How to Drive
Real World Instruction and Advice from Hollywood''s Top Driver
Published on 3. May 2016
272 pages
978-1-4521-5410-7 (ISBN)
Description
Here's the ultimate guide to being the best-and safest-driver possible. And an absolute must for everyone with a learner's permit. Former Top Gear Stig and professional driver Ben Collins shares expert skills culled from a twenty year career as one of the best drivers in the world, famous for racing in the Le Mans series and NASCAR, piloting the Batmobile, and dodging bullets with James Bond. Refined over thousands of hours of elite-level performance in the physics of driving, his philosophy results in greater control and safer, more efficient and fun driving for all skill levels.
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Ben Collins
How to Drive
Book
05/2016
Chronicle Books
€43.12
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Person
Ben Collins has competed in motor racing since 1994, and his company Collins Autosport provides precision and stunt driving for film and television, including Top Gear, the James Bond films Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale, and Skyfall, and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. He lives in Bristol, England.
Content
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- CONTENTS
- Preface: How Not to Drive
- Introduction: How to Drive
- Part 1: A Very Short History of Driving
- 1.1 Roads Aren't Straightforward
- 1.2 Burning Rubber
- 1.3 Road Rage
- MOTOR RACING
- 1.4 The Driving Test
- 1.5 King of the Road
- Part 2: The Basics
- 2.1 Are You Sitting Comfortably
- FEET, NOT LEGS
- ARMS
- SEAT BELTS
- MIRROR, SIGNAL, MANEUVER . . . AND REVERSING
- 2.2 The Beast
- LIGHT TOUCH
- BALANCE
- 2.3 Smooth Operator
- PULLING AWAY
- 2.4 Shifting Gears
- GEAR SELECTION
- HOW TO HOLD A MANUAL GEAR STICK
- SHIFTING UP (I.E., GOING FASTER)
- SLOWING DOWN, BRAKING, SHIFTING DOWN THE GEARS
- ENGINE BRAKING
- REV MATCHING (MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS ONLY!)
- COMMON FALLACIES ABOUT GEAR SHIFTING
- SKIPPING GEARS
- DOWNSHIFTING USING THE CLUTCH
- BRAKING AND ENTERING
- 2.5 Steering
- THE SHUFFLE
- THE PUSH AND PULL
- ROTATIONAL STEERING, OR HAND-OVER-HAND TECHNIQUE
- 2.6 Braking
- BRAKING FORCE
- EVERYDAY SMOOTH BRAKING
- BRAKING IN THE REAL WORLD
- STOPPING IN AN EMERGENCY
- THINKING DISTANCE
- STOPPING DISTANCE
- YOUR CAR
- TREAD DEPTH VS. BRAKING DISTANCE
- TECHNIQUE
- BRAKING WITH ABS
- BRAKING AT THE LIMIT
- THE LIMIT
- TECHNIQUE
- ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS
- TRAIL BRAKING
- LEFT-FOOT BRAKING
- 2.7 Curves: The Art of Turning a Corner
- VIEWING THE CURVE
- RHYTHM
- THE PHYSICS OF TURNING A CORNER: THE TIRE VS. ISAAC NEWTON
- WEIGHT: m
- SPEED: v2
- BEND: r
- THE RACING LINE
- SLOW IN, FAST OUT
- CUTTING CORNERS
- BENEFITS OF "LATE APEXING"
- PREMATURE EJECTION
- THE REAL WORLD
- TYPES OF CURVES
- THE ROAD SURFACE (THE MISSING LINK FROM TARUFFI'S EQUATION)
- TYPE
- TEMPERATURE
- WEATHER
- INCLINE
- CAMBER
- FOREIGN BODIES
- BIG BAILADEROS
- SUMMARY
- Part 3: The Open Road
- 3.1 Avoiding Accidents
- STATE BY STATE
- MIND THE GAP
- DEATH BY SLOW MOTION
- NOT NOW, I'M HAVING AN ACCIDENT
- CHASING GHOSTS
- SUMMARY
- 3.2 Intersections
- BOGEY AT SEVEN O'CLOCK
- INTERSECTION ETIQUETTE
- CONTROLLED INTERSECTIONS
- ROUNDABOUTS
- RURAL ROADS
- 3.3 Passing
- SPACE
- BODY LANGUAGE
- APPROACHING CARS: THE SECOND MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS
- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
- SPEED, MOMENTUM, AND POSITIONING
- FINAL CHECKS
- 3.4 Multilane Highways
- 3.5 Freeways/Interstate Highways
- RULES
- WARM UP
- THE FIELD
- THE SHOULDER
- MERGING
- EXITING
- THE GAME
- SPACE, TIME, AND RELATIVITY
- FOLLOWING DISTANCE
- COMMUNICATION
- BLIND SPOTS
- THE PLAYERS
- MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
- GAME-CHANGING WEATHER
- SUN
- FOG, SPRAY, AND SMOKE
- RAIN
- SNOW
- BLACK ICE
- 3.6 In the Zone
- 3.7 Free Your Mind (and the Rest Will Follow)
- EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE
- TIME PRESSURE
- PERCEIVED WRONGDOING/RAGE
- COMMUTED
- DISTRACTION
- DEAD WEIGHT
- DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
- ENVIRONMENT
- 3.8 Vision
- THE MARK 1 EYEBALL
- PERIPHERAL VISION
- THE VISUAL STRATEGY OF A RACING DRIVER
- HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE
- 3.9 Night Driving
- DRINKS
- EATS
- SLEEPS
- 3.10 Basic Instinct
- 3.11 Visualization: The Perfect Lap
- SUMMARY
- Part 4: Skidding
- 4.1 The Limits of Grip
- COMMON CAUSES OF SKIDS
- UNDERSTEER
- COMING 'ROUND THE MOUNTAIN
- OVERSTEER
- LIFT-OFF OVERSTEER
- POWER OVERSTEER
- OPPOSITE LOCK
- OPPOSITE LOCK EXPLAINED
- OVERCORRECTING
- THE "TANK SLAPPER"
- RECOVERING FROM A SPIN
- 4.2 Driving in Wet Weather
- AFTER IT RAINS
- READ THE ROAD
- TIRES IN RAIN
- AVOIDING HYDROPLANING
- FACTORS AFFECTING HYDROPLANING
- SUMMARY
- HANDLING HYDROPLANING
- FLOODS
- 4.3 Winter Driving
- SNOW AND ICE
- PREP THE CAR
- PLAN A ROUTE
- GET MOVING ON ICE.
- STUCK IN A RUT
- DRIVING IN THE SNOW
- BRAKING
- STEERING
- ACCELERATING
- READ THE SCRIPT
- HILLS
- UPHILL
- ESSENTIAL GEAR
- 4.4 Worst-Case Scenarios
- TIRE BLOWOUT
- STICKING THROTTLE
- BRAKE "FAILURE"
- BRAKE OVERHEATING
- TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE
- PARKING BRAKE FAILURE
- STEERING FAILURE
- BREAKDOWN AT A RAILWAY CROSSING
- ESCAPE FROM A SINKING CAR
- HOOD FLIES UP/BROKEN WINDSHIELD
- 4.5 Stunt Driving
- DRIVE THROUGH
- HAND-BRAKE TURNS
- THE 180
- PREFERRED PARKING: STUNT 180
- PARALLEL PARKING: STUNT 90
- J-TURN
- DONUTS AND BURNOUTS
- BASIC DONUT
- DONUT: THE BLACK BELT EDITION
- DRIFTING
- GETTING STARTED
- HAND BRAKE
- CLUTCH
- SCANDINAVIAN FLICK
- LINKING THE CHAIN-FIGURE 8
- STYLE
- Epilogue: Drifting through London
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Source Material
- Index
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- Y
- Z
- About the Author
- Chronicle Ebooks
