your mind’s eye, opposite lock wound on, the driver steering out of the side window. I’d hazard to guess that the image you’re picturing is A) of a car fully in control and B) potentially one of our handy testers in a tasty bit of four-wheeled tackle. You might imagine that most incidences of oversteer on this planet are either a journalist trying to bag a cover shot or a drifter on a circuit having some fun or competing.
Many non-enthusiasts upon reading this might be shouting ‘what about the yobs driving illegally on the road?’. They exist, I’ll grant you. But there’s another, fourth, non-deliberate subset: those who are simply trying to get from A to B, in adverse conditions, faced with a car that’s not behaving how they want it to and the task of getting it back in shape and their journey completed without an awkward call to their insurance company.
I’ve been all of these options, in all of these situations (save for the third, officer). It was the last, as well as watching and reading my heroes do it for fun, that convinced me: I need to be able to do this, to develop this skillset. And I think any driver that wants to be as safe as possible behind the wheel ought to possess some level of aft-limit car control skill. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it should be part of the driving test.
It’s been almost a decade since the heart-in-mouth moment when my Vauxhall Monaro’s back axle tried to overtake the front on a sodden motorway. In an instant, I had to put into practice my very limited skills, that I only understood in theory and had only employed on simulators up to that point. I got away with it, but only just. In that time, I’ve taken every opportunity to elevate that skill level, the latest opportunity coming at Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands, where they have a skid pan and a range of AMG-powered machines with which to safely play at low speeds.
If you’re at a certain (but by no means lofty) skill level as I am, the experience is equal parts frustrating and illuminating. You amble onto the giant skid pan, the 604bhp AMG GT 63 Pro in its rear-wheel drive ‘drift’ mode and there’s almost zero grip – far less even than on the frozen lakes of Arjeplog in a stud-tyred prototype. Think black ice and you’re not far off. You won’t see more than 20mph as you round this circle and everything happens in extraordinary slow motion. But then that gives you time to think, time to listen to your instructor. If you kind of know what you’re doing, you’ll be bored for a bit, then you’ll start to learn. If you’ve no idea? This is an eye-opening experience.
Elliot Cole is an experienced drifter and racer. After wobbling around MB World’s skid pan with me, his next job was off at Goodwood, driving a Sauber Mercedes Group C car up the Hillclimb in a manner that’s both entertaining for the crowds and conducive to the C9’s continued state of functionality and assembly. I quickly get the gist of pitching the car sideways on the power and finding the right level of lock, to the point that I sort of start mentally twiddling my thumbs.
But then Elliot walks me through how quickly and precisely you can adjust the attitude of the car, with the power, with the steering and how broad the scope of adjustment is. We also talk at length about the remarkable phenomenon of the car tending to go where you’re looking. Look to the edge and your body will subconsciously guide the car in that direction. Look to the inside, and you’ll tighten your line. Look where you want to go and that’s where you’ll head.
Some others in our group head out onto the skid pan. They’re pirouetting backwards, using too much power, not applying the steering lock quick enough. Then as the laps go by, they start catching it, sustaining a slide, getting in tune with the car and the surface. I then think to myself, we’re all leaving this experience today having had a lot of fun and a good laugh yes, but also having learned or practiced some very important skills.
My mind wanders back to that moment in my old Monaro, what I wouldn’t have given to be able to respond more precisely and calmly to any unexpected behaviours. This isn’t a piece telling you how to control a car. Other more experienced evo team members would be better placed to write that and even then, there is no replacement for real world experience and practice.
Everyone should do drift or car control tuition. It doesn’t matter whether it’s at Mercedes-Benz World, with our good friend Paul Ripley, or some other sort of experience day. Just put yourself in the situation – in a safe and controlled way, with supervision – and develop your skills. Ignoring the fun side, it’s a universally useful thing for drivers to know: whether it’s an enthusiast catching an unexpected slide and not pitching their pride and joy into the wall on track, or a disinterested average motorist avoiding an accident on a treacherous winter’s commute.
