You steer with the pedals and brake with the wheel, these are all techniques you should read about and practice a lot. Racing Sims help if you don't have a rich dad
A nice quote (which I've heard hundreds of times) and I think he said it a bit tongue in cheek, because it's obviously not entirely true. You need brakes to both slow and stop a car. It's why they're called brakes. At speed, you NEVER get back on your brakes once you're in a corner. You will spin - or at least get completely sideways - instantly. On a track - or any high performance driving situation - you downshift and brake in a straight line as you set up for a corner, then you ease off the brakes as you turn in, keeping the weight shifted to the front wheels. The car will 'load up' on the front wheel that is on the outside of the turn, so if you're turning left, the right front wheel/tyre will take most of the load and vice versa. Once you are in the turn and back on the throttle, you feather it to maintain speed and control the attitude of car up to the apex (this is how you achieve a nice drift with some opposite lock on the steering wheel) and then feed in the throttle as you power out through the exit.
He's driving with one hand at the 20 past the hour position, he's gesticulating madly and he's then driving with no hands, he's a fool not a god, laughable.
As a person who got their license a year ago I’m always watching videos to help improve my driving. Many people I know think I’ve learned very quickly for how long I’ve been driving and I have this man to thank for that.
Yes my man!! Strive to be a decent driver! We are a dying breed. The whole braking every five seconds when something happens is so unsettling and makes me think people shouldn't be driving. Also being a good driver doesn't mean being able to drift or any of that shit, remember these things kill. (....goes and buys an F-Type.......🤐🤐)
Driving is just a game where you have to be focused af on everything and everyone and where you have to predict everything and hit the perfect timings..
On the road, tip 2 has also another side: learning to lift gradually before coming to a complete stop. That way it feels as smooth as can be for the passengers. My gf doesn’t like me squeezing the brakes and lifting slowly, because even if I have a 2 or 3 second distance between me and the car in front, as she doesn’t feel any g-forces she is afraid I’m not braking at all. Also, as a caveat to tip 1: I use engine braking a lot but sometimes will tap my brake pedal a few times anyway because people behind you on their phone watch for braking lights to light up, so if you’re engine braking all the time they might plow into the back of your vehicle.
@@MickDrivesCars haha yeah I know what you mean 😁 a friend of mine is a tailgater that uses his brakes as a switch (like you mentioned) because he has to (always needing to slam the brakes because he’s too close). I’m glad he has a modern car with seatbelts (my cars don’t have them so it’s imperative that I drive extremely defensive) but I hate that feeling of hanging in them because of his driving. If he asks me if I wanna drive I always say yes 😂 I can’t do anything but look out of the windows when riding with him else I get car sick.
Lifting off just before you come to a complete stop is a great technique. It is also similar to a technique called “threshold braking,” which is a high-performance braking technique: you press down the brake pedal quickly, right to the point just before the brakes lock, and then you back off the brake pedal just quickly enough to maintain grip (not lock up). When you get to your turn-in point for the turn, you trail off the brake to settle the car, and start to apply the accelerator. Keep it smooth (left-foot braking can help with that). Of course, this gives no room for error because, if you didn’t start braking early enough with threshold braking, you will not make the turn, so it is best to only use the technique on a race track, on turns with plenty of run off. Threshold braking is similar to what you do when you push down on the brake while coming to a stop-where you press the brake, and then let almost completely off right at the end to avoid the jerky stop. However, with threshold braking, you press all the way down to just before lock-up, and then slowly let off, following the threshold of grip back, as the car slows, to prevent the lock-up-allowing you to slow in the most efficient and quickest manner possible. Again, this is a very advanced technique. I highly recommend signing up to go to the track for a High-Performance Driver Education event, with NASA (National Auto-sport Association) or SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) where you will have an instructor to teach you in a much more safe environment where you are not braking laws, and you have emergency crews on standby.
@@981porsche3 Yes, that's also true. I do it so automatically I didn't think to mention it. If you read my full post, you'll see I raced for many years. I've also taught at racing/high performance driving schools. Well, one, actually. Though I have also trained drivers individually.
I've been driving for 55 years and the one thing I've learned the most about driving is to not focus on the pavement directly in front of you but as far up the street as safely possible. By doing this you aren't constantly on the brakes unless you have traffic in front of you. It makes me mad when someone in front of me is driving 10 or 15 under the limit and constantly braking when it's not necessary. Most of these things taught here I've been doing since I was around 20 years old. Back in the early 70's I did a lot of street racing but it was always done on highways. In those 55 years I've never had an accident that was my fault. The 2 or 3 I have been in where from other drivers not paying attention to operating a motor vehicle.
"in front of me is driving 10 or 15 under the limit and constantly braking when it's not necessary" Those people are texting and are a danger to everyone around them and the most annoying driver to have in front of you. Myy friends 3yr old was killed by a texter and I wish there was more enforcement of the law.
You have touched on something that seems to be grossly missing in Mick’s driving contributions. He only seems to talk about how to physically control a car, which is 10% of good driving.
@@indypooh1 When you see brake lights every few seconds, you can bet those people don't understand why they need a brake job every year, my step father used to drive with one foot on the brake pedal, when you got out of the car you could smell the pads burning up and the rotors glowing red.
That constant braking is my pet hate too. I call it UBS - unnecessary braking syndrome. UBS idiots remind me of The Boy who Called Wolf , it's easy to fall into the trap of ignoring their braking, you never actually know when their brake light means they're actually going to slow down.
A lot of drivers don't even know how to apply tip one. They actually will drive fast until right behind a car ahead. Tailgaters they're called. Maybe it's a psychological thing.
I have had to put a 'baby in car' sticker to get rid of tailgaters, to go along with another 'keep distance' sticker. I always try to keep my 3 seconds distance, and it really helps me with not using the brakes as much.
Interesting that I basically was always using tips 1 and 2 from the very beginning of my driving experience, but I must say that these things were indirectly explained in theory lessons and also briefly reminded to me by my driving instructor when I was a learner, so I just settled with these things in mind for the rest of my driving. Surprised how many people tend to forget or just don't care about what they taught you in a driving school. Hell, I even one time faced a guy who said "Driving school teaches you nothing, you're just an idiot for thinking you know something when I have 15+ years of experience and you just got your license". This conversation was precisely about handling the car, rather than knowing the laws. Pure gold.
another addition to the squeezing is at a traffic light. A lot of people slow down towards the stop line and then in the last bit of motion press the pedal, which leads to everybody getting pushed forward. You can also plan ahead and right before the line and stopping, let go of the break for a moment, and let the car do the rest of stopping, then press the break again. It just makes it way smoother
The ol' limousine stop. Once you learn it you can't go back. One of the things I don't like about this dual clutch box is it's very hard to do that smoothly everytime.
@@nathane.231 Now I think back on it, all I would need to do is to switch into neutral when the speed gets down to about 20 kph, just as in a manual transmission. Would that work? I don't have a handy automatic transmission car to try it.
Learning to trail brake on the bike has made all the difference for me in tight corners. Going into them whilst already on the brakes (having pre-loaded the front a good bit) means that if I need to slow down that extra bit more I can just add a bit of pressure (or stay on the brakes longer) as I turn in. It also helps get the most grip out of the front tyre. Even just in general, turning in while still carrying some brake pressure feels incredibly controlled and confidence-inspiring. I would add though, you also shouldn't just jump off the pedal, for the same reason you don't jump on it. Unloading the front that quickly can unsettle your suspension pretty badly and send you sliding.
Back in the early 90s (when I was a much younger man 🤣) I had a job that meant driving about 30,000 miles a year. A lot of the journeys were on UK motorways, and one of my [much older] colleagues was an 'advanced' driver. So he used to set up silly games for us to while away the boring miles - one of those games being "try and do the whole journey without touching the brakes". The challenge was usually set down for 2-300 mile journeys. I managed Penzance to the Midlands once, without touching the brakes. It was a tremendously useful learning experience. By the way, 'displaying' trail braking is much easier if you have telemetry. It looks like a triangle, with the left side almost vertical, then the right side sloping down at roughly 45º. Like a cartoon cheese wedge, if you like 🤣 Once people can 'see' how one 'bleeds off' the braking pressure, it makes a little more sense (without IRL car telemetry you can always demo it in a sim). Fundamentally what you're trying to do is keep weight on the nose of the car, to ensure the steering works most effectively (and it's the ONLY way to drive a Porsche 911 effectively 🤣). But as you rightly point out, you have to be careful with it. You can set up a 'rotation' if you lift out of the brake too fast (which is why your 'squeezing the brake' tip is so valid, in reverse). There's another fun exercise to try - when braking for traffic lights, try to get the car to come to a smooth stop, without any 'pop' at the end. It requires 'coming out of the brake' in the same way you went into it. If you're squeezing steadily, you need to 'trail' back out of it in a similarly smooth way. Loving all these short films Mick, keep up the cracking work!
Is trail braking viable in winter with snow/ice on the road? Or even wet road after rain for that matter? Or is the danger of rear wheels slipping that much higher and therefore should be avoided in winter. Asking mainly for rear wheel drive. Thanks
@@markomatis1085 So much depends on the conditions. I live in a part of Canada where we get serious winters. If you are driving on pure, hard ice, you have to drive like you have no brakes, because in effect, you don't. Snow...it depends. So many variables. I sometimes use my handbrake to slide the rear end out And then release and get on the throttle to get around a corner (it can be fun, too). Rain is different, and again, much depends on the conditions. But the basic principles always apply. Weight transfer, anticipation for what you are about to encounter, and above all, smoothness. This is the key to skilled driving'. All your transitions should be as seamless as possible.
@@markomatis1085trail braking is - at its heart - predicated on knowing the bend ahead and then only braking as little as needed. In real life on public roads, you mostly don't have that luxury, as you must be prepared for whatever weird situation might exist around the bend!
I have been driving since last year, and the first thing I learned was heel-toe shifting and rev matching. After 2 months, I became consistent even in heavy traffic, and I fell in love with this driving style. This gave me excellent driving skills, and after a while, I was able to predict every corner, RPM, car, and pedestrian. I rarely use my brakes now, and I notice that they wear them after 15k or 20k kilometers. My clutch, transmission, and engine are in great shape, too. I realize most of the drivers dont even do that, and they drive very terrible. Some of them are putting other in risk because of it
That’s great, but one problem about not using your brakes on the street is that drivers behind you might not realize your car has slowed. I rarely use my brakes too, but if there’s traffic closely behind me or approaching fast, I gently apply them just to actuate my brake lights to reduce the chance of being rear ended. Also, regardless of how you drive, frequently check your rearview mirror. You always want to know the traffic situation behind you so you can possibly avoid being rear ended. Every time you brake, especially for a stop or waiting at a stoplight, check the traffic behind you to make sure they stop too. Many accidents could be avoided if more drivers did this like they’re supposed to and were hopefully taught.
"Lift the gas pedal" is the first step to hazard perception in the Netherlands. Whenever you perceive that a potential hazard is approaching (say, a car on the highway is changing lanes and cuts into your 2-second following distance), you're supposed to get off the gas. Positively and noticeably take your foot away from the gas pedal. When a hazard is imminent (collision unavoidable unless you stop right now), you brake. A slightly advanced technique is downshifting to increase the amount of deceleration you get. It's "slightly advanced" because it requires you match up your engine RPM to the speed of the gear you'll be in. Note: swerving and changing lanes are not appropriate evasion techniques - there's not that many drivers out there that actually have the situational awareness to do emergency lane change / swerve in a way that doesn't endanger others.
Any driver who has a brain knows this things, it's not Netherlands specific, it's common sense specific. And you don't have to rev match to downshif, who told you that? 😂
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@@Siatkowkarzadzi it upsets the car a lot if you drop the clutch unto a lower gear because the revs need to be higher. You must rev match, either by blipping the throttle or slipping the clutch.
@Obviously, but it's not necessary. And clutch is literally to allow revs to match.
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@@Siatkowkarzadzi true, however when upshifting you can dump the clutch at cruising speeds. You can really upset the car if you dump from 5th/6th to 3rd gear on a highway (when there's speed decrease from 100 to 70 and you want to engine brake quickly).
Best way I’ve heard trail braking described - your tires at any point i time have UP TO 100% grip available, which is distributed simultaneously across accelerating, braking and cornering. When driving fast you want to utilise as close to 100% of the available grip wherever possible (very dangerous to drive on the edge like this when on public roads I will add!). This is because as soon as you exceed 100% grip, your wheels have nothing left to give and this is how you lose traction. For trail braking we’re only interested in distributing our grip against braking and cornering. As you approach a corner you want 100% grip dedicated to braking (this can only be done whilst you are in a straight line). As soon as you begin to turn, some of that grip is now required for cornering, so you must smoothly ease off the brake and simultaneously transition your grip into cornering. Doing this smoothly will keep the car balanced and allow you to maintain full 100% usage of the available grip during the transition - e.g: when you’ve got 40% grip for braking, you want 60% grip on cornering (if you’re only using 40% for braking and 30% for cornering, you’re only using 70% of the available grip which costs you speed and time). As you turn more, you ease off the brakes until there is now no brake pressure and 100% of grip is now going into cornering. You then reverse the transition from 100% cornering into 100% accelerating as you pull out of the corner. In short, it is a technique to ensure that 100% of the grip available is being utilised at all times. Now take a shot every time I said “100%” 😂
I’m applying your tips in my everyday life, in the safest way possible (and sometimes, in the fastest) this channel changed my life and my career as a Glovo Courier.
Half a century ago, when we had Driver's Ed in high school, we were constantly reminded to look ahead, drive ahead. That lets you do the slowing down by letting off the gas (and getting that infinite mpg). You can spot the people who are not. They include the folks sitting on your bumper as you approach a long line of stopped cars (traffic light, etc). In no Universe will these stopped lines of cars instantly resume the prevailing limit. Note of caution: I'm not always confident that a vehicle behind me is dialed into my reduced speed if I don't hit enough brake pedal to activate brake lights.
No, when you lift the foot off of your gas pedal, you still consume gas, just not that much. It's not like you don't consume at all. Fuel is still injected into the motor because your motor is still turned on. As long as the motor runs, you're injecting fuel, just less than what you inject when you accelerate. ;)
Great Video. Most people on the motorway are terrible at braking and don't understand about lifting off and planning ahead. I do some trail braking on country roads when safe, but definitely seen the effect when a corner tightened more than I thought
Got my license last month and started driving last week, binge watching your videos because even tho I’m just starting I’m super confident about driving fast so I wanna learn how to do it safetly
Regarding the "Don't brake" tip, one could argue that a light pressure on the brakes (for the sake of turning on your brake lights) could help the drivers behind you who may not see the obstacle or the curving road in front of you to deaccelerate, effectively creating a feedback loop among drivers. But if you're not braking and slowing down without turning on your brake lights, I don't think the driver behind you would have much incentive to deaccelerate.
its not my resposnibility to pay attention for the car behind me. If they are paying attention and at least 3 car lengths back there should be no problem.
@@indypooh1not all drivers keep their distance, you're better off not taking your chances and avoiding the headaches of an accident. Also just imagine some car in front of you started getting closer to you with zero prior indications, if you pay attention, you might manage (I won't go into if your not which is also common). But it would be way better if there was an indication (brake lights), that's why I'm a proponent of at least light braking.
@@ariqaradaghi3837 Yep. It was a shit point that he made. No good driver would ever say something so foolish. I also ride a motorbike, where this practice is absolutely essential.
One underrated point about this is that braking too quickly or even at all (in the case of tip 1) is what causes traffic to accumulate. Everyone needs to know these basic things.
Trail braking can help if the surface you're on is more slippery than anticipated to help the car stay on the road, racing skills are great to have when things don't go as planned, or the unexpected or unanticipated happens.
Totally relate to the planning ahead thing! Another fun game is if you're wanting to make quick progress and you're able to see green lights in the distance that you just KNOW are likely to change, you actually ease off a bit. If you time it right you can zoom past all the late brakers who are now just moving off again as the lights go back to green (and you can get your foot down again) because they wrongly assumed you were dawdling 😊 Can of worms the last one. Lots of potential to make people who do it badly think they've been right all along. I mean, take a corner too fast and you might just about manage to get round it (we'll imagine the car doesn't have ESP). Hit the brakes mid corner and you're coming off. I know the above scenario ain't the same thing before people point it out to me, but the issue is that for me any braking in a corner, on a standard road as opposed to a track, just doesn't compute!
My mom gave me hints about these and i kinda picked it up along the way. Maybe thats why i enjoy driving? The driver fully understands the machine, allowing you to connect with it. It isnt just a moving RC or a big toy.
4:35 wrong! ABS is your friend and you can never beat it. ABS is not on-off braking. The ABS is always applying the right ammount of pressure for each wheel so the wheels never lock. By not activatting ABS you are always under the limit and your braking is longer. You cant control the 4 wheels with one pedal but ABS sure can do that and is better than you.
About squeezing the brakes, first I wanted a harder bite point for spirited driving my hothatch, but now I try to get used with the softer brake. Thank you!
Can I just say, I love your channel! I’m kinda new to driving (and i’m from the US) and your tips helped a lot in just becoming a smoother, more educated, proactive driver!
Thank you so much mate!!! Hope my videos help! I'm curious - is there anything about European roads you find curious/interesting or questions you might have? US is my biggest audience and I'm not sure what you guys wat to know more about
@@MickDrivesCars Well a few things that i’ve noticed are: European roads seem to have faster speed limits then here. The roads I see you drive usually in ur vids at like 45-60 mph would be at most like 35 mph roads here. Also you guys have the national speed limit system which we don’t have. Also, this may be a “grass is greener” moment but it seems that european drivers are generally better drivers than us americans, this may be because of how much harder driving exams are over there. It’s so easy to get a license here, it’s honestly scary thinking about who I’m sharing the road with. One question I was wondering is how to find fun roads to drive on? Do you just explore the area around you and then find some places you like?
@@stale.baguettemaybe in your state but in florida it's also generally 45-60+ mph. The limits I see the most often are 45, 55, 60, 70. But no one not even the cops drive at the speed limit generally, a good life lesson is that theory and reality sometimes, or often, differ. So maybe in your area the cops are the same i wouldnt know.
This is interesting to watch I did all of this already. This was the way my grandmother thought me how to drive. Well that was 20 years ago and she’s pushing 80 now. Doing this I made my brakes last to 92k, and 102k in the back drum brakes.
I wish that people would understand that you dont need all the braking at all time. It's similar to point 2, yes use the break progressively, but use only as much of it as needed. I've been in plenty of situations where just a dab on the brake pedal is enough, just get that bite, hold a second to settle and off it and onto gas. Or to bite point, add a tiny bit more and then off and onto gas. Like trail breaking but in reverse, where trail braking is being in the corner on breaks and let out as you get to the apex, this is on it add only whats needed and let off when you dont need it any more. Think of it as a fix for misjudging engine braking, you tried engine braking, but tried it a bit too late, so you get just the tiniest bit of breaking for that last bit, but sometimes you only need that tiniest bit and engine breaking.
So true, I think a big issue that affects a lot of people is just not planning ahead whatsoever. To minimise braking/use engine breaking/brake gently as you mention... you have to be thinking about this early, well before you come to whatever obstacle is ahead. People are just incapable of it 😂
@@randomdude7200 ah, right sorry, English spelling is a bit of an issue for me... Tends to happen when you speak, read and write 4 different languages.
The way I think of trail braking is say you have maximum 100% grip, that is shared between braking and turning, if you are at 100% breaking then you can't turn or you'll loose grip, and if you're at 100% turning you can't brake or you'll also loose grip. So you have to balance the two so when you're at say 60% braking you can use 40% of your grip on turning. But if you go over 100% and break that limit of grip you'll either understeer at corner entry, or loose the rear mid corner.
That's why they tell us not to do it. I have once understeered in the oncoming lane.. pretty scary, i got lucky. In this situation the hardest part (requiring most experience) is to easen the brake or let it go completely so you give back grip to the steering. Most ppl would be surprised at the speed their car is capable of turning..
Trail and left foot braking have changed and improved my car control over the last 10 years ago. Left foot braking took quite a while to develop but it is worth the effort once you get the hang of it. Makes the car more controllable and stable.
1:37 If you have a fuel inyected car/motorcycle. You still safe fuel on carburated engines because you don't have to accelerate as much to get back to speed, like in the last example you used in the first part.
Just been watching all of your videos and loving them, so pleased to see a new video pop up while watching this Sunday night! I'm coming over from driving stick and want to learn to drive automatic/automanual as effectively as possible on track, but learning so much about how to drive well and its a joy. Keep up the great work!
You seemed to explain trail breaking as a method of only slowing down while turning through the whole of the corner but I was under the impression you do a normal break on the straightaway and then partly into the corner and while steering through the corner you ease off the breaks to help the tires reach their traction limit then unwind out the corner with gradual acceleration
@captainsparklezx13 the main reason is that the tires perform best when slipping a bit and you want to keep them loaded near the limit and progressively go from longitudinal to lateral Gs. It helps if you imagine a traction circle graph.
Possibly a Mazdaspeed 3 or a 6 wagon :) you can also buy something like an older accord depending on what kind of stuff you want to do. I bought a miata lul
@@neoney i respect the one car most mazda owners hate on too much :( its a cheap (albeit unreliable) sporty enough car i respect it enough because nc miata is just rx8 but smol lul
When I first started driving the first thing I noticed was the cars shift in weight when using the pedals. I always made sure to squeeze the brakes just starting out because I hated to upset the balance of the car. I also realized that I naturally trail brake. I've always turned late and applied brakes late but let off slowly coming out. It just made the most sense to me knowing nothing about abs or anything. I didn't even know you were supposed to let off entirely while taking a corner because I would just trail brake. My dad would always say something to me but I'm glad I never stopped.
I have to say that we should not rely on the opinions of so called internet experts. In tip 2, and various replies you posted, you imply that it is better to squeeze rather than apply full brake force immediately hence triggering ABS earlier an emergency braking situation. That is exactly what you want to happen, trigger ABS as early as possible. You will not out brake ABS! The whole building up pressure by squeezing to build maximum braking force is total nonsense. In fact, automakers like Mercedes have to design special braking systems that apply full pressure + ABS if it senses that the driver needs an immediate stop to overcome bad braking habits like you're promoting in tip 2 for emergency braking. In normal braking scenarios, I agree with squeezing rather than using the brake pedal as an on/off switch, but who in the world treats the brake pedal as an on/off switch in normal braking scenarios?
@JURYCA,, What you say is totally true abs does it all for us and squeezing or what i used to use before abs was a triple squeeze to stop the brakes from over heating. also to those, if you want to brake in a bend, you wont get away with it for long, never brake in the bend unless you really need to as a last hope, and you should be doing the correct speed before that bend and remember there are cars coming the other way so pls don't risk their lives too, I'm a very experience 58 year old cab driver, believe me adjust yr speed for all bends before the bend.
@@CockneyrebelIndeed. Especially when the road is slippery. You don't want your wheels to lock up in a corner. Just slow down before a corner. And also don't suddenly release the brake in a corner, gradually release pressure.
That's absolutely not true if you can brake properly. ABS *only* helps you stop faster if you were to skid otherwise. Someone who can stay on the edge of losing traction by not causing immediate weight shifts and knowing their vehicle will always stop faster than abs
@@K4iT3c No. You will not outbrake ABS on dry or wet roads because it can individually control the braking pressure at each wheel to be close to threshold braking. You only have one brake pedal and the reaction times of a neanderthal.
This needs more likes! These tips are total bs... people are going to kill each other like that.... and his explanation and example of trail braking is just cringe... pls dude do not post videos like that, you are spreading bad driving habits to people ....
Years ago I got adviced, while playing racing games, to ease out any imput as you steer into a corner and to apply them again while straightening the steering, as if there was a string attached between the brake and the steering wheel, and the same for the throttle
It's funny - as a biker I used to give motorbike examples in most vids but like 10% of people leave whenever I mention the word 'motorbikes'. Had to stop :(
When I was inexperienced, I was driving at night and decided to overtake at a pretty high speed. When I got back into my lane, I was suddenly met with a sharp corner. Now here’s the cool part: I had quite a bit of experience from playing Gran Turismo, so I instinctively managed to turn into the corner, balance the car while braking, and save the situation. It was scary, but I’m so glad I had played some sims before
Another thing I learned, is if I have to emergency brake, downshifting may also be beneficial as well because its also using part of the drive train to slow you down. It isn't good for your brake pads or anything but if its only in emergencies and you aren't doing it often, you should be okay.
1:36 you're not a better driver by holding up traffic flow. accelerate and brake like everyone else. it's so easy to not brake when you drive like a 90 year old grandma. In traffic which is like 80% of the time, you need to keep distance and not allow too much gap between the car in front of you. You can't be holding up the entire lane of traffic just because your dumbass wants to save the brakes. I don't uses the brakes and I engine brake when I drive at 11pm at night when nobody's on the roads.
One thing i often do is slowing down a bit with break engine if i see a red light in a distance❗️ so im slow enough to NOT get there and stop, while im still in motion and just pressing gas if it turns to green. Once i was driving in the city next to another car in the other lane. It was kinda like a race. I let them drive forward above the speed limit and i also used the engine break because i saw the red light. What happend? They were faster, left me behind, so they had to do a full stop at the red light while i barely run into a green light. The point is i also slowed down before the red light but stayed in motion and had a waaay faster start. The funny part is that (because they were driving with more speed) they reached me again and left me behind. But again... red light and i got away. This was repeated for 3-4 lights. They were probably using 2x more fuel also.😅
When i pretty new to driving and i took my dad corolla which i used to drive, unfortunately not an ae86 corolla....a 2017 corolla, for spin in the mountains. I learnt was brake fade was that being able to stop was the most important thing. Later i got my own 2017 civic si and started autocrossing and braking has always been the most important tool
Thank you for the 1st tip. I've tried to tell this to so many people. "Why are you braking here, it doesn't make any sense?", They'll just shrug it off, they always drive like that. Okay, well; 1. It's jerky and not confidence inspiring at all 2. You're wasting your pads and rotors 3. You're wasting fuel 4. You're way too close to other drivers 5. You're driving way too fast into a roundabout only to have to do some jerky braking manouvre when you get too close. That's just stupid...
As a guy who's parents own an old rusty Manual Transmission ( stock, hasn't been mod for 20 years, 23 years ) and a new CVT car ( already 2 years ) I can definitely tell that engine braking is great, better than breaking so quick at near stop lights. Definitely helped me planned ahead, as an ADHD person, I think alot of possibilities and most worked in my favour. except for those who don't think soo much when driving. not all drivers ( around the world ) are knowledgeable about road rules and what's allowed. I will tell you this tho, to all readers, don't mess with gas head SUV' and pick-up truck drivers. they are crazy drivers, some of them. Edit: THANK YOU for making this video, this is a huge proof for me whenever someone tries to "lecture" me in driving 🤪
I was taught to stop well first and how to use engine braking. It is however important to communicate your intentions to other road users. I recall the famous quote from Porsche about being able to stop faster from 60 than get to 60.
There's one more thing with the trail breaking that is crucial if you're look to be quick. Break as late and hard as is practical with out upsetting the car, back off the brakes as you turn allowing them to help rotate the car, then 'don't accelerate until you can keep accelerating'. I believe I'm quoting Jackie Stewart there. Smooth is fast.
What...? Really? Who doesn't know these things? All of you in the comments impressed by this? Not to be negative but I expected something advanced from the title of the video, not something so basic.
Tip #1 is my fav. I could even use it as a reason why one is a bad driver - overbraking. I cant be more puzzled why ppl dont try to look further ahead in traffic and try to smoothen it out, instead they make it worse by interupting the flow by touching the brakes. They see stop lights and they slam on the brakes.. a few overbrakers in a row may even lead to a complete stand still. It is so often that i am driving in congested traffic - car in front brakes 10-20 times for 2km stretch I brake 0 times.. I try to look through both windows of the car in front if possible to account for the distance they maintain with the car in front of them. If too short I expect the car in front to brake more often , so i let more distance so i can slow down gradually. You can even anticipate the moment they hit the gas so you can get quite close without touching the brakes...ahh I dream for the moment when AI will become advanced enough that 90% of cars on the roads are ai driven. I am sure it would be more safe and efficient. Cars would "talk" to one another, give way to one another so smooth, so close. They would maintain shorter distances because everyone would be perfectly predictable and no one would overbrake or do crazy stuff...ahh.. just imagine
@@MickDrivesCars Both of us are correct, you're talking about modern cars with fuel injectors, and i'm talking about older ones with carburetor. The only reason i mentioned this is to let people know that it's almost counterproductive to engine brake if you're driving an older vehicle with a carburetor in it.
Both are wrong. If you think just by letting off the gas your car turns of it's injectors is plain foolish 😂 a car always uses fuel when it is running (makes sense..) there are still idle curcuits and decelleration tables for fuelling in the ecu for closed throttle scenarios, it just uses a tiny amount of fuel. Try coasting in gear and switch the car off with the key - see what happens when it really uses 0 fuel 😃 And please don't compare engine braking to coasting in neutral - never do that, especially at higher speeds. The car will become way less controllable when not being "loaded" by the engine and trans. Try taking a corner in gear and then at the same speed in neutral to see what i mean. Don't do stuff like I see - idiots doing pulls in their cars and when the pull ends - put it in neutral.. that's very very idiotic.
Trail braking feels smoother to me as well, especially when combined with smoother steering inputs, which I feel are a necessity when you are trail braking. And that feel when u make a 90 degree turn going like 25 or so on a road and the back of ur car just snaps into position behind u is the best feeling.
Great video, again good advice, I use trail breaking all the time, it’s very useful in a 911 a with the rear engine. Left foot breaking is also useful for stopping washout in a corner.
I do the same things, especially tip #1. As a taxi driver I haven’t been replacing brake pads in the last 220.000 km (135.000 mi) and counting, saving fuel and all those components who could have been stressed with no advantage. Colleagues still tease me because I don’t brake. 😄
learned the risks of trail braking the hard way. one corner i drive almost every day with no problem trail braking became a big problem when autom arrived and it became slippery. understeer and right into a fence and the whole side became dented
I'm a new driver, and the first 2 are just common sense really, the last one sure is more advanced but I already got used to it after some months of driving. I'm from Europe btw
I've never done a survey, but I would have thought most people would answer that the brake pedal is the most important pedal in a car. Seems like obvious common sense to me.
About the engine breaking and shifting down to increase the engine breaking... by stepfather told me always a change of breaks is way cheaper then a change of clutch or gearbox but using the engine to break while not downshifting to increase it is actuall a solid idea that i've been doing ever since i got my license I also use the engine to break the car when with downshifts but then again i know what im doing thank god
Yeah very true. Poor downshift can destroy a clutch so the easy way is to just stay in gear until you're pretty slow, then clutch+brake for the last few miles and hour.
Would like a video about left foot braking. I've seen it used as a form of trail braking on a track. Quiet curious on how to go about left foot braking as it's wise to be prepared for situations.
As an Irish driver, seeing the state of the British "country roads" makes me so jealous. Half the backroads around me are super narrow to the point where you need to stop if theres a tractor, no lane markings, unbelievably winding and pothole ridden.
I trail break when I'm getting off the highway while going 130kmh, slowing to 45kmh while doing a loop turn and then getting on the gas again. Didn't know it had a name, I just thought it was the safest way
My years on a road bike taught me about the concept of inertia and the benefits for saving fuel (my own muscular energy, I suppose xD). Now I drive my own car and on the road I always being surprised of the red lights I see continuosly in highway, or in hill roads.
Good tips for organic pads and normal cars. I use metallic pads with which you can’t progressively squeeze the brakes. You will get pad material deposit on your discs and vibrations. It’s late, short, hard braking with 50% pressure minimum all the time, no smooth deceleration with your foot on the brake pedal for half a mile like everyone does.
@@MickDrivesCars woops didn't realize it was a Renault. Apologies I'm in Canada and I haven't seen Opels, Renault's and other brands as they aren't here 😅.
Plan ahead and let off early, use engine braking. Apply brakes to slow some, then let them cool. Deceleration plants the steering going into curves, especially with front wheel drive. Most drivers don't realize you can downshift their automatics. I use a manual, and get a minimum of 120,000 miles, 200,000 kilometers, from factory installed brakes.
Trail breaking is great for getting traction provided youre not understeering. Just also be careful oversteer all the weight is on the front 2 wheels. Left foot trailbraking is an awesome technique too but i could never think of a use for it in a legal sense on the road
This is what I was thinking, trail breaking is only effective in modern cars if I do it in my 20 year old car thats synonymous for under steering I will be on the wrong side of the road or in a hedge it’s dangerous advice depending on the car tbh
“It's amazing how many drivers, even at the Formula 1 level, think that the brakes are for slowing the car down”
-Mario Andretti
Yeah especially in racing, the pedals can be used to help steer the car rather than just the steering wheel. Pretty advanced techniques tho.
Damn AWESOME quote!
Wish I could have said this at the start of the video it would have sounded so cool.
@@MickDrivesCars yeah man I was half expecting you to say it when I clicked on it 😂
You steer with the pedals and brake with the wheel, these are all techniques you should read about and practice a lot. Racing Sims help if you don't have a rich dad
A nice quote (which I've heard hundreds of times) and I think he said it a bit tongue in cheek, because it's obviously not entirely true. You need brakes to both slow and stop a car. It's why they're called brakes. At speed, you NEVER get back on your brakes once you're in a corner. You will spin - or at least get completely sideways - instantly.
On a track - or any high performance driving situation - you downshift and brake in a straight line as you set up for a corner, then you ease off the brakes as you turn in, keeping the weight shifted to the front wheels. The car will 'load up' on the front wheel that is on the outside of the turn, so if you're turning left, the right front wheel/tyre will take most of the load and vice versa. Once you are in the turn and back on the throttle, you feather it to maintain speed and control the attitude of car up to the apex (this is how you achieve a nice drift with some opposite lock on the steering wheel) and then feed in the throttle as you power out through the exit.
there are sooo many people that drive for years and don't know these tips, this man right here is doing god's work
Driving for years you should learn that the person behind you need to know your slowing down
@@cashdollersign8361 that's what break lights are for m8
*There are sooo many people that drive for years and don't know these tips. This man right here is doing God's work.
He's driving with one hand at the 20 past the hour position, he's gesticulating madly and he's then driving with no hands, he's a fool not a god, laughable.
@@victoriagrayson5082 bruh
As a person who got their license a year ago I’m always watching videos to help improve my driving. Many people I know think I’ve learned very quickly for how long I’ve been driving and I have this man to thank for that.
Oh damn, thank you mate 👊
Yes my man!! Strive to be a decent driver! We are a dying breed. The whole braking every five seconds when something happens is so unsettling and makes me think people shouldn't be driving. Also being a good driver doesn't mean being able to drift or any of that shit, remember these things kill. (....goes and buys an F-Type.......🤐🤐)
You may have learned quickly, but I'd bet so much money they never paid attention and took years to learn because they're dumb and don't care
Driving is just a game where you have to be focused af on everything and everyone and where you have to predict everything and hit the perfect timings..
Trail braking is just a thing I did intuitively, it just felt right. Didn't know it was a named technique.
same!
Same
*Trail braking is just a thing I did intuitively, it just felt right. Didn't know it was a named technique.
@@victoriagrayson5082 I didn't even realize. Thanks
Same
On the road, tip 2 has also another side: learning to lift gradually before coming to a complete stop. That way it feels as smooth as can be for the passengers.
My gf doesn’t like me squeezing the brakes and lifting slowly, because even if I have a 2 or 3 second distance between me and the car in front, as she doesn’t feel any g-forces she is afraid I’m not braking at all.
Also, as a caveat to tip 1: I use engine braking a lot but sometimes will tap my brake pedal a few times anyway because people behind you on their phone watch for braking lights to light up, so if you’re engine braking all the time they might plow into the back of your vehicle.
The old limousine stop. Once I learned this everyone else's braking felt HORRIBLE.
@@MickDrivesCars haha yeah I know what you mean 😁 a friend of mine is a tailgater that uses his brakes as a switch (like you mentioned) because he has to (always needing to slam the brakes because he’s too close).
I’m glad he has a modern car with seatbelts (my cars don’t have them so it’s imperative that I drive extremely defensive) but I hate that feeling of hanging in them because of his driving. If he asks me if I wanna drive I always say yes 😂 I can’t do anything but look out of the windows when riding with him else I get car sick.
It's more about easing the brake pedal as you come to a stop. But yes, that's quite right..
Lifting off just before you come to a complete stop is a great technique. It is also similar to a technique called “threshold braking,” which is a high-performance braking technique: you press down the brake pedal quickly, right to the point just before the brakes lock, and then you back off the brake pedal just quickly enough to maintain grip (not lock up). When you get to your turn-in point for the turn, you trail off the brake to settle the car, and start to apply the accelerator. Keep it smooth (left-foot braking can help with that).
Of course, this gives no room for error because, if you didn’t start braking early enough with threshold braking, you will not make the turn, so it is best to only use the technique on a race track, on turns with plenty of run off. Threshold braking is similar to what you do when you push down on the brake while coming to a stop-where you press the brake, and then let almost completely off right at the end to avoid the jerky stop. However, with threshold braking, you press all the way down to just before lock-up, and then slowly let off, following the threshold of grip back, as the car slows, to prevent the lock-up-allowing you to slow in the most efficient and quickest manner possible.
Again, this is a very advanced technique. I highly recommend signing up to go to the track for a High-Performance Driver Education event, with NASA (National Auto-sport Association) or SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) where you will have an instructor to teach you in a much more safe environment where you are not braking laws, and you have emergency crews on standby.
@@981porsche3 Yes, that's also true. I do it so automatically I didn't think to mention it.
If you read my full post, you'll see I raced for many years. I've also taught at racing/high performance driving schools. Well, one, actually. Though I have also trained drivers individually.
I've been driving for 55 years and the one thing I've learned the most about driving is to not focus on the pavement directly in front of you but as far up the street as safely possible. By doing this you aren't constantly on the brakes unless you have traffic in front of you. It makes me mad when someone in front of me is driving 10 or 15 under the limit and constantly braking when it's not necessary. Most of these things taught here I've been doing since I was around 20 years old. Back in the early 70's I did a lot of street racing but it was always done on highways. In those 55 years I've never had an accident that was my fault. The 2 or 3 I have been in where from other drivers not paying attention to operating a motor vehicle.
"in front of me is driving 10 or 15 under the limit and constantly braking when it's not necessary" Those people are texting and are a danger to everyone around them and the most annoying driver to have in front of you. Myy friends 3yr old was killed by a texter and I wish there was more enforcement of the law.
You have touched on something that seems to be grossly missing in Mick’s driving contributions. He only seems to talk about how to physically control a car, which is 10% of good driving.
@@indypooh1 When you see brake lights every few seconds, you can bet those people don't understand why they need a brake job every year, my step father used to drive with one foot on the brake pedal, when you got out of the car you could smell the pads burning up and the rotors glowing red.
That constant braking is my pet hate too.
I call it UBS - unnecessary braking syndrome.
UBS idiots remind me of The Boy who Called Wolf , it's easy to fall into the trap of ignoring their braking, you never actually know when their brake light means they're actually going to slow down.
A lot of drivers don't even know how to apply tip one. They actually will drive fast until right behind a car ahead. Tailgaters they're called. Maybe it's a psychological thing.
I have had to put a 'baby in car' sticker to get rid of tailgaters, to go along with another 'keep distance' sticker. I always try to keep my 3 seconds distance, and it really helps me with not using the brakes as much.
@@20shouryayou think the stickers are helping?
Interesting that I basically was always using tips 1 and 2 from the very beginning of my driving experience, but I must say that these things were indirectly explained in theory lessons and also briefly reminded to me by my driving instructor when I was a learner, so I just settled with these things in mind for the rest of my driving. Surprised how many people tend to forget or just don't care about what they taught you in a driving school. Hell, I even one time faced a guy who said "Driving school teaches you nothing, you're just an idiot for thinking you know something when I have 15+ years of experience and you just got your license". This conversation was precisely about handling the car, rather than knowing the laws. Pure gold.
another addition to the squeezing is at a traffic light. A lot of people slow down towards the stop line and then in the last bit of motion press the pedal, which leads to everybody getting pushed forward. You can also plan ahead and right before the line and stopping, let go of the break for a moment, and let the car do the rest of stopping, then press the break again. It just makes it way smoother
The ol' limousine stop. Once you learn it you can't go back.
One of the things I don't like about this dual clutch box is it's very hard to do that smoothly everytime.
@@MickDrivesCars Is it even possible to do it with an automatic transmission?
I can't see why not. The passive torque from the converter might require slightly more brake pressure.
@@cyril4046yeah but it takes a little bit more focus than with an manual
@@nathane.231 Now I think back on it, all I would need to do is to switch into neutral when the speed gets down to about 20 kph, just as in a manual transmission. Would that work? I don't have a handy automatic transmission car to try it.
Learning to trail brake on the bike has made all the difference for me in tight corners. Going into them whilst already on the brakes (having pre-loaded the front a good bit) means that if I need to slow down that extra bit more I can just add a bit of pressure (or stay on the brakes longer) as I turn in. It also helps get the most grip out of the front tyre.
Even just in general, turning in while still carrying some brake pressure feels incredibly controlled and confidence-inspiring.
I would add though, you also shouldn't just jump off the pedal, for the same reason you don't jump on it. Unloading the front that quickly can unsettle your suspension pretty badly and send you sliding.
Same here.. I also apply brakes while I turn my bike and it's really comfortable
Back in the early 90s (when I was a much younger man 🤣) I had a job that meant driving about 30,000 miles a year. A lot of the journeys were on UK motorways, and one of my [much older] colleagues was an 'advanced' driver. So he used to set up silly games for us to while away the boring miles - one of those games being "try and do the whole journey without touching the brakes". The challenge was usually set down for 2-300 mile journeys. I managed Penzance to the Midlands once, without touching the brakes. It was a tremendously useful learning experience. By the way, 'displaying' trail braking is much easier if you have telemetry. It looks like a triangle, with the left side almost vertical, then the right side sloping down at roughly 45º. Like a cartoon cheese wedge, if you like 🤣 Once people can 'see' how one 'bleeds off' the braking pressure, it makes a little more sense (without IRL car telemetry you can always demo it in a sim). Fundamentally what you're trying to do is keep weight on the nose of the car, to ensure the steering works most effectively (and it's the ONLY way to drive a Porsche 911 effectively 🤣). But as you rightly point out, you have to be careful with it. You can set up a 'rotation' if you lift out of the brake too fast (which is why your 'squeezing the brake' tip is so valid, in reverse). There's another fun exercise to try - when braking for traffic lights, try to get the car to come to a smooth stop, without any 'pop' at the end. It requires 'coming out of the brake' in the same way you went into it. If you're squeezing steadily, you need to 'trail' back out of it in a similarly smooth way. Loving all these short films Mick, keep up the cracking work!
I drive a cab for a living and I always stop at lights without a ‘pop’ I make it my priority. I like to do it so the stop sneaks up on my passengers.
When driving through the Blackwall Tunnel I back off at the mouth to cruise through without touching the brake... it's my own challenge.
Is trail braking viable in winter with snow/ice on the road? Or even wet road after rain for that matter? Or is the danger of rear wheels slipping that much higher and therefore should be avoided in winter. Asking mainly for rear wheel drive. Thanks
@@markomatis1085 So much depends on the conditions. I live in a part of Canada where we get serious winters. If you are driving on pure, hard ice, you have to drive like you have no brakes, because in effect, you don't. Snow...it depends. So many variables. I sometimes use my handbrake to slide the rear end out And then release and get on the throttle to get around a corner (it can be fun, too). Rain is different, and again, much depends on the conditions. But the basic principles always apply. Weight transfer, anticipation for what you are about to encounter, and above all, smoothness. This is the key to skilled driving'. All your transitions should be as seamless as possible.
@@markomatis1085trail braking is - at its heart - predicated on knowing the bend ahead and then only braking as little as needed. In real life on public roads, you mostly don't have that luxury, as you must be prepared for whatever weird situation might exist around the bend!
I have been driving since last year, and the first thing I learned was heel-toe shifting and rev matching. After 2 months, I became consistent even in heavy traffic, and I fell in love with this driving style. This gave me excellent driving skills, and after a while, I was able to predict every corner, RPM, car, and pedestrian. I rarely use my brakes now, and I notice that they wear them after 15k or 20k kilometers. My clutch, transmission, and engine are in great shape, too. I realize most of the drivers dont even do that, and they drive very terrible. Some of them are putting other in risk because of it
You make me miss having a manual so much
There'll always be a bigger (faster) fish (car) than you, so may as well have the car you find most fun, which tend to be manual cars 😁
That’s great, but one problem about not using your brakes on the street is that drivers behind you might not realize your car has slowed. I rarely use my brakes too, but if there’s traffic closely behind me or approaching fast, I gently apply them just to actuate my brake lights to reduce the chance of being rear ended.
Also, regardless of how you drive, frequently check your rearview mirror. You always want to know the traffic situation behind you so you can possibly avoid being rear ended. Every time you brake, especially for a stop or waiting at a stoplight, check the traffic behind you to make sure they stop too. Many accidents could be avoided if more drivers did this like they’re supposed to and were hopefully taught.
I didn't know I was trail braking all these years! It just felt like the right thing to do as the car felt much more stable and in control this way.
Squeezing the brake is how I learned it in French driving lessons! Great explanation, very similar to what my teacher taught me!
Great to hear!
"Lift the gas pedal" is the first step to hazard perception in the Netherlands.
Whenever you perceive that a potential hazard is approaching (say, a car on the highway is changing lanes and cuts into your 2-second following distance), you're supposed to get off the gas. Positively and noticeably take your foot away from the gas pedal.
When a hazard is imminent (collision unavoidable unless you stop right now), you brake.
A slightly advanced technique is downshifting to increase the amount of deceleration you get. It's "slightly advanced" because it requires you match up your engine RPM to the speed of the gear you'll be in.
Note: swerving and changing lanes are not appropriate evasion techniques - there's not that many drivers out there that actually have the situational awareness to do emergency lane change / swerve in a way that doesn't endanger others.
Luckily my car does rev matching automatically, so I didn't need to learn how to heel-toe-shift.
Any driver who has a brain knows this things, it's not Netherlands specific, it's common sense specific.
And you don't have to rev match to downshif, who told you that? 😂
@@Siatkowkarzadzi it upsets the car a lot if you drop the clutch unto a lower gear because the revs need to be higher. You must rev match, either by blipping the throttle or slipping the clutch.
@Obviously, but it's not necessary. And clutch is literally to allow revs to match.
@@Siatkowkarzadzi true, however when upshifting you can dump the clutch at cruising speeds. You can really upset the car if you dump from 5th/6th to 3rd gear on a highway (when there's speed decrease from 100 to 70 and you want to engine brake quickly).
Best way I’ve heard trail braking described - your tires at any point i time have UP TO 100% grip available, which is distributed simultaneously across accelerating, braking and cornering. When driving fast you want to utilise as close to 100% of the available grip wherever possible (very dangerous to drive on the edge like this when on public roads I will add!). This is because as soon as you exceed 100% grip, your wheels have nothing left to give and this is how you lose traction. For trail braking we’re only interested in distributing our grip against braking and cornering. As you approach a corner you want 100% grip dedicated to braking (this can only be done whilst you are in a straight line). As soon as you begin to turn, some of that grip is now required for cornering, so you must smoothly ease off the brake and simultaneously transition your grip into cornering. Doing this smoothly will keep the car balanced and allow you to maintain full 100% usage of the available grip during the transition - e.g: when you’ve got 40% grip for braking, you want 60% grip on cornering (if you’re only using 40% for braking and 30% for cornering, you’re only using 70% of the available grip which costs you speed and time). As you turn more, you ease off the brakes until there is now no brake pressure and 100% of grip is now going into cornering. You then reverse the transition from 100% cornering into 100% accelerating as you pull out of the corner. In short, it is a technique to ensure that 100% of the grip available is being utilised at all times. Now take a shot every time I said “100%” 😂
I am now very drunk lol
Nice write up tho, so true
I’m applying your tips in my everyday life, in the safest way possible (and sometimes, in the fastest) this channel changed my life and my career as a Glovo Courier.
Half a century ago, when we had Driver's Ed in high school, we were constantly reminded to look ahead, drive ahead. That lets you do the slowing down by letting off the gas (and getting that infinite mpg). You can spot the people who are not. They include the folks sitting on your bumper as you approach a long line of stopped cars (traffic light, etc). In no Universe will these stopped lines of cars instantly resume the prevailing limit. Note of caution: I'm not always confident that a vehicle behind me is dialed into my reduced speed if I don't hit enough brake pedal to activate brake lights.
There have been times I have changed into 3rd on the highway and seen the car behind me starts to become much bigger.
No, when you lift the foot off of your gas pedal, you still consume gas, just not that much. It's not like you don't consume at all. Fuel is still injected into the motor because your motor is still turned on. As long as the motor runs, you're injecting fuel, just less than what you inject when you accelerate. ;)
I'm still figuring out how to prove this. Video coming one day, stay tuned :)
Great Video. Most people on the motorway are terrible at braking and don't understand about lifting off and planning ahead. I do some trail braking on country roads when safe, but definitely seen the effect when a corner tightened more than I thought
Try limit point analysis to assess the severity of the bends on the way in...
Roadcraft is a good book to explain it.
Got my license last month and started driving last week, binge watching your videos because even tho I’m just starting I’m super confident about driving fast so I wanna learn how to do it safetly
Love to hear it!
Regarding the "Don't brake" tip, one could argue that a light pressure on the brakes (for the sake of turning on your brake lights) could help the drivers behind you who may not see the obstacle or the curving road in front of you to deaccelerate, effectively creating a feedback loop among drivers. But if you're not braking and slowing down without turning on your brake lights, I don't think the driver behind you would have much incentive to deaccelerate.
its not my resposnibility to pay attention for the car behind me. If they are paying attention and at least 3 car lengths back there should be no problem.
@@indypooh1not all drivers keep their distance, you're better off not taking your chances and avoiding the headaches of an accident. Also just imagine some car in front of you started getting closer to you with zero prior indications, if you pay attention, you might manage (I won't go into if your not which is also common). But it would be way better if there was an indication (brake lights), that's why I'm a proponent of at least light braking.
I agree with this and sometimes tap when I'm coasting for a significant period of time to notify cars behind me
Good thing depth perception is a thing. I dont need brake lights to tell me someone is slowing down🤣👍
@@ariqaradaghi3837 Yep. It was a shit point that he made. No good driver would ever say something so foolish. I also ride a motorbike, where this practice is absolutely essential.
One underrated point about this is that braking too quickly or even at all (in the case of tip 1) is what causes traffic to accumulate. Everyone needs to know these basic things.
I don’t get the point of this video: the first two tips are good habits when driving on public roads, but the third one is for racing 😂
Trail braking can help if the surface you're on is more slippery than anticipated to help the car stay on the road, racing skills are great to have when things don't go as planned, or the unexpected or unanticipated happens.
Totally relate to the planning ahead thing! Another fun game is if you're wanting to make quick progress and you're able to see green lights in the distance that you just KNOW are likely to change, you actually ease off a bit. If you time it right you can zoom past all the late brakers who are now just moving off again as the lights go back to green (and you can get your foot down again) because they wrongly assumed you were dawdling 😊
Can of worms the last one. Lots of potential to make people who do it badly think they've been right all along. I mean, take a corner too fast and you might just about manage to get round it (we'll imagine the car doesn't have ESP). Hit the brakes mid corner and you're coming off.
I know the above scenario ain't the same thing before people point it out to me, but the issue is that for me any braking in a corner, on a standard road as opposed to a track, just doesn't compute!
inherited my dads car and just learning driving again.. helping me test limits and important skills to increase confidence and safety. thanks a bunch
Really happy to help! Be very careful with trail braking, can go very wrong very quickly :)
My mom gave me hints about these and i kinda picked it up along the way.
Maybe thats why i enjoy driving? The driver fully understands the machine, allowing you to connect with it. It isnt just a moving RC or a big toy.
4:35 wrong! ABS is your friend and you can never beat it. ABS is not on-off braking. The ABS is always applying the right ammount of pressure for each wheel so the wheels never lock. By not activatting ABS you are always under the limit and your braking is longer. You cant control the 4 wheels with one pedal but ABS sure can do that and is better than you.
Counterpoint - loading up the front wheels progressively will give you more ultimate braking grip and will make ABS cut in later as a result
About squeezing the brakes, first I wanted a harder bite point for spirited driving my hothatch, but now I try to get used with the softer brake. Thank you!
Can I just say, I love your channel! I’m kinda new to driving (and i’m from the US) and your tips helped a lot in just becoming a smoother, more educated, proactive driver!
Thank you so much mate!!! Hope my videos help!
I'm curious - is there anything about European roads you find curious/interesting or questions you might have? US is my biggest audience and I'm not sure what you guys wat to know more about
@@MickDrivesCars Well a few things that i’ve noticed are: European roads seem to have faster speed limits then here. The roads I see you drive usually in ur vids at like 45-60 mph would be at most like 35 mph roads here. Also you guys have the national speed limit system which we don’t have.
Also, this may be a “grass is greener” moment but it seems that european drivers are generally better drivers than us americans, this may be because of how much harder driving exams are over there. It’s so easy to get a license here, it’s honestly scary thinking about who I’m sharing the road with.
One question I was wondering is how to find fun roads to drive on? Do you just explore the area around you and then find some places you like?
@@stale.baguette Thanks mate, lots for me to think about
Funny you should ask that, I have a video on that exact topic :)
@@stale.baguettemaybe in your state but in florida it's also generally 45-60+ mph. The limits I see the most often are 45, 55, 60, 70. But no one not even the cops drive at the speed limit generally, a good life lesson is that theory and reality sometimes, or often, differ. So maybe in your area the cops are the same i wouldnt know.
This is interesting to watch I did all of this already. This was the way my grandmother thought me how to drive. Well that was 20 years ago and she’s pushing 80 now. Doing this I made my brakes last to 92k, and 102k in the back drum brakes.
I wish that people would understand that you dont need all the braking at all time. It's similar to point 2, yes use the break progressively, but use only as much of it as needed. I've been in plenty of situations where just a dab on the brake pedal is enough, just get that bite, hold a second to settle and off it and onto gas. Or to bite point, add a tiny bit more and then off and onto gas. Like trail breaking but in reverse, where trail braking is being in the corner on breaks and let out as you get to the apex, this is on it add only whats needed and let off when you dont need it any more. Think of it as a fix for misjudging engine braking, you tried engine braking, but tried it a bit too late, so you get just the tiniest bit of breaking for that last bit, but sometimes you only need that tiniest bit and engine breaking.
So true, I think a big issue that affects a lot of people is just not planning ahead whatsoever.
To minimise braking/use engine breaking/brake gently as you mention... you have to be thinking about this early, well before you come to whatever obstacle is ahead. People are just incapable of it 😂
@@MickDrivesCars I think people don't tend to look far enough ahead, and more importantly they often tunnel on the car in front of them.
It's spelled "braking" with the "brake" pedal!
@@randomdude7200 ah, right sorry, English spelling is a bit of an issue for me... Tends to happen when you speak, read and write 4 different languages.
@@Dominik189 More languages than I speak by 3! 😁
I've seen people drive without brakes but I've never seen anyone drive without accelerator!
The way I think of trail braking is say you have maximum 100% grip, that is shared between braking and turning, if you are at 100% breaking then you can't turn or you'll loose grip, and if you're at 100% turning you can't brake or you'll also loose grip.
So you have to balance the two so when you're at say 60% braking you can use 40% of your grip on turning.
But if you go over 100% and break that limit of grip you'll either understeer at corner entry, or loose the rear mid corner.
Great way to think about it
That's why they tell us not to do it. I have once understeered in the oncoming lane.. pretty scary, i got lucky. In this situation the hardest part (requiring most experience) is to easen the brake or let it go completely so you give back grip to the steering. Most ppl would be surprised at the speed their car is capable of turning..
Trail and left foot braking have changed and improved my car control over the last 10 years ago. Left foot braking took quite a while to develop but it is worth the effort once you get the hang of it. Makes the car more controllable and stable.
1:37 If you have a fuel inyected car/motorcycle. You still safe fuel on carburated engines because you don't have to accelerate as much to get back to speed, like in the last example you used in the first part.
I always do late braking at curve & today I knew its called trail braking
Just been watching all of your videos and loving them, so pleased to see a new video pop up while watching this Sunday night! I'm coming over from driving stick and want to learn to drive automatic/automanual as effectively as possible on track, but learning so much about how to drive well and its a joy. Keep up the great work!
Thanks man! It's funny - I was literally on youtube just over a year ago searching for the same videos when I got the Megane (my first auto car)
All these tips, been doing it instinctively for a long time now. Not on cars, but motorcycles.
Learn everything I know on motorcycles 👊
You seemed to explain trail breaking as a method of only slowing down while turning through the whole of the corner but I was under the impression you do a normal break on the straightaway and then partly into the corner and while steering through the corner you ease off the breaks to help the tires reach their traction limit then unwind out the corner with gradual acceleration
Very true - the truth is it was so hard to demo on the road
Trail breaking helps to rotate the car especially on fwd platforms
@captainsparklezx13 the main reason is that the tires perform best when slipping a bit and you want to keep them loaded near the limit and progressively go from longitudinal to lateral Gs. It helps if you imagine a traction circle graph.
@@captainsparklezx13more so it helps so you dont understeer
@@captainsparklezx13 It works on RWD/AWD too.
I love how I already understand and do the first 2 tips. (I've only been driving for about a year)
Any tips on ideal first cars for car enthusiasts that are also practical
Possibly a Mazdaspeed 3 or a 6 wagon :)
you can also buy something like an older accord depending on what kind of stuff you want to do.
I bought a miata lul
Hello fellow mazda owner! I bought an RX-8.
Good tips above
If you're not rich
Pando 100HP
@@neoney i respect the one car most mazda owners hate on too much :( its a cheap (albeit unreliable) sporty enough car
i respect it enough because nc miata is just rx8 but smol lul
@@colinpouliot42 and dorito!
As a driver from Florida, the idea of braking when the speed limit decreases is unheard of
When I first started driving the first thing I noticed was the cars shift in weight when using the pedals. I always made sure to squeeze the brakes just starting out because I hated to upset the balance of the car. I also realized that I naturally trail brake. I've always turned late and applied brakes late but let off slowly coming out. It just made the most sense to me knowing nothing about abs or anything. I didn't even know you were supposed to let off entirely while taking a corner because I would just trail brake. My dad would always say something to me but I'm glad I never stopped.
I don't appreciate YT's algorithm recommending me this video and considering that I'm not aware of this information.
Dude, I know all that.
I have to say that we should not rely on the opinions of so called internet experts. In tip 2, and various replies you posted, you imply that it is better to squeeze rather than apply full brake force immediately hence triggering ABS earlier an emergency braking situation. That is exactly what you want to happen, trigger ABS as early as possible. You will not out brake ABS! The whole building up pressure by squeezing to build maximum braking force is total nonsense. In fact, automakers like Mercedes have to design special braking systems that apply full pressure + ABS if it senses that the driver needs an immediate stop to overcome bad braking habits like you're promoting in tip 2 for emergency braking. In normal braking scenarios, I agree with squeezing rather than using the brake pedal as an on/off switch, but who in the world treats the brake pedal as an on/off switch in normal braking scenarios?
@JURYCA,, What you say is totally true abs does it all for us and squeezing or what i used to use before abs was a triple squeeze to stop the brakes from over heating. also to those, if you want to brake in a bend, you wont get away with it for long, never brake in the bend unless you really need to as a last hope, and you should be doing the correct speed before that bend and remember there are cars coming the other way so pls don't risk their lives too, I'm a very experience 58 year old cab driver, believe me adjust yr speed for all bends before the bend.
@@CockneyrebelIndeed. Especially when the road is slippery. You don't want your wheels to lock up in a corner. Just slow down before a corner. And also don't suddenly release the brake in a corner, gradually release pressure.
That's absolutely not true if you can brake properly. ABS *only* helps you stop faster if you were to skid otherwise. Someone who can stay on the edge of losing traction by not causing immediate weight shifts and knowing their vehicle will always stop faster than abs
@@K4iT3c No. You will not outbrake ABS on dry or wet roads because it can individually control the braking pressure at each wheel to be close to threshold braking. You only have one brake pedal and the reaction times of a neanderthal.
This needs more likes! These tips are total bs... people are going to kill each other like that.... and his explanation and example of trail braking is just cringe... pls dude do not post videos like that, you are spreading bad driving habits to people ....
Call that a corner!
Reduce your braking distance by 50% and you've hit that brakes twice as early as necessary.
Probably true, I'm just having fun on the road, not trying to decimate it :)
Years ago I got adviced, while playing racing games, to ease out any imput as you steer into a corner and to apply them again while straightening the steering, as if there was a string attached between the brake and the steering wheel, and the same for the throttle
I've heard this string idea a few times now. Got an idea for a video :)
Motorcycle riders know not PUSH the brake
It's funny - as a biker I used to give motorbike examples in most vids but like 10% of people leave whenever I mention the word 'motorbikes'. Had to stop :(
@@MickDrivesCars actually? thats insane lol
I was going to mention Motorcylces.. From what I remember, the first 5% and last 5% are the most important.
When I was inexperienced, I was driving at night and decided to overtake at a pretty high speed. When I got back into my lane, I was suddenly met with a sharp corner. Now here’s the cool part: I had quite a bit of experience from playing Gran Turismo, so I instinctively managed to turn into the corner, balance the car while braking, and save the situation. It was scary, but I’m so glad I had played some sims before
I feel like a pro driver, i'm doing all 3 techniques even tho I never learned them like that. Thanks for exlplaining!
You're welcome! Always good to put words to things that just make sense I think.
Another thing I learned, is if I have to emergency brake, downshifting may also be beneficial as well because its also using part of the drive train to slow you down. It isn't good for your brake pads or anything but if its only in emergencies and you aren't doing it often, you should be okay.
Very true, get every bit of braking possible
In EMERGENCY situation, you will not have time to downshift (anyway, the effect will be negligeable)... 😏
Something maybe to add...with trail breaking, the car rotates so much better in the corners....I am sure You knew this but forgot to mention....
Very true... I tried to kind of explain it but it's so hard to show on the road
That kind of stuff you shouldn't learn from a youtube video, it takes studying books and practicing it before you begin to understand.
1:36 you're not a better driver by holding up traffic flow. accelerate and brake like everyone else. it's so easy to not brake when you drive like a 90 year old grandma. In traffic which is like 80% of the time, you need to keep distance and not allow too much gap between the car in front of you. You can't be holding up the entire lane of traffic just because your dumbass wants to save the brakes. I don't uses the brakes and I engine brake when I drive at 11pm at night when nobody's on the roads.
Tip: Play in 1.25 speed
Love the new education aspect of your videos. Taught me a lot in this one video alone
Legend! Thanks :)
One thing i often do is slowing down a bit with break engine if i see a red light in a distance❗️ so im slow enough to NOT get there and stop, while im still in motion and just pressing gas if it turns to green.
Once i was driving in the city next to another car in the other lane. It was kinda like a race. I let them drive forward above the speed limit and i also used the engine break because i saw the red light. What happend? They were faster, left me behind, so they had to do a full stop at the red light while i barely run into a green light. The point is i also slowed down before the red light but stayed in motion and had a waaay faster start.
The funny part is that (because they were driving with more speed) they reached me again and left me behind. But again... red light and i got away. This was repeated for 3-4 lights. They were probably using 2x more fuel also.😅
I bet being in your car is like a limousine compared to most people's driving :)
When i pretty new to driving and i took my dad corolla which i used to drive, unfortunately not an ae86 corolla....a 2017 corolla, for spin in the mountains. I learnt was brake fade was that being able to stop was the most important thing. Later i got my own 2017 civic si and started autocrossing and braking has always been the most important tool
chromebook shirt goes hard
hahahaha that's actually 10x more funny than you can even know :DDDD
Literally didn't notice this after editing the video for like 4 hours
Thank you for the 1st tip. I've tried to tell this to so many people. "Why are you braking here, it doesn't make any sense?", They'll just shrug it off, they always drive like that. Okay, well;
1. It's jerky and not confidence inspiring at all
2. You're wasting your pads and rotors
3. You're wasting fuel
4. You're way too close to other drivers
5. You're driving way too fast into a roundabout only to have to do some jerky braking manouvre when you get too close.
That's just stupid...
Couldn't agree more 👊
Chapters don't show up. You need to timestamp them in the description of your video.
I forgot the bloody things. Thank you so much!!!
learning to drive in an old truck without abs forced me to learn the first two tips intuitively, it made me the driver i am today
Motorbike with no abs for me, but same idea
As a guy who's parents own an old rusty Manual Transmission ( stock, hasn't been mod for 20 years, 23 years )
and a new CVT car ( already 2 years ) I can definitely tell that engine braking is great, better than breaking so quick at near stop lights.
Definitely helped me planned ahead, as an ADHD person, I think alot of possibilities and most worked in my favour.
except for those who don't think soo much when driving. not all drivers ( around the world ) are knowledgeable about road rules and what's allowed.
I will tell you this tho, to all readers, don't mess with gas head SUV' and pick-up truck drivers. they are crazy drivers, some of them.
Edit: THANK YOU for making this video, this is a huge proof for me whenever someone tries to "lecture" me in driving 🤪
I was taught to stop well first and how to use engine braking. It is however important to communicate your intentions to other road users. I recall the famous quote from Porsche about being able to stop faster from 60 than get to 60.
Even stock brakes on basic cars are farrrrrrr better than people realise
1. You're slower. Speed is everything, all other things are pointless.
i have watched a few of your videos now, its mental that you often drive my commute to work lol!
Subscribed! As a fairly new driver, these are very informative. Hope to see more of these!
Legend! Thank you!
... More to come
There's one more thing with the trail breaking that is crucial if you're look to be quick.
Break as late and hard as is practical with out upsetting the car, back off the brakes as you turn allowing them to help rotate the car,
then 'don't accelerate until you can keep accelerating'. I believe I'm quoting Jackie Stewart there.
Smooth is fast.
What...? Really? Who doesn't know these things? All of you in the comments impressed by this? Not to be negative but I expected something advanced from the title of the video, not something so basic.
Okay good for you?😭
@@Akkayy Why are you crying? Do you not know how to brake?
@@BN99239 I’m just saying good for you?💀 Stop acting like a smartass, some people may not know😭 some weirdo you are.
@@BN99239 not crying, you’re just being cringe. Like do you want a cookie or something?
@@Akkayy How am I being cringe? I was expecting something more than the obvious from the title of the vid lol
Tip #1 is my fav. I could even use it as a reason why one is a bad driver - overbraking. I cant be more puzzled why ppl dont try to look further ahead in traffic and try to smoothen it out, instead they make it worse by interupting the flow by touching the brakes. They see stop lights and they slam on the brakes.. a few overbrakers in a row may even lead to a complete stand still. It is so often that i am driving in congested traffic - car in front brakes 10-20 times for 2km stretch I brake 0 times.. I try to look through both windows of the car in front if possible to account for the distance they maintain with the car in front of them. If too short I expect the car in front to brake more often , so i let more distance so i can slow down gradually. You can even anticipate the moment they hit the gas so you can get quite close without touching the brakes...ahh I dream for the moment when AI will become advanced enough that 90% of cars on the roads are ai driven. I am sure it would be more safe and efficient. Cars would "talk" to one another, give way to one another so smooth, so close. They would maintain shorter distances because everyone would be perfectly predictable and no one would overbrake or do crazy stuff...ahh.. just imagine
I'm looking forward to the day all cars drive themselves, I'm in some ridiculous V8 and all the AI cars stay MILES away from me 😂
Correction, the car uses gas, your engine is not turned off, it just uses miniscule amounts of gas to keep the engine running, aka idle.
Nope, have a Google 🫣
Coasting in neutral will use the same fuel as idle - being in gear, off the gas, engine braking... 0 fuel used.
@@MickDrivesCars Both of us are correct, you're talking about modern cars with fuel injectors, and i'm talking about older ones with carburetor. The only reason i mentioned this is to let people know that it's almost counterproductive to engine brake if you're driving an older vehicle with a carburetor in it.
Both are wrong. If you think just by letting off the gas your car turns of it's injectors is plain foolish 😂 a car always uses fuel when it is running (makes sense..) there are still idle curcuits and decelleration tables for fuelling in the ecu for closed throttle scenarios, it just uses a tiny amount of fuel. Try coasting in gear and switch the car off with the key - see what happens when it really uses 0 fuel 😃
And please don't compare engine braking to coasting in neutral - never do that, especially at higher speeds. The car will become way less controllable when not being "loaded" by the engine and trans.
Try taking a corner in gear and then at the same speed in neutral to see what i mean. Don't do stuff like I see - idiots doing pulls in their cars and when the pull ends - put it in neutral.. that's very very idiotic.
@MickDrivesCars the car still uses fuel while you are coasting to keep the system running, your steering, computers, etc.
No nonsense content, loved it, keep up the good work
Damn I've been doing the trail braking without even knowing that its a thing or is a good thing or is the hardest
Trail braking feels smoother to me as well, especially when combined with smoother steering inputs, which I feel are a necessity when you are trail braking. And that feel when u make a 90 degree turn going like 25 or so on a road and the back of ur car just snaps into position behind u is the best feeling.
Great video, again good advice, I use trail breaking all the time, it’s very useful in a 911 a with the rear engine. Left foot breaking is also useful for stopping washout in a corner.
I was trail braking my entire life without even knowing I was trail braking.
THANKS
Love how I can watch you talk through the logo reflection :D cool and well narrated video!
Hahahah that's one I haven't heard before! I can't unsee it now :)
Thanks!
I do the same things, especially tip #1. As a taxi driver I haven’t been replacing brake pads in the last 220.000 km (135.000 mi) and counting, saving fuel and all those components who could have been stressed with no advantage. Colleagues still tease me because I don’t brake. 😄
learned the risks of trail braking the hard way. one corner i drive almost every day with no problem trail braking became a big problem when autom arrived and it became slippery. understeer and right into a fence and the whole side became dented
Damn that's a painful lesson. Hope you're ok. Could have been worse and lesson learnt right? 👊
Unless you watch motorsports, most people won’t know about any of this at all
After this video i have realise i have been doing trail braking since i first learn how to drive, it's mind blowning to hear people brake then turn 😂
I'm a new driver, and the first 2 are just common sense really, the last one sure is more advanced but I already got used to it after some months of driving. I'm from Europe btw
I've never done a survey, but I would have thought most people would answer that the brake pedal is the most important pedal in a car. Seems like obvious common sense to me.
About the engine breaking and shifting down to increase the engine breaking... by stepfather told me always a change of breaks is way cheaper then a change of clutch or gearbox but using the engine to break while not downshifting to increase it is actuall a solid idea that i've been doing ever since i got my license I also use the engine to break the car when with downshifts but then again i know what im doing thank god
Yeah very true. Poor downshift can destroy a clutch so the easy way is to just stay in gear until you're pretty slow, then clutch+brake for the last few miles and hour.
Trail braking is useful when you’re on a busy road with cars behind you with a big speed limit, and you gotta pull off and get out of the way quick
If you're at the point where you're trail braking into corners, 99% of drivers will never catch you on back roads.
trailbraking is all about getting the car to rotate
Would like a video about left foot braking. I've seen it used as a form of trail braking on a track. Quiet curious on how to go about left foot braking as it's wise to be prepared for situations.
Feel like everyone should have to watch your video before they get a license. Such great advice and even better ending it with trail braking!
Thank you mate!
As an Irish driver, seeing the state of the British "country roads" makes me so jealous. Half the backroads around me are super narrow to the point where you need to stop if theres a tractor, no lane markings, unbelievably winding and pothole ridden.
To be fair, a lot of our are terrible. You have to search for the good ones :)
I trail break when I'm getting off the highway while going 130kmh, slowing to 45kmh while doing a loop turn and then getting on the gas again. Didn't know it had a name, I just thought it was the safest way
Yes! Those long spiral corners coming off the highway are a great way to practise this! I should have used that as an example in the video lol
My years on a road bike taught me about the concept of inertia and the benefits for saving fuel (my own muscular energy, I suppose xD). Now I drive my own car and on the road I always being surprised of the red lights I see continuosly in highway, or in hill roads.
Thx for the 3 tips. In Austria so many people should see this, especially tip 1. I see so many people braking without any reason. That is so dumb.
Good tips for organic pads and normal cars.
I use metallic pads with which you can’t progressively squeeze the brakes. You will get pad material deposit on your discs and vibrations. It’s late, short, hard braking with 50% pressure minimum all the time, no smooth deceleration with your foot on the brake pedal for half a mile like everyone does.
Great tips this was a nice refeesher for me. I wish more people knew these concepts and in general better road etiquette.
Ps what Opel is this?
2021 Opel Megane RS 300 😂😂😂
@@MickDrivesCars woops didn't realize it was a Renault. Apologies I'm in Canada and I haven't seen Opels, Renault's and other brands as they aren't here 😅.
Plan ahead and let off early, use engine braking. Apply brakes to slow some, then let them cool. Deceleration plants the steering going into curves, especially with front wheel drive. Most drivers don't realize you can downshift their automatics. I use a manual, and get a minimum of 120,000 miles, 200,000 kilometers, from factory installed brakes.
I didn't ever know these things are tips and not normal way to drive.
Now i'm scared more from other drivers who shared the road with us.
I agree so much with #1. I do this all the time. Brake discs last much longer??? ;)
100% I've never owned a car longer than a year so I wouldn't know about replacing discs lol
The second thing you taught is the exact reason I prefer not to have abs. It just takes away from what I already naturally do.
Trail breaking is great for getting traction provided youre not understeering. Just also be careful oversteer all the weight is on the front 2 wheels. Left foot trailbraking is an awesome technique too but i could never think of a use for it in a legal sense on the road
Very true, even trail braking in general is hard to deploy on the road legally tbh
This is what I was thinking, trail breaking is only effective in modern cars if I do it in my 20 year old car thats synonymous for under steering I will be on the wrong side of the road or in a hedge it’s dangerous advice depending on the car tbh