Driving and Maintenance

Driving and Maintenance

Jackie Stewart takes three road: a racing great’s tips on how to make yourself a world-class driver

Every sport has its superstars whose awesome combination of skills and competitiveness set a standard for generations to come. In Grand Prix auto racing, the Scottish driver, Jackie Stewart, is among the sport’s greatest champions, with 27 Grand Prix victories during his celebrated career. Stewart learned to drive when he was 9 years old as a result of working in his father’s garage. “I had to park cars and shuttle them in and out of the garage, at first at very low speeds,” Stewart says. “It gave me an understanding of how gentle I had to be with a clutch pedal.” Here, the three-time world champion shares his tips on how you can make yourself a better driver.

What’s the key to being a good driver?

The smooth driver is always better than the aggressive driver. I try to tell people, think of yourself as the ideal chauffeur. I don’t want to be taken from the sidewalk with a dislocation of granny’s vertebrae in the back of the car. I don’t want the dog tossed from the rear window to the front window on any braking maneuver, and I don’t want the children getting hopelessly sick in the back because my steering sawed from one side to another. The key is to be very gentle with the gas pedal, both in introducing the gas and in reducing forward motion.

The same applies to putting the brakes on and taking the brakes off. Everyone told me that I could jerk the brakes on, but nobody told me that I could release them too quickly, which you can. The same applies to steering. When you’re turning the steering wheel to go around a corner, you shouldn’t be too quick with the amount of steering you introduce. You want all of your movements to be slow and progressive.

Driving along. Photo by Elena

How should one gauge how fast to drive?

Speed is dangerous. The higher the speed, the more the danger. You’ve really got to drive cutiously and slowly within your own abilities. There’s no damn good tailgating if your reaction time doesn’t allow you to stop if there’s on abstruction ahead of you. You are probably totally misjudging your lack of ability to handle speed. If I say to a man he’s a very poor driver or a very poor lover, he would never be convinced he was bad at either one, but in fact there are many bad drivers in the world and I assume there are also some bad lovers.

Are posted speed limits a good guide to how fast you can drive and still be safe?

The speed limits are a very good indicator, but sometimes because of lack of visibility, rain, or the winter, driving at the designated speed limit is too fast. The dynamics of an accident are far beyond what anybody can imagine. At 30 mph, for example, if you’re not wearing seat belts, the impact of hitting a solid object is the same as failing out of a fourth-story window in the United States.

What is the best technique for changing lanes and passing?

You can only accelerate when you know that the lane you’re meshing with is clear. If you’re not addressing your rear-view mirrors correctly and using them positively and then being even more than careful, there’s no good in pulling out at all. You don’t go right up to the back of the vehicle in front and then make an aggressive move to the right or left in order to change lanes and pass. You’ve got to give plenty of warning and male a very smooth transition to join that other lane or undertake a passing maneuver.

What is the best approach to cornering?

You come off the gas pedal gently and progressively. You go onto the brake pedal gently and progressively and you give yourself ample time to slow down and bet to a speed where you can recognize exactly where you want to be on the road. Too many people act as if it’s a last-minute effort.

Do anti-lock brakes and power steering make driving safer?

I’m a big believer in anti-lock brakes. The controversy over whether they help is a fallacy. I think ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) is the greatest contribution to road safety since the introduction of the windshield wiper.

On the other hand, I would say that in America over the years power brakes and power steering have been over-sensitive to the point where you don’t get a real feeling of the road or the tires. It’s as if all the elements that you’re actually touching and feeling have been novocained. When that’s the case, you’re not going to have good communications between driver and machine, or vice-versa.

What are the most common mistakes made on the road?

First of all, most people don’t look ahead enough, and that’s because of concentration. America might be the worst country in the world for the famous coffee cup holder. It seems as if the driver of every car I look into has a coffee cup in his hands. It’s absolutely ridiculous. If it spills the wrong way, it’s going to burn the person, and he or she is going to overreact, which is probably going to cause an accident on its own. You can’t possibly drive with one hand and avoid a child who jumps out in front of you or another vehicle that gets into your path. You’ve got to have both hands on the steering wheel – I need both hands on the wheel. Other common mistakes include turning across other traffic without giving the other cars enough space, or turning suddenly across somebody else path when the folks behind you are in the process of overtaking. That’s a common one. So is lane-changing without knowing that there’s a car suddenly alongside you.

Do older drivers need to take special precautions?

People of more mature years often boast that they’ve been driving for more than 30 years and never had an accident. Little do they know that for the last majority of that time everyone else has been avoiding them. When you’re more mature, you’ve got to be more cautious. There’s a tendency to be a little more absent-minded and not as conscientious. You don’t feel as threatened. That’s why many women are much better drivers than men because they’re more threatened.

So women drivers are often better drivers than men drivers?

Most men think driving is very macho and they can handle anything. Women to some extent are scared about driving and sometimes feel threated by the element of danger. Therefore they are more conscientious, more diligent, go slower, and pay more attention. This is contrary to the normal cartoon of the lady driver.

How can a parent ensure that a child learns to drive well?

I would send them to the very best driving school in the area. There’s no substitute for that. I’ve won three world championships and I sent both of my sons to driving schools. Don’t teach them yourself. A parent, a boyfriend, a relation, is simply not the way to go.

Which professional race care driver did you most admire when you were racing?

Jim Clark, a fellow Scot (and two-time World Grand Prix champion). He was the best driver I ever raced against. He was the smoothest and he just did the best job in the most unspectacular fashion. It’s making the driving effortless that’s the key to great driving.

What it takes to stop in time

Tailgaters beware: The stopping distance required for a car going 35 mph is just over half a football field, even when the road is dry. At 65 mph the distance required is equal to the length of one and a third football fields.

Stopping distances at selected speeds:

Motorcycle

35 mph (wet: 260 ft, dry: 225 ft). 45 mph (wet 385 ft, dry 315 ft). 55 mph: (wet: 530 ft, dry: 435 ft). 65 mph: (wet 705 ft, dry 575 ft).

Passenger Car

35 mph: (wet: 185 ft; dry: 160 ft). 45 mph (wet 275 ft, dry: 225 ft). 55 mph: wet – 380 ft; dry – 310 ft). 65 mph: (Wet: 505 ft, dry: 410 ft).

Truck

35 mph: (Wet 230 ft, dry – 190 ft). 45 mph: (wet: 350 ft; dry: 280 ft). 55 mph: (wet: 490 ft; dry: 390 ft). 65 mph: (Wet – 665 ft; dry – 525 ft).

(Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).