[MUSIC PLAYING]
Jake Fisher, Director of Auto Testing,
here at the Consumer Reports test track.
All right, so I understand you're a professional driver.
You've been doing this for over 19 years.
And I was wondering if you can teach me a couple of tips
on how to be a pro driver.
Yeah, absolutely.
When it comes to safety--
look, cars are getting safer all the time.
But if you can improve your driving skill,
that could actually save your life.
All right, let's do this.
All right.
We're driving on a 327 acre closed course test
track designed to push cars to their limits.
This is going to be fun.
I don't think you're going to catch any problems with me
whatsoever.
Perfect driver.
First of all, where are your hands?
Oh, no.
Already?
So what do you think is right?
This one like this.
Right.
Both hands on the steering wheel.
Absolutely.
Kind of the 9 and 3 or a little bit higher than that.
You're going to be more able to deal with any emergency that
arrives.
Um-hm.
Well, it looks like I need to get a few of the basics
down first, before we can start speeding up.
All right, so what's next?
Do a u-turn and come back the other way.
So here's how I'm going to do this.
OK, so--
That's hand over hand.
That's what a lot of people do.
Now, this time, what you're going to do
is you're going to do shuffle steering.
This is a little more advanced.
What is shuffle steering?
Shuffle steering is you're actually feeding that steering
wheel through your hands.
And this way, you're always ready and in full control.
Give it a shot.
Oh, that was pretty easy.
You did pretty well.
What about teens?
Can they apply any of these tips for themselves?
It doesn't matter how old you are.
If you're a new driver, these are really great tips.
If you're an older driver, these are great tips.
All of us have room for improvement.
Next up, it's time to see how well I use the brakes.
I want you to go quick.
All right, so quick for you means how many miles an hour?
I'm at 50 right now.
Whatever you feel comfortable.
Every car has really good brakes if you use every bit of them.
You want that pedal all the way to the floorboard.
That was excellent.
Oh, man.
[LAUGHS]
When you hit those brakes, we heard ABS engage right away.
ABS is when you get to the limit of adhesion,
and also when the brakes are pumping on their own
to try to keep you there.
And that's the difference between hitting
something and not.
What we're going to do next is we're
going to take this car to the very limit.
OK.
My heart's already beating, Jake.
Now we're heading to the skid pad
to test out how well I handle the car while in a tight turn,
something Jake knows all about because he's
an experienced race car driver.
Skid?
Skid pad.
The pad that you can skid on.
OK.
Don't try this at home, kids.
No, not at all.
Just drive around this corner as fast as you can.
Woo.
Keep on bringing up the speed till we start sliding.
Keep going.
Oh, ha, ha.
Whoa.
So what happened there?
The car would not stick with me.
It kept on going to the right when I was
telling it to go to the left.
So give it another shot.
All right.
So I'm going to tell you a couple tips here.
OK.
You want to anticipate.
Always look ahead.
Look forward.
Look where you want the car to go, not where it is right now.
Oh, I see.
Now, you could start to react before the car gets out
of hand.
Look at that.
I'm much closer to the line now.
You're closer to the line, and you're holding it.
You're doing a really nice job.
I do have to say, my heart's palpitating.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Today on the track has been awesome.
I've learned there's some serious science and technique
behind driving a car well.
With these steps, you can drive like a pro,
even if you don't have a pro by your side.