ADUK Archive

though I have a kindle, and prime membership so can borrow kindle books - I still like to read real books / like to suport the author, so I have bought a copy, it arrived today - so I think a long bath, a glass of something nice and a book to read should be a good combination...

first glance is that it looks well put together and is very readible...

Alasdair

Ordered my copy too, along with a suggested tome by some bloke called John Lyons. Caused me to visit the PH AD forum threads and to read some interesting stuff about LFB. Doing that then caused me to wonder how to learn HTB. Can't go about discussing AD without any grasp of advanced techniques now can I? Where's the 'how to HTB' tuition thread kept?

I'll try to fit reading the books in around going for pleasurable blasts in my Mx5 with newly installed upgraded ARBs. The difference in lack of wallow is night and day. Tyre grip is now an issue ,whereas body roll previously kept me well clear of grip limits. Eibach -30mm springs arrived today but I'll wait until I've had some fun with the ARB upgrade before installing them. Doing an oil change tomorrow.

It's all go around here you know.

StressedDave wrote:Sorry, I have a jaded view of the aftermarket, particularly as applies to stuff engineered in Germany so not designed for British roads.

Is it my imagination or are you not involved with selling some after market MX5 dampers and stuff?

chriskay wrote:

Kimosabe wrote: Eibach -30mm springs arrived today but I'll wait until I've had some fun with the ARB upgrade before installing them. Doing an oil change tomorrow.

Before you fit the Eibachs, I'd ask StressedDave's opinion. He will probably explain, in more detail than you actually require, why they will totally f**k the handling.

Chris, Dave, mefoster, mr tent..... thanks. Nothing personal Dave, I just didn't think to ask and as mods are so seldom spoken of on this forum, I thought it best to leave such discussions to the owner's club and other forums. I'm happy to hear anything any of you have to say about MX5s and driving in general and you're all always welcome to drive my cars.

There is much I want to learn and i'm not yet where I want to be as a driver. I'm not entirely unhappy but I can see areas for change in terms of AD and these have been repeatedly mentioned to me by others in the AD community, so i'm spending as much time as I can on it.

I've had these springs sitting in their box for around a week now and I bought them at around the same time as I bought the ARBs. I've decided not to fit the springs (and thanks for the advice and support with this too) because since changing the ARBs, i'm no longer unhappy with how the car handles and as you rightly say, the money could be better spent upgrading my abilities instead of trying to change my car to suit my inabilities and that's something i'm very keen to do. Not to mention that with two-up, the chances of bottoming out on undulating backroads, is far greater than if the ride height and damping was left alone.

Since I bought the MX5, i've never been happy with the amount of body roll it's had. Upgraded dampers might have been another solution but with the ARB change, I like the way it is, for now. It's just a bit of a tweak and not intended to substitute good driving.

I'm also servicing my cars myself now.... and in the process realising that I know far more foreign swear words than I thought .....it's all part of the journey and SWMBO completely understands.... probably.

Thanks again guys.

Garsk!! So in stiffening the roll, i've also created more slip at the tyres due to placing more stress at the contact patch? Is that right? Funny you should say that but i've noticed that the steering feels a bit lighter....or at least it feels different in some way to what it did before fitting the ARBs.

The only other thing I was considering is, as you said, changing the dampers for new OEM because they've been on the car since 2007.

May I ask your opinion of my tyres too? They're Hankook V12/K110. I've never had any issues with them but that's mainly because I never ask much of them aside from that they keep my where I want to be on the road and I am quite a gentle driver anyway. I think my biggest issue is with the seat! Gives me awful knee ache due to lack of thigh support. Washers under the front bolts or orthopedic thigh wedge? (that made me cringe too )

PS: Reg Local's book just arrived and I can barely wait to get stuck in. I'm glad to see that there are lots of pictures too

Apologies for unintended threadjack, it just seemed to come off in my hand, so to speak
But while i'm riding roughshod over the thread; and I promise to get back to discussing Reg Local's book...
Koni Sport x 4 = £560 delivered inc vat.

Dave (again, very kind of you to offer to help me out), once i've had them fitted, i'll drop you a line and perhaps we could kill two birds with one trip and you could maybe show me a thing or two, after zeroing them in, like how much g my tyres will take before losing the plot. I like the sound of all this sciencey testing and measuring of parts because for some unknown reason, knowing stuff like this makes all the difference to me. No idea what i'll do with it, apart from know it though

Right, back to Reg Local's tome. Aside from having to walk the dogs and chat on here, I haven't put it down since it arrived. How come he's not an ADUK member....or is he?

Kimosabe wrote:Right, back to Reg Local's tome. Aside from having to walk the dogs and chat on here, I haven't put it down since it arrived. How come he's not an ADUK member....or is he?

He is, but I think that busyness limits the forums he can post on...
I suspect that Pistonheads (on which he is a more regular poster) perhaps offers a better market for his message (not the book, but encouraging other drivers to drive better) in some ways this forum is preaching to the converted...

Alasdair

WhoseGeneration wrote:

MGF wrote:I thought Reg joined to promote his book. Certainly, he lost interest rather quickly.

I think that's an unfair comment. He isn't going to get rich from that book and has to do a day job too.
Then also, here he would be preaching to the converted, so not really the best target audience.
He appears to be one of the good ex BiB, one who understands the joy of driving but wants people to understand how to do it safely.

None of that is incompatible with joining the forum to promote his book.

WhoseGeneration wrote:If you were to go back through his posts many years ago on PistonHeads you would come to understand him a bit more.

I have a fair impression, having bought the Kindle book he appears to have joined the forum to promote six months ago. Have you?

If not, it's worth a look.

akirk wrote:

Kimosabe wrote:Right, back to Reg Local's tome. Aside from having to walk the dogs and chat on here, I haven't put it down since it arrived. How come he's not an ADUK member....or is he?

He is, but I think that busyness limits the forums he can post on...
I suspect that Pistonheads (on which he is a more regular poster) perhaps offers a better market for his message (not the book, but encouraging other drivers to drive better) in some ways this forum is preaching to the converted...

Alasdair

....although in some cases the conversion still has some way to go.

I cannot recall the last time I read 100 pages of a book in one sitting. Reading does not come easily to me. I'm not saying I can instantly go and do it all but it's so accessibly written, that I can't help but like the guy and feel inspired to go and try. It makes a great reference book and sits well beside Ye Olde Roadcrafte.

How well do you think Reg's book works for newly licenced / inexperienced drivers?

Also, if you were going to pick one book for someone new to AD, would it be Reg's book, Roadcraft, HTBABD or something else?

I've not read HTBABD, but I'd certainly recommend Reg's book to a young driver who'd had a year or so of driving under their belt - I was overwhelmed in my first year, and this book would have gone in one ear and out the other, if you know what I mean.

Zebedee wrote:How well do you think Reg's book works for newly licenced / inexperienced drivers?

Also, if you were going to pick one book for someone new to AD, would it be Reg's book, Roadcraft, HTBABD or something else?

I would buy Roadcraft because it's the (partially) referenced test used by both the IAM and RoSPA AND I would definitely buy Reg Local's book , because unlike Roadcraft ,it's written for non police drivers ,in a non police driver way, by an ex police instructor with a great sense of humour and wit.

For example, among other useful insights, he states that outside of the IAM and RoSPA tests, he doesn't care how you steer a car as long as it's safe and smooth but for the test, PP is expected, so must be properly demonstrated. I mention this because I found the ongoing dichotomy of test driving and everyday non police driving to be very difficult to resolve and I don't only mean steering technique. It's a very refreshing book and I find myself nodding at what he's saying, whereas I found myself banging my head on the wall of observer dogma with great disagreement and Reg's perspective would have been a great help to me early on. Maybe it should be on the reading list for trainee observers and their trainers too?

I'd also recommend that they join this forum, because the members will undoubtedly help and also that they read R_U_Locals threads and replies on the Piston Heads forum. Perspective is key to this. There's much more to driving than Roadcraft, IMO.

Just finished Reg's book, which has been my bedtime Kindle reading for a few days. I found it contained quite a number or very thoughtful points, put over with flashes of entertaining humour. It's a pity though that the photos don't come over very well on KIndle.

Oh, and for those of you who don't drive regularly in Egypt, they don't put their lights on at night because of the dazzle. Funny lot out there. I spent two long summesr working out there and they have some Very Interesting Driving Habits which I won't go into here ....

triquet wrote:Just finished Reg's book, which has been my bedtime Kindle reading for a few days. I found it contained quite a number or very thoughtful points, put over with flashes of entertaining humour. It's a pity though that the photos don't come over very well on KIndle.

Oh, and for those of you who don't drive regularly in Egypt, they don't put their lights on at night because of the dazzle. Funny lot out there. I spent two long summesr working out there and they have some Very Interesting Driving Habits which I won't go into here ....

In India, drivers may vary between driving on main beam all night regardless of the carnage they cause through dazzling and being dazzled or driving with no lights on all night, because they don't have any that work/ are too stoned/ too sloshed/ for religious reasons/ know where they're going and don't require lights to show them the way/ underlying Karmic consequences.... Unlit cattle, camels and elephants sleeping on roads at night is something to behold, as their retinas reflect different colours when caught in headlights. I used to have a guide that outlined the different species of road dwelling animals in India by the colours of their retinas. Never saw a tiger though.