this image is not available
Media Platforms Design Team

(Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Here is what I do on weekends: I put on a crash helmet and climb into fast cars with strangers and teach them how to drive on a racetrack. I am a high-performance driving instructor, and I teach the techniques that Formula One drivers use to get around a twisty racecourse. Anyone over 18 with a sporty car (or even a nonsporty one; it's your money) can sign up to learn what happens when you get your Audi up to 120 or actually jam on the brakes as hard as they were meant to be jammed on. And while you should never drive to the grocery store the way we drive on the track, the principles we teach can make you a better and more conscientious driver. And they're fun.

When I instruct a track newbie, the first item of business is what we reverentially refer to as The Line (see below). The Line is simple in theory but, like using a saber to uncork champagne, somewhat trickier in practice. Cars go fastest in a straight line. The less you ask them to turn, the faster they can go. Ergo, the fastest way through a turn is the one that rides the longest radius. When you're driving on the street, your line is pretty much determined for you by the Department of Transportation. But instead of hugging a corner, start at the outside of your lane and try to flatten out the arc of your turn with the little room you have. Slow down before the turn, not in the middle, and accelerate only when you're coming out of it.

Then there's the contact patch, the four little pieces of grippy real estate where the rubber meets the asphalt. Braking maximizes tire contact in the front, accelerating transfers it to the rear, and turning shifts it from side to side. Since your car is most stable when its weight is evenly distributed, it's important to remember that the more you ask the vehicle to do one thing (turning), the less it can do of another (braking or accelerating). Once they have that in mind, most of my novice students are astonished by their cars'—and their own—ability to maintain speed throughout a turn or to stop the car quickly when the situation demands it.

The most valuable exercise I do with my students, however, involves vision: You have to look much farther ahead than your instincts tell you. That's where you'll see the effects of the driving decisions you make. When my students take their eyes off the hood and redirect them from the entry to the exit of the turn, their inputs become smoother, and, no surprise, their cars become faster. You can do the same thing on the street. Look where you want the car to go, not where it is.

Oh, and always wear your seatbelt. But maybe not the helmet.

this image is not available
Media Platforms Design Team

(Illustration by Giacomo Gambineri)

A THE LINE.

Racing turns should be as flat as possible to minimize steering and retain speed. As you approach a turn, position your car to the outside edge of the track for entry, or turn-in. At the apex of the turn, try to run over the road's inside edge before moving back toward the outside on exit.

B BRAKING.

The approach to a turn is your brake zone. Racetrack braking is the opposite of street braking: You begin by hitting the brakes as hard as you can, then tapering off as you enter the turn. As you near the apex, your foot rolls smoothly off the brake and you apply maintenance throttle—just enough gas to maintain your speed.

C ACCELERATION.

When you've passed the apex, give it more and more gas as you unwind the wheel. Once you're straightened out, your foot should be to the floor.