BMW Driving Academy, Maisach: Things You Should Know for Being a Better Driver

As a part of an official trip with BMW to their headquarters in Munich, Germany, we recently visited their state-of-the-art Munich production plant, their splendid museum and the BMW Welt experience center – where you can experience every BMW Group product and service under one roof. Last, but definitely not the least, we spent one full day at the BMW Driving Academy, Maisach, near Munich. The driver training academy, also known as BMW Driving Experience, trains drivers to deal with every level of challenge on the road and at the racetrack.

BMW HQ in Munich, with the ‘Bowl’ building by its side, home to the company’s museum

BMW ‘Welt’ – Brand Experience Center

 BMW Museum

We spent one full day going through the theoretical and practice sessions of the academy’s basic driving program. Now, ‘basic’ as a word may sound somewhat conflicting with the inflated egos of auto journos, who think no end of their driving skills. However, even the most rudimentary level of training at the academy had elements which enriched our skills as a driver. We sincerely think that we should share our experience and learnings at the academy with you. Simple as the techniques may sound, they can really make a tremendous difference to a one’s’s skills to make him a safer and more confident driver.

Seating

It’s extremely important for a driver to sit properly in a car. Sitting too high, too low, too close or too far from the steering wheel doesn’t just have to do only with comfort. Based on your driving position, your body’s ability to respond to an emergency situation is also affected. There is a proper way to sit in a car while driving and it’s crucial in ensuring that your limbs can reach all the controls crucial in averting a potentially hazardous situation. Here’s what you need to keep in mind as you climb into the driver’s seat.

Your arms should not be stretched out, and you shouldn’t be lounging in the seat. You should sit upright with the steering wheel positioned comfortably close. Your arms should make an angle at the elbows to facilitate free movement of your hands at the steering wheel. Like the elbows, your knees should also form an angle while being positioned over the accelerator and brake pedal to facilitate a quick and powerful response from the legs in case of an emergency.

The seatback should be upright for proper support to back and upper shoulders. You should also set your headrest in such a manner that it is positioned right behind the back of your head to prevent any whiplash injuries in case of a rear collision. There should also be some space left between your head and the roof to prevent any head injuries in case the car inadvertently passes over a vicious bump. A gap of about four fingers is generally considered sufficient.

Adjust the seat height in such a manner that you get a good view of the car’s surroundings. It’s not advisable to sit too low, especially while driving in traffic conditions as chaotic as ours.

Steering

Most people hold and maneuver the steering incorrectly. You need to hold the steering from the points where the arms of a clock would be when it’s showing 9:15. It’s not right to hold the steering with one hand, or to hold it with both hands only from the top, or from the bottom. The steering wheel has to be held properly at 9:15 position to ensure the most confident movement and maneuverability.

For milder turns, where the steering wheel doesn’t turn full circle, your hand opposite the direction of the turn (Right hand for a left turn) should move the steering wheel, while the other hand should open up to let the steering wheel slide through.

For sharper turns where the steering wheel has to be turned more, both your hands should move together. For a left hand turn, the right hand should move to turn the wheel 180 degrees, and the left hand should momentarily release the steering and cross over to hold it again from point on steering wheel opposite to where your right hand is. This requires some practice, but can help you tremendously in having a better control on your car where quick steering movements are required.

To ensure that all the participants in the program had learnt the steering techniques properly, the trainers at the academy made the participants drive through a slalom course with a U-turn at the end. The two trainers kept a close watch on the participants and corrected them promptly as they spotted them doing something different from what was taught.

Next page for braking, and how to control understeer and oversteer>>>