silvermax2k2

iTrader: (1)

Just curious. We all focus our time any money on upgrading the car, but how good of a driver do you think you are? If you get in a situation where you start to fishtail heavily, do you think you could regain control? If you encounter an emergency situation when impact is eminent, what do you do? Do you just slam on the brakes and hope you don't crash, or do you look for ways out such as changing lanes, or down shifting to try and stop faster, or even hop a curb to avoid hitting some one?

Many times we spend all this money on our cars to make them better, but we don't use our best judgment when driving. I.E. racing on the streets. If you lose control, are you good enough to get it back? I just figured I would make an interesting post for a change.

Metal Maxima

iTrader: (30)

No speeding tickets, no accidents...EVER (knock on wood)

So I must be doing something right!

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

If you race on the streets you deserve something bad to happen to you.
I've neven gotten any movin violation tickets, I drive like an old woman 90% of the time so what did you expect. Been in 2 accidents, neither were my fault, one I got T-boned and one rear ended. Most accidents are unavoidable as drivers around here are pathetic. Like I said before, throw a traffic circle or anything like that into and intersection and all hell brakes loose. Example, there were 5 cars in my lane stopping at a traffic circle, and one car on our right trying to make a left turn onto the street I was on. Instead of going around to the right of the circle and then back around to the left, she waited til all the five cars from my lane went by, before she just omitted the circle altogether and just turned left. It's pathetic that probably 90% of peaople on the road don't know how to use them, I bet even bigger % of people on the ORG don't know how to use them.

Mystery

I drive good for 95% of the time. Only 1 speeding ticket and that was a week after getting the car. I do drive fast sometimes but only when conditions are pending. I'll be an old women in the snow and rain. No street racing for me. I do have road rage tho some of the time, and before anger management it was worse. But now my only crime is speeding, and i tend to tailgate, not even on purpose, but i'm trying to break that.

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

Road Atlanta 2-Day High Performance Driving School in 1996

Definitely a big help to my skills behind the wheel. I recommend everyone get some professional instruction.

As for speeding tickets or what have you, knowing and obeying traffic rules is about .0001% of what it means to be a "good driver." Being a good driver is all about decision making and car control.

silvermax2k2

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I want to do that as well. I just need to find a place like that around my area. I really want to get up to the track this spring too. How much did that 2-day course set you back?

Terran

iTrader: (6)

I'm alright...no accidents (most likely because most of my driving doesn't have many cars around), several speeding tickets (probably largely for the same reason...I now try very hard not to speed unless I've got somebody a little ways ahead).

I'm the king of parking after working at a dealership with a small lot and alot of cars.

What I really don't get is all these people saying how bad the maxima is in the snow...I've never really had a problem.

2 Da Max

iTrader: (2)

im ok most of the time i just cruise, but i could get a little wreckless if i dont get my way

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

I hate you

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

If I recall correctly, I think it was about $1300.

Scope

iTrader: (5)

two years driving and I haven't even touched another car's bumper. I am a speeder 10 mph over all the time. Never even one ticket. I do some reckless things but never came close to becoming an accident. Parking is too easy and so is driving.

RacertilTheEnd

I have never gotten a ticket, and the only accident I got in was when I wasn't speeding, so needless to say, I gun it usually. I think I am a pretty good driver though, good enough to not get a ticket and drive a good 15-30 mph over the speed limit. I guess I'm just lucky. On top of, I make it a habit to know where police hide and when they are on the road.

silvermax2k2

iTrader: (1)

ouch... why on earth was it that much? did you use your own car or their car? was it worth the money? $1300 is a lot for driving lessons... espeacialy if a person does not learn much from it. (not true in your case, but maybe for others)

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

$1300 for 16 hours of instruction by professional race drivers in THEIR cars isn't bad. It's only $81.25 per hour, including a lunch

Back then we drove 300ZXs (Z32) and 240SXs (S13 and S14).

And trust me, if you've never had formal driving training (driver's ed in school does NOT count), you WILL learn. No matter how much you think you might know. There's so much more to life than "turn into the skid."

Zero Deuce SE

But you're so young. I got my first speeding ticket at 46 years old. An accident can find you at any given moment.

Taken2DaMax

iTrader: (5)

I would consider myself an above average driver. I've only been in to accidents both other party's fault. Plus I've gotten myself out of a few near accident before.

SE01

Considering I took many many hours of driving at the academy for my job, I think I have it down.

Bluesbrekr

iTrader: (4)

Just over 1,000,000 miles of truck driving (with no accidents) taught me how to drive very well.

MAX2000JP

I would consider myself better than average, but I am not the fastest on the track. I open tracked my car a couple of times and did a shifter kart class at Bondurant. The last time I went out to the track I took my moms 330i and was 10 seconds faster per lap than my brother. It was his first time though, so it wasn't a huge accomplishment. I want to do the 4 day Grand Prix course at Bondurant, but don't have the cash. You learn a lot about how your car responds to various inputs on the track.

maxspeed96CT

iTrader: (9)

Ive read in some magazine that 90% of people think they are a better than average driver.

Im one of them but i do some dumb **** once in a while, like 100+ runs and barking second gear for no reason....

Daily Driver2k2

Driving without any accidents or not getting any speeding tickets doesn't make you a good driver, it just meens your a cautious one....

Good driver to me is one that can contol his car and push it to the limit! Hit corners at insane speeds, knowing how to shift properly, knowing the proper shift points in his car, contoling his car when it gets squirly.

Bottom line, having complete contol and driving the car, not letting the car drive you!

Learned from the best ... two guys who raced formula fords that work here at my job! Had the most difficult time understanding how to drive my 89 turbo Z fast, kept spinning out in it. They taught me the dynamics of early braking, gasing out of a turn and maintaing speed through a turn with a rear wheel drive car, never letting off because it can be disatrous as i always found out before i learned what to do. They had a saying ," Gas will save your ***" when going fast on turns. Never letting fully off the accelerator..and certainly never over throttiling it either...both causing the rear end to come back to smack ya in the face!

They taught me things where i had confidence in driving a rear wheel drive car again, where before i was scared to push my Z to the limit and that is crappy feeling not being able to push your car hard on turns, just strait aways..

From there i went to a more powerful rwd car a ttz, but the skills applied to that car to...

I highly recomend everybody spending a few bucks and learning, i was affortunate to have some very cool work mates who spent a Saturday afternoon with me in a empty parking lot teaching me the basics.

MAX2000JP

My friend whom is a pro driver told me the same thing basically....His saying is "When in doubt, gas it". That might not apply to a normal driver because he has insane car control. I took a 45 min ride with him at Bondurant in the rain during a private instruction. He was driving the "Cobra Vic" faster than my friends dad(whom is a real experienced driver) in an 01 Modded Cobra. Most of the time he was talking to me telling me exactly how the car would react and what he is going to do. He does a lot of pointing, so one hand was on the wheel most times. It was insane to see the amount of control he had of that land boat in the wet.

silvermax2k2

iTrader: (1)

I agree 100%. My mom was never involved in an accident either, but she can't drive for crap. she is very uneven with the gas, and brake. can't take turns smoothly, brakes a mile before a car comes to her car, and only goes out when she absolutly needs to. she had a car for 5 years, and only put just over 25k miles on it. when I was younger I used to get so annoyed at her when she use to take me to places... i couldn't stand her driving. if she were to panic in a situation, she wouldn't know what to do to avoid an accident, or control her car.

a car is suppose to be an extension of you. you need to feel out the car, know what the limits are, and what you car is doing at that very moment, and react accordingly. as for the manual tranny people, once again, your right hand, and your left foot are no longer two seperate limbs. they are one, achiving the same goal. atleast thats how i feel.

ChrisCheezer

im not saying his wrong or anything, but i hung out with a buch on guys who drift on public roads" and they always say "when in doubt, all out" its from some drift movie, thoes guys are nuts...

am i a good driver?... i doubt it, i have respect for the road and the people on it, but when i see turns... i see the racing line.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

That saying is good for RWD cars in curves.

MAX2000JP

It's good in all cars, depending on where the weight is transfered.

BigLou93SE

iTrader: (10)

Am I a good driver? Sh.t, I don't really know. I'm aware of what's around me, I've only had one ticket, and haven't had an accident (in an area where the accident rate of teens is very high). I do some things that are bad for my car, but not very often. I can probably say that I hold my own.

MAX2000JP

On a side not, I don't think tickets or accidents matter (unless its ur fault). I have gotten a bunch of tickets for speeding, but that doesn't make me a bad driver; I am always in a hurry. I have never been in an accident. If you cause an accident, you are the 99% to blame. There is a small percentage of mechanical failures that cause accidents, but its primarily human error to blame.

Daily Driver2k2

Very true, because even in the max, if your really flying fast in a turn and the car starts to tilt i know many people would just let off,WRONG thing to do!!!!!!
Your back end will come out and you will spin out or if you give it to much you will snow plow into the other lane from massive understeer and i am not talking about doing 50 mph on a 45 mph turn i am talking really hauling *** like 85mph on a 45 mph turn were this comes into play, like a long sweeping turn were you and the car are tilting in the opposite direction . The proper thing to do is to modulate your gas almost feathering it through the corner, keeping the forward motion. Alot of people don't know that , as i was instructed, let a rwd car push you through and let a fwd car pull you through but never let off!!!!

MAX2000JP

Yep, the dreaded mid corner lift. A lot of racing has to do with how you manage the weight over the front/rear axles. You can also make the car rotate by "trail braking", which in simple terms is braking while turning to make the car rotate. The way my Maxima was setup I had to trail brake to get the car to rotate or it would plow thru the corner. You guys should read Skip Barber's book "Going Faster"; it's available at Barnes and Noble. Great read for those whom are beginners and want to learn about vehicle dynamics.

Blackwind

iTrader: (9)

i can parralell park a 65 passenger bus without a ground guide. U.S. Army taught me that trick!!!

|Bijan|

iTrader: (12)

.......yea you're the one to talk.....

illmortal

Hm... when I had a Corolla I was a good driver as far as speeding/racing and being able to swing in and out of lanes.. soo as long as the car has good handling I'm a good driver... law wise I have been good for a lil over a year now
When I had my Corolla I had 19 tickets within 5 years

JSutter

iTrader: (46)

on a scale of (poor) 1-10 (outstanding) probably a 4...

99se5spd

i think this story best describes it...in the 'ol prelude (1988 si) taking a rather spirited turn on slightly wet pavement while me and my girlfriend are in the middle of the conversation the bald rear tires decided to break loose, counter steer, work the throttle and on we go, the funny thing is that our conversation never stopped. when i get a car my goal is to know every aspect of its handling, i HAVE to know every rpm at every speed in every gear,i could never drive a car i could not heel and toe in (the max is sort of difficult but i got it figured out pretty good) i get really mad at myself most of the time if i cant perfectly rev match a downshift. ive had my max for about a year now and i can say that i am not comfortable at this point pushing it to its limits, and am only 60-70% comfortable with my abilities to control it in a severe panic situation/loss of control.

dawalkster

iTrader: (1)

i really like this thread. i know alot of my friends (16 year olds) that think they are invincible behind the wheel, when i know that they really dont know s$%^. for me, like someone else said, my max is an extension of my body. alot of my friends drive with their seat back gangster style and just lean back looking retarded while doing so. i think thats crap, my seat is close enough to the wheel and adjusted just for me so that i get the most control out of my car. also ive beat up pretty hard my first set of tires on my max teaching myself how it handles in most situations in my neighborhood roads. i know i know, aggressive driving on neighborhood roads isnt very bright, but i never go out during times of the day that potentially could have kids playing in thus being in danger. but there is alot of good that can come out of driving in tight residential roads. for one it teaches you that you hafta be alert and aware of EVERYTHING that is going on around you. in a neighborhood things come at you so much faster and you have to be ready for anything. also there are some roads around my house that are perfect tools to learn on. my favorite is a very sharp 15 mph left turn that has litterrally showed me what understeer is.

personally i dont consider any of this driving as reckless. i see it as aggressive driving under control. and how else are you going to learn how to react or drive in certain situations unless you actually are accustomed to them? you can talk about how your suppose to throw a baseball and the correct mechanics to pitching but when game time comes if you havent actually practiced throwing then all that talk really wont amount to much of anything.

MaximaPolak

iTrader: (9)

All my friends say I'm a good driver...

My boss (valet) recently told me I drive very well and he trusts me way more.

Lytheum

i think i am a good driver. for some reason in panic situations everything feels like it slows down. a few weeks ago i was gettin on the freeway and it was one of those looping entrance ramps. the road was clear until the very end. I notice the car infront of me go over a patch of ice then slide towards the guard rail. i attempt to slow down, but its to late and the back end starts to swing out. i keep the car under controll without hitting the gaurdrails on either side of me or spinning and having the car behind me hit me.

illmortal

Good point... but just make sure it's late enough where there's no other traffic, if I tried that.. lol it would be at like 3AM, not a smart choice to make if you're accustomed to being deep asleep during 3 in the morning.

And there's even a giant amount of difference between the 2001 and the 1988 Preludes's suspension... especially compared to the 94-05 I30/5's and Maxima's supension they'd own us, though we have good soft suspension for comfort. Atleast the I30's. I was soo close to getting a 2000 Prelude, after I test drove it I fell in love with the attitude of it's suspension. Well then I ended up with something big and luxurious.

Vlasic

iTrader: (13)

i sometimes purposely initiate fish-tailing and hydroplaning cus its fun, and one time i did a 360 on the freeway across 4 lanes in rush hour traffic once (obviously that wasnt intentional, but i was able to not hit anyone or anything so....)