You can find here some important suggestions directly given by the instructors as well as some testimonies of people who have attended the courses. It is the best way to let one understand the aims of Speed Control courses.

• THE DRIVER AND HIS LIMIT

Every driver has his limit: some -such as drivers- have a higher limit, some -the common drivers- have a lower one. It is very important to be conscious of one’s limit and never overstep it! Only if you learn to recognize your reactions you will be able to understand when you reach this limit. As far as I’m concerned, my forearms muscles stiffen so the wheel steers not so easily. I have noticed various physical reactions in other people: some have sweaty hands, forehead or temples… all this shows that we don’t feel at our ease. It is a critical situation: we must slow down and get back our safety

Yet we must remember that the “limit” is not given only by our condition, it depends on other elements too: for example, is our car always efficient? Tyres: have they got the right pressure? can they transfer to the road what the driver wants? Brakes: are they in a good working order? And what about suspensions? We almost never think of them, but they do affect the behaviour of the car. Unluckily we sometimes become aware when it’s too late. We also must consider the asphalt. Grey and smooth: the car has not good roadholding; dark and grainy: the car has good roadholding. Finally, the climatic conditions. Remember that, in spite of what the media say, the speed is never the only cause of an accident, but only one of the components. The true reason is a wrong evaluation of a danger or of the external conditions. Doing 200 km an hour on a sunny day, with an excellent visibility and with no cars around is not a danger if we feel well. But if we are doing 100 km/h in the evening, after dinner -and we have had one too many!- on a wet road, we can be a danger! To conclude: the good driver is not necessarily the fastest, but the one who can decide the driving on the basis of all the above-mentioned aspects: the physical limit, the limit of the vehicle, the limit of the surroundings. Have a pleasant travel… by Andrea Pullè, his instructors and SUBARU ITALIA !

• ROAD SAFETY

Like most people who has driven for many years I consider myself a quite good driver: for work and family reasons I drive about thirty thousand kilometres per year, in town and on motorways. I have had very few accidents (I am a so-called “good customer” for my insurance company) and they all happened when I was fresh from driving school: some little collisions, wrong manoeuvring in parking, in short… the typical mistakes that women make when they have no experience. I drive confidently on motorways, I like going fast when I can, I don’t find it a burden being at the wheel for hours; all this under normal conditions. The problem is bad conditions, such as rain or ice.

That is why I decided to attend a safe-drive course: I have read in a motor magazine that you can improve your drive thanks to professional drivers’ suggestions. Amongst the various schools in Italy I choose Speed control SUBARU ITALIA’s official school: I’m keen on rallies and I follow Solberg races with enthusiasm. Thanks to this school I can drive an Impreza STI, the same car that let my favourites win the last world championship!

The first appointment is at the autodrome at 8.30: the school director, Mr. Andrea Pullè, welcomes me together with his team of drivers. They all are helpful and well-qualified: I see with pleasure that amongst them are famous people such as Alex Caffi, the Formula 1 ex driver, and Mauro Nesti, the multi-champion of the mountain.The course starts with a theoretic lesson: Andrea Pullè uses slides to introduce us to the – abstruse for me – car world, from the correct driving position to the forces acting on the car in the different situations and the correct trajectories in turning. All that is explained in a clear and simple way. And then…everybody on the track for the exercises! At this point I realize that I must completely change my way of driving: braking on a bend seems impossible, but thanks to the drivers’ patience and professionalism I learn quickly. The same for all the other exercises till the lunch break. I have learnt the difference between braking with and without ABS: I couldn’t imagine such a different reaction of the car! I’ve found out that I can avoid an obstacle without any rash manoeuvring: thanks to a simple and effective manoeuvring I can save my life and the one of the unlucky person that suddenly appears before me. What a lot of times it happens…and our instinct makes us react wrongly! We go on the tracks again for the rounds in the afternoon. I feel safe because there is always one of the instructors next to me: he gives me explanations and suggestions. After each series we stop for the briefing: the drivers comment our round and give us useful suggestions to correct our mistakes. At the end of the day Andrea Pullè and his excellent team give us a certificate of participation and a final suggestion: the course is not finished, in fact it starts now! When getting into a car, we will always have to put the lessons we learnt into practice: this will be the best way to become drivers conscious of our abilities and limits. Some months have passed since that day and now I realize that my way of driving has changed: leaving old wrong automatisms and behaviours is certainly difficult, but I’m trying to do it and whenever I am at the wheel I think of the suggestions the instructors gave me that day in Adria, on the Adriaraceway track. I think I’ll attend the course of driving on snow/ice too…

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LE DIECI REGOLE FONDAMENTALI PER VIAGGIARE IN SICUREZZA SU STRADE INVERNALI INNEVATE O GHIACCIATE1. Non avere mai fretta di arrivare a destinazione.
2. Tenere sotto controllo lo stato d’usura degli pneumatici, meglio se sono invernali e comunque avere sempre le catene a bordo dell’auto.
3. Vedere bene è fondamentale, quindi mantenere in buono stato le spazzole dei tergicristalli.
4. Valutare attentamente l’aderenza del veicolo sulla strada (ricordare che con la neve fresca è superiore rispetto al ghiaccio).
5. Viaggiare sempre a gas costante.
6. Evitare di compiere manovre brusche con lo sterzo.
7. Per fermarsi in salita è sufficiente togliere il gas mentre in discesa, più insidiosa, occorre usare le marce basse e sfruttare il freno motore.
8. In caso l’auto in curva tenda ad andare dritta, si può ovviare con piccoli colpi di freno a mano, sempre che quest’ultimo agisca sulle ruote posteriori.
9. Tenere sempre in considerazione che sulla neve tutte le reazioni della vettura sono molto rallentate.
10. La frenata non deve mai essere brusca. Nel caso l’auto sia priva di ABS frenare con piccoli colpi per evitare il bloccaggio delle ruote.

ACCESSORI PER L’INVERNO:

- Pneumatici adeguati o catene - Liquido lavavetro anticongelante - Olio anticongelante per serrature - Olio motore a bassa fluidità - Spazzole tergi (anche di specifiche contro il gelo )

- Nel caso di auto diesel additivo per il gasolio - Paraspruzzi - Antiappannanti e deghiaccianti - Accertarsi che nel radiatore ci sia liquido anticongelante