How to Drive

Product Description

Here's the ultimate guide to being the best—and safest—driver possible. And an absolute must for everyone with a learner's permit. Former Top Gear Stig and professional driver Ben Collins shares expert skills culled from a twenty year career as one of the best drivers in the world, famous for racing in the Le Mans series and NASCAR, piloting the Batmobile, and dodging bullets with James Bond. Refined over thousands of hours of elite-level performance in the physics of driving, his philosophy results in greater control and safer, more efficient and fun driving for all skill levels.

Top Reviews

Mediocre attempt at making a complex subject funny and palatable.
by Welsh Guy (2 out of 5 stars)
June 25, 2018

Ben Collins has tried to demystify driving skills and has tried to add joviality to it. Unfortunately him being a Jeremy Clarkeson understudy on journalism and writing has not done him any favours. Clarkeson has a subtle comedic brutality to his writing style and uses a lot of euphemisms and sarcasm. Ben's writing style actually comes off as condescension. His explanation of the physics is wrapped up too much in trying to make it funny that it loses the technicality of what is being described. We all know that Ben is an incredible driver and I'm sure a great teacher. However this book is pretty superficial and anyone who has driving experience would already know and have experience of what is described. There are some gems but really this book is for beginners. There are a lot of 'self quoting' as headlines which is just a space filler to make the book appear bigger. Totally unnecessary. All in all it was worth $1.80 as an ebook but definitely not any more. FWIW I am motorcyclist as well as a car driver and maybe a lot of these concepts are so familiar to me as a motorcyclist that I may be being a little harsh in my review. I am also an engineer so all the physics and mechanical stuff is also easy for me to understand hence me finding this book to be maybe beneath me. I'm sure that the 'art' of driving is something that Ben excels at when he teaches one-on-one. This is something that a good instructor can do for their students. My grandfather used to teach the double decker London bus drivers how to drive and I got a lot of tips from him growing up, again maybe another reason for me being a bit harsh in my review. I wish my grandad were here to talk about taking double deckers on a skid pans !!! I wonder how well Ben would do with that ???
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Great Read For Anybody On The Road
by G. Smith (5 out of 5 stars)
May 15, 2016

I really enjoyed this book. I've always considered myself a slightly aggressive-but safe and competent driver-and this book validated a lot of stuff I was already working with instinctually. But more importantly, it highlighted a handful of bad habits and misconceptions I need to change after 30 years on the road. Beyond that, it's full of great science and witty anecdotes from the field of high performance driving. Great illustrations as well. Should be reccomended reading for anybody wanting to share the road with anybody else.
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Misleading title. Sixty percent is about driving well and safely. Rest is an excellent performance s
by BrK (5 out of 5 stars)
May 10, 2018

Plenty to study think about evenings and apply at weekends on your favorite back roads in this "driving manual". Even the sections intended for less experienced drivers have lots of nuggets you forgot about (or never knew). Vehicle dynamics, braking and cornering analysis and advice are gold for me. Maybe it's not written for racers, but I not a racer. However, I have a GTI and an old Porsche in the garage and love to drive. I'm giving the GTI some exercise on Saturday mornings since I got the book. Thanks Stiggy!
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A good instructional book for what I will call
by J. Yarnell (4 out of 5 stars)
September 14, 2016

Pros:
1. A good instructional book for what I will call, "Applied driving," which is to say that the book focuses on steering, shifting, turning, etc. and is not bogged down with what road signs mean, etc.
2. Provides some interesting historical factoids about the evolution of driving and the rules of the road such as which side of the road to drive on.
3. Quite a few interesting stories from Mr. Collins driving career and some of the people he interacted with.

Cons:
1. Many chapters begin with a story about a particular driving episode in Mr. Collins career; sometimes they relate to the material of the chapter, sometimes they don't.
2. Several stories, as written, were difficult to visualize at times and required me to re-read the story several times before I felt like I had a good handle on what was being described.

As stated above, Mr. Collins has written the applied driving manual and assumes that the reader already knows how to pass the written and the practical driving test. What is more subtle is the perspective that Mr. Collins approaches driving. When I was in drivers education, the focus was on defensive driving or accident avoidance. In short, the instruction wasn't proactive. Mr. Collins, in contrast, instructs his readers to be proactive in their driving by teaching the reader to make planned driving decision through a series of actions that balance the risks inherent to driving a vehicle, with the capabilities of the vehicle to safely arrive at the destination.

To that end, Mr. Collins dedicates quite a bit of discussion to the physics of tires. If I were to distill Mr. Collins book to a single sentence describing its content it would be: This book explains how to manipulate the interface between the tire and the road to maximize control in most driving conditions. For example, when entering a turn, Mr. Collins advocates jabbing the brakes and then releasing the pressure so that down force on the front tires is increased for steering. If you watch reruns of Top Gear, you will see this a lot in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment before the driver enters, "The Hammerhead." The nose of the car will suddenly drop down.

All of the obvious subjects are covered such as shifting, turning, driving in snow, ice or rain. The final chapter on stunt driving was interesting for me as an academic exercise as I don't believe that I will have occasion to power slide my car into a parking place. However, it was interesting to read about the steps in planning such a stunt.

It is clear that the focus of the book is for drivers with manual transmission vehicles. In fact, very little is written with respect to automatic transmission vehicles. This was a big disappointment as it rendered several large sections of the book as thought exercises and not something that can be practiced. Also, many of Mr. Collins descriptions of his own driving experience were difficult to follow. I was able to overcome some of the disconnect by watching the movie or TV show he was referring to, or playing a driving game on my daughter's game console. I also would have liked Mr. Collins to provide some recommendations for driving practice exercises. Before anyone says, "Go driving!," what I mean is that simply reading a book is not going to help me drive around a curve better. I need repetition to develop muscle memory. Driving badly around the same curve over and over only reinforces bad habits.

Final thoughts...

If you're looking for a story book about Mr. Collins time as the Stig, prepare for disappointment. He has a few anecdotes, but does not dish gossip or make what I would consider disparaging comments about any of the Top Gear hosts or the guests. The general impression that I get is that there was a friendly and sometimes frustrating rivalry on the show but that overall, it was very professional.

I would make this book required reading for any new driver, i.e. less than 5-years of driving experience, and as suggested reading for experienced drivers. The experienced driver will likely read the book saying, "I knew that. I knew that. That's interesting... I knew that, etc." There is plenty to learn or relearn to make it worth the purchase.
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Awesome ... a must read for EVERY driver
by KonKal (5 out of 5 stars)
July 26, 2016

As the author notes, Starbucks provides much more training for an espresso operator than DMV asks of a student driver before handing over a license. This book provides so much info about how to become a skilled and safe driver. It is for an average driver, AND a high performance car owner - both will benefit greatly. For example, emergency braking: most brake by applying firmer and firmer pressure, never getting the full benefit of their car's braking potential, or they stomp the brakes to the floor loose traction and skid, or they let ABS do the thinking for them. He teaches the stab/squeeze technique used by professional drivers where the first action is an aggressive stab on the brakes, about a one inch push which throws the cars weight onto the front tires which presses the tire onto the road which creates greater surface area for the tire to grip the asphalt. Then, once this added road contact is achieved, continue to squeeze down on the brake aggressively but never so much that you go into a skid. Having practiced this a few times, I am a complete convert - this stops the car fast. I've change how I hold the steering wheel, how I shift gears, and I'm still only at the beginning of the book! His writing style is entertaining, light and uncomplicated - an easy and fun read. As a parent, I have asked my young drivers to dig into this book and to become not just good drivers, but great drivers who know how to handle their car so as to create the safest environment for everyone who shares the road ... the craziest thing we humans do on a daily basis.
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This is a great book and an easy read
by kbeau (5 out of 5 stars)
July 11, 2016

This is a great book and an easy read. It has something to offer just about every skill level, especially those who "Know it all" simply because they've been driving 10 or 20+ years. With so many inexperienced drivers and distracted drivers on the road today I think this is a must read.
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Fun vignettes from a Pro and Instructive as well.
by Jack Zubritsky (4 out of 5 stars)
September 6, 2017

This is one of those fun books that is very instructive. The hook is that Ben Collins is involved with Top Gear and so his bonafides are genuine. And the instructions may seem fundamental for experienced drivers but I would challenge people to read this and not get anything out of it. Will you become a world class Formula 1 driver? Answer that one for yourself.

Absolutely entertaining and informative.
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Lots of useful into on how to drive, particularly in tricky situations/conditions.
by NoBigWoop (4 out of 5 stars)
December 26, 2016

Lots of useful into on how to drive, particularly in tricky situations/conditions -- far more than these types of books typically provide. Somewhat macho/condescending toward women here and there, though also self-effacing elsewhere. Plenty of anecdotes re his various jobs, which I found interesting and sometimes even exciting -- i.e. informative, & not particularly braggadocio. Last chapter(s) explain sort of how some driving stunts are done, but since it takes lots of practice to do those, and I'm not headed in that career direction, they were of only marginal interest to me.
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Short and semi-sweet
by MadMike (3 out of 5 stars)
September 19, 2016

Very humorous and a good read for novice drivers. Experienced drivers will find most of the points to be common knowledge except for some of the more skilled maneuvers like performing a Rockford. The majority of topics covering driving in inclement weather conditions and dealing with rush hour crazies should impart valuable knowledge to the less experienced drivers of all ages.
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Well written TG backstage info and driving lessons
by RedAnt (4 out of 5 stars)
February 6, 2017

Always wanted a lesson from The Stig. Enjoyable book, great language and insights. Found a lot in common with motorcycle riding. Many chances to learn something new. A few passages provide too much detail to follow. Most of these are stories that are probably interesting (if followable) but not necessarily needed to enjoy the book. I felt I mixed very little by just continuing after getting lost in the storm of details.

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