Another principle that was reinforced in every exercise was vision: look up, look far, look where you want to go and look at the solution not the problem. This concept is easier said than done, especially when drifting sideways toward the hay bails at 50 km/h.
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| On the skid pad the importance and safety of ABS brakes was made very apparent. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
After the slalom we headed over to the first of two skid pads. For the braking exercise, we flipped the magic switch in our cars, turning off the ABS and DSC. We were instructed to hit the skid pad first at 50 km/h and then at 60 km/h and apply the brakes as hard as we could. As we learned in class, and quickly found out in application, adding speed exponentially increases the distance needed to come to a complete stop. When increasing speed by just 10 km/h stopping distances quadrupled. The second run through the skid pad was with the ABS and DSC back on. With such driving aids, obviously the results were very different; stopping distances decreased and control increased greatly.
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| The oversteer exercise proved to be the most entertaining, both from behind the steering wheel as well as when watching other classmates try their luck at keeping the car on the track. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
A major portion of the afternoon was spent around the circular skid pad inducing under- and oversteer with the DSC system turned off. This lesson was by far the most entertaining to watch. Two cars raced around an extremely slippery tight circle on opposite sides while trying to induce and correct oversteer, often resulting in synchronous 360-degree spins. This speaks volumes to the amount of confidence all the students gained throughout the day. After losing control and spinning off the track there were no worries, the instructors remained light hearted and cracked jokes, and the only thought in my head was, "Hmm, I have to try a bit harder next time around.... I'm glad this isn't my car." It proved to be a difficult exercise, but it felt great being able to bring the car back under control from the very brink of simulated disaster.