Clarkey Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 A big thank you to Class One. Dug kindly gave me abit of heads-up in the advanced driving kind. I've always wanted to go for my advanced license - cheaper insurance, safer driver. There was only so much that we could fit in 1hr 45 minutes - but in that time got good idea of what I tneed to concentrate on when driving - for instance Dug pointed out .. I need to read the road ahead alot more. Reading the road by telegraph poles - in about 1/4 mile ahead gives you an indication of the layout of the road ... left hand bends, right hand bends ... long before you get to them. Road positioning - moving the car to right handside of the road markers on left hand bends (vice versa on right hand bends)... giving you clearer vision of view. Going through town .. garage on the left .. cars maybe pulling out. Lady with a child's push chair .. has she seen me ? Bicycle 100yards ahead .. Car behind the bicycle ... move to the left slightly .. in case car moves out to overtake. All these things - perhaps might seem very obvious .. but I think when we're behind the wheel .. we tend to concentrate only what's 200 yards ahead .. rather than spotting & anticipating potential hazards -perhaps before they happen ... then prioritizing them. I'm now going to make a conscienous effort in the gearchange between 1st & 2nd ... by pointing the thumb downwards. I didn't know this but it can stop you from missing the gears. For me, that 1hr 45 minutes ... was a great help and would love to do it again. Thanks Dug! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Sounds good Do insurance companies actually lower your premium when you have an advanced license? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 Sounds good Do insurance companies actually lower your premium when you have an advanced license? I was with Direct Line about 4 years ago when I had my MR2 NA .. and back then .. they said an advanced license would have reduced my yearly premium by £185. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class One Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Sounds good Do insurance companies actually lower your premium when you have an advanced license? Some but not all offer a discount if you've done the IAM test. I get a discount from my current insurers (Bell) but my previous didn't offer any discount. Christian glad you enjoyed it, we'll do some more soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Phew, I thought for a minute there you were gonna say you got stopped by him and got a 15 min patronising telling off On a serious note... this is a little like what the hazard perception thing is about if you do your test again these days.. it trys to get you to look further up the road looking for potential hazards... so god knows how you're supposed to concentrate on your speedo at the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class One Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 I also forgot to say it was great driving Christian's car. He's got the Vortex budget T61 BL kit fitted and I have to say I was very surprised at the power delivery. Very smooth and linear,MUCH better than the twin sequential set up. Oh and the sound of the external wastegate at full chat what can I say? Considering the car isn't fully sorted yet (running a tad too rich on boost/WOT) it's still awesome considering the cost of having got that done say to CJ's car which I've only been a passenger in .(Slightly unfair comparison but both cars are single at different ends of the scale!) If I had the pennies, I'd be ripping our the twin set up and knocking on the door at Vortex straight away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulfurn Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Good man! Must say that its nice that we have people on the board who are prepared to help out fellow members on topics such as this, as well as everything else. Will definitely be something Ill be looking into in the future, not so much for insurance purposes, rather to make me a better driver so theres less chance of losing my beloved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted October 15, 2005 Author Share Posted October 15, 2005 Thanks Dug. I'm very happy with the way the conversion has turned out. The car does have some niggly bugs .. like the WG screamer pipe & the downpipe sometimes have a tendancy vibrate against each other - But am glad to say Mark @ Phoenix said this isn't big problem .. more of an annoyance. Hopefully when we go out for our next session .. I'll have the ebc plumbed in .. as 1.1 Bar is quick but 1.3-1.4 quicker Also, may I say that although your car is 100% stock mechanically .. it pulls very very strongly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobSheffield Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 just a curiosity - do we know if Sky offer discount based on IAM membership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terribleturner Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 If I had the pennies, I'd be ripping our the twin set up and knocking on the door at Vortex straight away! Christmas is only round the door Dug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenb Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Cool stuff indeed. I'd love to do the advanced driving test but hopefully towards the end of my probationary period (according to the training matrix) I will get a chance to do some. I'd also like to do some skid pan training as it seems that in the wet all the ergonomics go out the window for me........I just slow right down......but spinning my old mk1 MR2 at just 25mph in the rain was scary.....I seem to have got less confident as I've got older. Don't know why though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelfill Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 just a curiosity - do we know if Sky offer discount based on IAM membership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Back when I was 17 I had 8 IAM lessons (friend of the family was an instructor), unfortunately I was due to leave for Uni and didn't get the chance to complete the course. However, to this day I remember and use so much of the things I learn... Particularly the way to approach corners, looking for potential hazards (pedestrian or otherwise) and just how far you have to look ahead. Would love to restart the course but believe its now very expensive.. anyone know how much it costs now? Also, is it correct that you have to retake the test every 2 years to keep your "advanced" license? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class One Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Back when I was 17 I had 8 IAM lessons (friend of the family was an instructor), unfortunately I was due to leave for Uni and didn't get the chance to complete the course. However, to this day I remember and use so much of the things I learn... Particularly the way to approach corners, looking for potential hazards (pedestrian or otherwise) and just how far you have to look ahead. Would love to restart the course but believe its now very expensive.. anyone know how much it costs now? Also, is it correct that you have to retake the test every 2 years to keep your "advanced" license? Don't know about that. I don't need to renew mine, as its Home Office issued and not an IAM one. The IAM tell me that I'm examiner status qualified, but I've got to hook up with the local co-ordinator for my area to sort that out. However that will not mean that I can offer tests outside of the IAM to forum members (sorry). The thing I did with Clarkey_Sparkey was just a bit of a pointer for him, so anything offered isn't any form of training or tuition but just a heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Would love to restart the course but believe its now very expensive.. anyone know how much it costs now? Should be free mate - as I remember (passed mine in 2001:p ) the IAM instructors give their time voluntarily, I think you just pay for the exam! My instructor was an ex-cop and he was superb! Well worth doing and the test was shattering! Commentary for an hour and a bit anybody?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Cheers Doug and Ellis Though the lessons I got back in 94' were free, I thought this was due to the bloke being a family friend! Will have to look into this more, especially if you only pay for the test (I've heard from several people that it's pretty detailed, but then again that’s exactly the purpose of the test!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Should be free mate - as I remember (passed mine in 2001:p ) the IAM instructors give their time voluntarily, I think you just pay for the exam! My instructor was an ex-cop and he was superb! Well worth doing and the test was shattering! Commentary for an hour and a bit anybody?! sounds like an excellent idea.....must get details.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Cheers Doug and Ellis I've heard from several people that it's pretty detailed It is!! I remember the instructor had a great route sorted out - every speed limit on every type of road and you have to give a commentary all the way! THAT'S tiring! It's a bloody superb feeling to pass and I still drop into IAM mode every now and then. Mind you, I remember getting bollocked all the time in the lessons for going too slow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 I passed IAM while I was in the Army - for free. As far as I know you don't have to renew. Unfortunately, the only time I ever mentioned it when getting insurance it was with a company who didn't give discount for it. I really ought to start mentioning it again. Maybe I could get the bill down a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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