Last issue we discussed how you can use the accelerator pedal to help micro manage the available grip from your tyres, when driving your Evo on circuit at its limit of adhesion. We also focused on how correct use of the accelerator will aid your recovery from an understeer or oversteer scenario. Let’s now consider what part the steering wheel plays in the equation.

In order to achieve optimum speed throughout a lap, your aim on circuit is to drive your Evo in, through and out of each corner at grip limit. To achieve this you must optimise your apex speed at each and every corner on the circuit. But don’t forget, the nearer you get to your vehicles limit of adhesion, the less chance you have to correct a mistake. And by the nature of the speed you are carrying through the corners, the opportunity to make an error also ramps up. You should expect a degree of understeer or oversteer, and the ultimate Evo experience, equal lateral acceleration, a four wheel slide.

It is not often you get the opportunity to experience a “first”. Something unique that has not been done before! Well it might surprise you to know I am about to do just that. I have just been handed the keys of the new Peugeot 5008, the French manufacturers “first” Compact MPV. Carefully crafted to bridge two worlds, compact is a generic term used by the motor industry to describe a small saloon. While MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) implies a car for the family - a work horse designed to cope with the demands of family life. Surely you can’t have your cake and eat it?

Leaving Perry’s in Bletchley the 5008 feels light and easy. Building the speed up to 30MPH through the town, the steering feels responsive, accurate and untroubled by the low speed traffic and larger steering inputs needed to negotiate the tighter junctions of the town environment. The turbo diesel power plant produces 150 BHP and, as you would expect from a diesel, a lot of its pulling power (torque) is at a nice and low 2000 RPM, so you don’t need to work the engine through town to cover ground efficiently. 6 speeds in the manual gearbox ensure performance and economy, and for those not looking to swap the cogs by hand, automatic and electronic gearbox control are on the options list.

evo's Dobie and Shorrock get to sample a race-spec Caterham with CAT Driver Training. Cue competition...

Driver training. It’s tremendous fun. That might come as a bit of a surprise; the word training tends to mean dull powerpoints or making lots of monotonous notes.
Alas, a visit to CAT Driver Training involves none of that. It means doing skids in a Caterham and driving at 130mph in a Lotus Elise. Read the full article.

How do you drive effectively on snow and ice? It will probably all have gone by the time you print this, but I struggled to drive my Mini during ‘the big freeze’. Also, I’m getting a BMW Z4 soon, so by next winter I’ll have gone rear-wheel drive. Will that require different techniques? – Laura Dale

Irrespective of the vehicle you own, your inputs must be considered, minimised and efficient. Silky-smooth application of the steering, brakes and throttle are essential.

Brave isn’t a word I’d use to describe my driving style. It’s true that in the time I’ve had the Mazda I’ve had some amazing drives and my confidence has grown, thanks largely to the car’s forgiving nature, but recently I felt that I had reached a point where my skills weren’t progressing any further. I needed help from an expert.

Our very own ‘Ask the Experts’ expert, Colin Hoad of CAT Driver Training (catdrivertraining.co.uk), was recommended to me by staff writer Stephen Dobie, who had received some car control tuition from Colin last year. Stephen had clearly enjoyed himself, because he decided he’d come along with me for a refresher when it was my turn. This could mean only one thing: competition.