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C4GP ADAC Handling Course

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dr_gummi   
Fri Oct 07 2011, 11:17am
Today I had the opportunity to take my GP on a days intensive driving skills workshop with ADAC here in Germany. This course trains you how to stop and avoid obstacles on dry tarmac, simulated ice and on bends. Considering how soft the suspension feels on the normal roads, I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. In more detail:

Slalom Course: Up to sensible speeds (60kph) with the ESP on the slalom was not a problem. The main problem was the unsupportive nature of the seat.

Dry Emergency stop: Noisy due to the ABS, but stops in a straight line even without hands on the wheel. The hazard lights only come on above 70kph though.

Dry emergency lane change with or without braking: No problems upto around 70kph (the fastest I could get it to go in the short distance). The body roll was not too bad either.

Ice emergency stop: The ABS actually worked well and the car stopped reasonably quickly. On real ice and snow based on experience the system is not as good.

Ice emergency lane change under braking: Providing you kept the steering inputs small, the car did what you asked (upto 50kph). It even behaved with two wheels on ice and two wheels on ice.

Induced Oversteer: Interesting test as you accelerate upto 50kph and then they push the rear wheels sideways.

Compared to some of the other cars, the GP straightened up quickly after a couple of wobbles. This required some frantic steering wheel action as you steer into the skid, and from the noises the ESP is working like mad. Of all the cars the VW’s on the course seemed to be best, and the poor guy with a car with no ESP had no chance. The C5 loaner somebody had also seemed to be bad, but that could be the driver not being used to the car.

Cornering at speed: The ESP actually allows a fair amount of understeer, and the instructor thought my ESP was not working until I tried it without (aghhhh!). It turns out the other cars systems visibly cut power to the driven wheels, whereas the GP’s does not. What I did discover though is that if you suddenly lift off while understeering on a slippery surface, the car suddenly oversteers slightly (apparently this is not unusual, and is much worse with worn rear tyres).

This did not lead to a loss in control, but it is a bit disconcerting. Braking though stopped the understeer without any problems, and even emergency stops were not a problem.

All in all pleasantly surprised, this car (with the exception of the gearbox) is really altering my opinion of Citroen's.

These cars are not only 5* for active safety, they seemed to have sorted out the electronics as well which make accident avoidance more likely.

Joe

Sorry it was a long post.
1 User said Thank You to for this Post :
  (07 Oct 2011 : 17:45)
Dave_Retired.   
Fri Oct 07 2011, 12:40pm

Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006
Location: Northumberland
Very interesting Joe and thanks for sharing
Biohead   
Fri Oct 07 2011, 12:48pm

Member No: #6049
Joined: Nov 05 2008
Location: Bracknell
Would have loved to seen a video of it in action! Sounds good though!
dr_gummi   
Fri Oct 07 2011, 02:34pm
Bit difficult at the time I think one of my colleagues had a camera though, so some pictures might be forth comming.
Joe
noel.nev   
Sat Oct 08 2011, 01:52pm
Member No: #18779
Joined: Mar 16 2011
Location: Pen-Y-Bryn South Wales
excellent, good to here the GP done well
HoneyMonster   
Sat Oct 08 2011, 02:55pm
Member No: #1443
Joined: Oct 28 2007
Location: Wiltshire
Sounds like you had a better day than this

 

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