The driving tips booklet from MINI, "
Mastering the Asphalt Arts", that can now be downloaded from the MINI Cooper S MC40 or Motor On sections of MINIUSA.com is good information in a fun MINI-oriented format. This is the first document on the subject that we've seen from MINI. The printed/stapled format fits into the MINI glovebox too!
From MINIUSA Home
http://www.miniusa.com/crm/main.jsp
Click on "MINI FREESTYLE RACING" in the right panel, or "MOTOR ON" and then "FREESTYLE RACING" from the pull down there.
Click on "MASTERING THE ASPHALT ARTS" in the left panel.
Click on "PERFORMANCE DRIVING TIPS" from the right panel.
For someone who has not been able to take a driving course yet, it covers the basics:
- Seating Position
- Vision
- Being Smooth
- Steering
- Shifting
- Braking
- Accelerating
- Cornering
- Heel-Toe Downshifting
- The Flags
There are some potential confusions, but only one serious error on Page 4, 2. Weight Transfer, 4th sentence that should read: "Braking moves the weight (and therefore the friction) from back to front" (not "front to back" as printed there). 3/3/2004: They fixed the weight transfer error on Page 4 that I called about, but not some of the other items (like using the steering wheel; Page 5, Item 3 Turning).
I don't like the Page 1 Introduction because it uses "Freestyle racing" -- a term that is not defined in the booklet, and not used in the community (try a Google search). There are exampples on the website now and the drawings show yellow traffic cones, and MINI magazine ads have orange paper cut-out cones, so I think they mean "Autocross" but that's not clear. Page 1 was probably written by some marketing consultant, while the rest of the booklet was written by a driving school instructor carefully using the term "performance driving" to prevent legal, warranty, or insurance questions for MINI/BMW Group.
This booklet is worth downloading.
