Love it! As I'm off to join the lemmings on the London-Bound M3 tomorrow morning I shall be sure to glue a Bavarian Propeller over the Alfa badges so I can use that fabled lane. Ah, a 2 and a half hour rush-hour (a misnomer, surely?) slog to Windsor reduced to a piffling 75 minutes in my exclusive lane.
Bliss!
No Dosh ** Quick, talk motoring, Mark's coming! **
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It was interesting as I clawed my way home in last Thursdays snow that the majority of stuck cars were BMW's. So much for the ultimate driving machine, with rear wheel drive for added traction up icey slopes!
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I managed to get sideways in my rear-drive Lexus as I drove into my garage on Thursday night.
No harm done, but I'm off to the skidpan on Saturday...
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Good man. We all need to learn more.
BTW Where are you going? and please report back on your experience. My Mrs would like to have a go. Although she is a good driver (no, really) she lacks confidence on the slippery stuff. Also you may only get one chance of getting it right!
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I'm going to a place in Croydon (the rather grandly named "National Driving Centre") along with Mrs B. They cover rear and front drive (useful as we'll be getting an FWD 2nd car soon) and with/without ABS.
Will report back next week.
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I think I've probably got most of it out of my system but even now I can't resist the opportunity for a "play" :)
You need to have the right kind of environment for this but I bet you have if you look around...
Several miles from where I live, there are a couple of extremely large supermarkets with subsequent huge car parks. One of these, along with another town car park close by are very large open spaces and contain no trees or other obstacles.
Late at night they are often completely empty and can be huge fun with a few inches of snow on.
The first couple of times I was simply horsing around though it occurred to me after a while that it was probably good experience and I know it has stopped me denting my car on one occasion when I did skid on some ice accidentally. It can be quite unnerving at first making your car skid and pulling handbrake turns etc but, particularly with rear wheel drive cars, I think the experience can be rewarding. Local plod also seem to think so as they approached me one night back when I was a little younger and asked me what the hell I was playing at. I explained I was practising to see how to control my car when it skidded - they congratulated me for the foresight and b*****ed off and left me to it!
Your wife will probably find it good fun once she's been driving around and seeing how it feels for half an hour - may come in very handy one day when a skid happens unexpectedly!
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Do check that it is skiddy before you waste a journey, if you are going to the M11 that is!
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Graham, oh yes, wasn't it wonderful for us drivers of inferior cars to see those bavarian masterpieces coming to grief in last week's snow? Two parked on their roofs and one going backwards as I drove up the hill past him. It almost makes up for never being allowed to use the BMW lane doesn't it? Snow holds a new magic for me.
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And what a shame about all those Beemers on that boat, to think not one made it to the surface despite being the 'Ultimate Diving Machine' and they even have bavarian propellers!!
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Well, I'm back. Tried a bit of an experiment in the interests of the Back Room. On the way up I adopted a Beemerish approach, using the outside lane whenever safe to do so and "keeping with the flow". 92 miles took 1:50 and speed varied from 40 to 80ish, with usual braking for other uberdrivers cutting across 3 lanes as they darted onto the motorway.
On the return there were similar volumes of traffic and I stuck to no more than 65, typically 60, Rarely left the left hand lane.
It took 8 minutes longer and I arrived back in Poole feeling totally refreshed. Particularly pleasing was the failure of the fuel needle to move for the whole 92miles back! I also maintained sight of many "uberdrivers" for mile after mile as they accelerated into the distance, braked, accelerated, and so on.
I doubt this is anything new to most people, but in the interests of those who think the only way is the Beemer way, it's time to learn!
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On the return there were similar volumes of traffic and I stuck to no more than 65, typically 60, Rarely left the left hand lane. It took 8 minutes longer and I arrived back in Poole feeling totally refreshed. Particularly pleasing was the failure of the fuel needle to move for the whole 92miles back! I also maintained sight of many "uberdrivers" for mile after mile as they accelerated into the distance, braked, accelerated, and so on.
Welcome back No Dosh, note you have taken heed of the comments about signatures.
Amazing isn't it what litle difference it makes to the average journey time.
I drive like that all of the time the only exeption being when I give my car an "italian tune up".
There are a few who might disagree whith the above driving style.
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Hi Mal. Well, the signature gag was wearing a bit thin, so you were right, it had to go!
There are still instances when the extra few MPH will make a difference, such as a 750 mile drive to the Alps, but unless something had delayed me excessively and I "had" to be there for a given time, the slower option is going to make perhaps an hour difference and leave me less fatigued. Frankly, anything less than 150-200 miles the difference is going to be measured in minutes and is likely to be offset by that fuelling stop on the return that would otherwise have been unnecessary.
Roll-on 08/03/03 and all those lovely empty autoroutes through La Belle France.....
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I agree. The slow lane on the right is so full of Bavarians, and the middle so full of lorries, that it is usually fastest in the empty inside lane where no-one notices our inferior cars (Inferior because they are slower). We only have to nip out very occasionally into the 15 micron gap between lorries to overtake.
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