14 January 2009

Skid pan and pirate metal

| johnboy
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In a fine example of NuSpeak a day at the skid pan is termed “anti skid training”.

Regardless, jumpninja001 has kindly shared with the world his friend’s day of slipping and sliding with a lovely soundtrack by the Scottish “pirate metal” outfit “Alestorm”. I believe the song can be found on the “Captain Morgan’s Revenge” album.

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yea the old kingy looked alright on the pan……..fat, slow and handles like a boat……just like when they were new…..

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy8:42 pm 15 Jan 09

Despite my earlier soapboxing, that was one fully sick kingswood.

GottaLoveCanberra6:29 pm 15 Jan 09

“Going and doing this kind of stuff gives young drivers a false sense of ability and does nothing for them at 3am pissed on Majura Ave in the famous car v tree events.”

Chances are, if they’re stupid enough to get pissed and go hooning around suburbia, they’re too stupid to realise that it should be kept off the streets and on skidpans like the above.

Besides, I’d rather be a passenger in a car with a younger person who’s been on a couple of these track/skidpan days (and learned something) than a 50+ year old driver who’s never lost traction or been in an accident before.

Yes, experience is critical, but there are different types of experience.

Saying it doesn’t make you a better driver is a bit far fetched.

The most dangerous problem on the road is driver attitude. And realistically, the only way to fix most drivers with bad attitude is with a good Tony Soprano-style re-education. But would the Motor Reg ever do such a thing?

My point exactly. I was much better at driving in slippery conditions when I was 18, having just driven in Canada for two years. That is balanced of course by a whole different outlook when making decisions about what is safe.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy3:27 pm 15 Jan 09

…EXPERIENCE OF YEARS OF DRIVING… is over rated in my opinion.

I agree. What is more important is km under your belt, your level of skills and the conditions under which you regularly drive. If all you do is potter around the suburbs at 40km/h during the middle of the day, that doesn’t qualify to drive down a mountain pass in the wet.

The skills needed to adequately assess driving capability aren’t really tested during the driving exam either, much less the ‘logbook method’. I’m not advocating turning us all into precision driving instructors, but at least learning and then being tested on real world conditions would be a good start.

T’is music to wench by, me hearty …

: D

… but the whole skid pan thing be givin’ me the joneseys! The davey joneseys! Aaaarrr!

Yearrgh, that be a fine shanty they be singin.

(Scottish pirate metal? I *must* have more of this!)

…EXPERIENCE OF YEARS OF DRIVING… is over rated in my opinion. There are plenty of, if not most of, older drivers out there who haven’t even had to break hard in the last ten years of driving, and god knows what would happen if they did. While I agree with most of your post, I think that “experience” is something that only means anything when very cautiously considered.

Going and doing this kind of stuff gives young drivers a false sense of ability and does nothing for them at 3am pissed on Majura Ave in the famous car v tree events.

Is it fun? Hell yeah. Is it legal? Sure is. Does it make you a better driver? No.

Ok, so go and try to convince me that learing at what point your traction is compromised is a good thing? Will boy racer (or girl racer) rely on reflexes and muscle memory after a half dy doing this? Will they practice it on our streets?

The only thing that saves drivers at that point is a combination of luck, EXPERIENCE OF YEARS OF DRIVING and the modern technology found in most newer cars.

Holden Caulfield10:44 pm 14 Jan 09

GottaLoveCanberra said :

I know plenty of people who frequent this skid pan and have a total blast doing so. They just bitch about how dirty their cars get doing it too.

Yes, and yes. It’s awesome fun!!!

But, Fyshwick Classic Car Wash on the way home is a must.

Apart from being fun, it is a bloody good way to experience what it is like when your car loses control. Well, if you’ve never experienced that before, haha.

Also, if you don’t know what ESP/DSC does, then go to one of these days and see how easy it is to lose control with ESP switched off and how much harder it is to lose control with it switched on.

GottaLoveCanberra9:40 pm 14 Jan 09

I know plenty of people who frequent this skid pan and have a total blast doing so. They just bitch about how dirty their cars get doing it too.

I hope to have a shot on their soon too.

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