ROAD DRIVING

PERFORMANCE DRIVING SERIES

Trackdays are great and all, but they don’t happen often enough and usually involve a long drive halfway across Malaysia before the actual fun begins. You begin to look for twisty public roads for a bit of easily accessible excitement – at legal speeds, of course. With traffic restrictions in place, a spot of fast road driving usually involves a lot less preparation than when driving on the track due to the lower speeds and lower limits your car will reach. However, there are still some pointers to take note of before going on a backroad blast.

Bridgestone Tyre Clinic

Certain aspects of track driving preparation can be applied to fast road driving - such as picking suitable tyres and the correct air pressure. We've collected some tips from enthusiasts, and are here to share them with you!
 

Air Pressure

In a perfect world, tyres would only be exposed to flawlessly smooth and flat roads which are surfaced with good tarmac, allowing them to reach their maximum life expectancy. In the real world, however, we encounter many road surfaces and situations that reduce tyre life - sometimes intentionally when we go for these backroad drives.

It's thus important that your tyre pressure is at an optimal level as recommended by your car manufacturer, as these backroads and country roads can add up to 50% extra tyre wear due to the number of corners and less than ideal surfaces.

 

Know Your Limits

In most situations, a high self-esteem is worthy of praise - but not so much when driving on the road. As much as we would all like to think that we are world class drivers, the painful likelihood is that we are far from it.

Pushing your car to its ultimate limits on public roads is not just unsafe and inconsiderate, but is one of the top causes of a spirited road drive that ends in tears and a mangled car. While driving fast is fun, always remember to keep it safe and sensible and within the limits of the law.

 

Plan Ahead

It's easy to get carried away when you're having fun blasting through twisty backroads, inevitably finding yourself blindly ploughing on through the series of corners without knowing what lies ahead. You might be within the legal speed limit, but unforseen incidents combined with a lack of space to take evasive action, greatly increases the chance of an accident.

Therefore, in fast road driving situations, it's important to look as far ahead as possible and try to spot and anticipate any potential problems - such as a sharp corner or surprise pothole - to ensure that your fun isn't soured by external circumstances.

 

For the ultimate street performance tyres, check out the POTENZA S007A or POTENZA Adrenalin RE003 that delivers precision handling and maximum control.