[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by GTO

An amazing post by Rachit planted the seeds for this thread.

Whose driving or riding skills left an impression on you? I have two who were exceptional

This made my day. This is a brilliant idea in my view too.

For bikes, I have a pretty big list, maybe because I have been riding with the same friends group for many years and I tend to like something or the other in each of their riding.

For cars, for me, definitely .Anshuman, our fellow moderator.
Have been with him in a car a couple of times and was following him in his Laura on my CBR once. I wouldn't typically expect a car to keep up with a big bike on medium level traffic on our roads. But he was smooth, fast and not rash.

Recently his off road videos too, where he is able to take his V-cross over obstacles with hardly any revs more than necessary has really caught my attention. Some day would love to take off road tips from him.


CHEERS!!

Rachit

[KungFuPanda]

Franzie, a friend of mine from my Masters course in Switzerland, is probably the one person I know who genuinely blew me away with his driving skills. I was always green with envy when I sat in a car with him.

He always drove Audis, an A3 for a bit, and an A4 later. My initial drives with him were in the A3, he always drove in such smooth lines - almost like he was caressing a curve as we drove through it. I wondered how he moved through gears without me noticing at all - that's when I was first introduced to the DSG. My moment of envy happened when he switched to an A4 after the Christmas break at school. We were out on a drive to our fav thai restaurant and the drive was equally smooth. Only later did I realize that this was a stick shift, and my man rev matched at every down shift, and did it so smoothly that we never felt it in the car. Albiet that he had the benefit of an organ type A pedal, but still - butter smooth.

I have never been able to shift that smoothly in my whole life. Try as I might. I blame it on the fact that he trained as a racing driver, and tried his hand at the circuit.

[Lowflyer23]

For me it's my father, since he is a fighter pilot of the IAF his reaction times and control is mind boggling. The man can leave your bimmer in dust driving a mass market car fast yet safely and smoothly (of course not possible on an empty straight stretch).

What I have learnt about driving is all credits to him, handling the vehicle like it's an extension of yourself, bang on gearshifts, pedal modulation, steering inputs, etc. There are very very few people whose driving I trust and feel safe with because of the legendary standards set by my dad.

[Madrasin_selvan]

Venkat a teammate of mine. This happened when four of us went all the way from Chennai to Chikmagalur by Polo. I was driving the car all through until the ghats were going to start. I never knew my teammate could drive a car, let alone on the narrow roads. He confidently convinced me to give him the keys. Little did we know he used to drive on the track and was a rally organizer during his college days. He drove in such a way to test the limits of the car and knew exactly what he was driving without crossing the thin red line of Rash Driving.

[@og_adi]

The best people to have an amazing driving skill that I know would be my dad and my uncle. Let me elaborate-

1) Dad- While picking up my mom from the airport once, we encountered some terrible rain and to add to that, trucks with no lights (OK, they must be really skilled drivers too then) and hence not much possible visual range. So the way to the Bengaluru airport involves a stretch of highway which on weekdays gets busy, but on that particular day I would say there were a handful number of vehicles. Even if equipped with essential components, (Wipers, defogger, high beam working fine) it would have taken a person some real skill to drive that day. Our Celerio had this peculiar problem where both the defogger and wipers don't work because of the angle of the windshield maybe, due to which it would become really hard to drive when it rained. That night was no different, with only hazard lights switched on and some real skill, my dad just drove. Even at 60 kmph, we encountered many instances of busses and trucks passing by to splash a lot of water on our windshield as the road was flooded. That night had me haunted for the next few nights to come. I mean what I say here, if it weren't for my dad, our tin can-like-build car (it really felt like the roof would tear open that day) with no safety features, useless wipers and defogger, would have landed us in a big trouble that day.
Collectively too, in his 13 years of driving, there hasn't been a single incident of him bumping into some other car, or for that matter zero instances of idiots having a chance to bump into us.

2) Uncle- My uncle's job requires him to travel from Vizag to Kakinada at least once a week (Up and Down). (Prior to covid times). (Still makes these trips, but at a lower rate). The ones who have traveled on that particular route would recognize that stretch of NH 16 to be notorious for its traffic of commercial vehicles and idiots driving on the wrong side of the road. The villages on the route extend on to the highway and hence you'll find people crossing the highway on the way too. In the last 7+ years that he has been doing this, he has put no one in danger. I have found him to be an economical driver who drives at moderately high speeds, hence preventing unwanted situations.

To me personally, a skilled driver is one with whom you feel safe to travel with even at high speeds. Comfort factors in as the second priority, but, yes, lucky us, they are good at that too.

Special mention: My school bus driver (who is no more) did portray some tough feats. He drove a bus like this-



on a road no bigger than 60 feet with autos and vehicles parked on both the sides of the road.

[haisaikat]

If we consider good parking skills as a trait of a good driver then I would like to list here this Innova driver has really commendable skills which stormed the internet some time back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyP3c2AK8U4

[saisree]

During my initial days of employment at Chennai, I used to travel to my home town Chittoor every weekend. I always reserve the same seat (no 60) adjacent to driver for the 4 AM APSRTC bus on Monday's returning back to Chennai. There was this driver Damodhara Naidu, driving that packed bus with so much of elegance. Never a jerk or a rash drive. 95% of the time he drops us at Guindy kathipara junction at 7:00 AM +/- 5 minutes.

He was my guru Dronacharya and I was his un enrolled sishya, aka Ekalavya. I kinda learned from him on how to maintain the lane, speed and importantly gear and clutch handling. Had a good rapport with him. Now due to his age, he has moved on to the short route buses. He is one of the main reason, my 100KM driving class ended in a week.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

My list is simple:

1. My Boss, my Guru and my mentor - Behram Dhabhar. I'm someone who doesn't like riding shotgun, as I freak out if the driver does things which do not inspire confidence in me. With Dhabhar Sir, I never had this feeling. Have traveled with him extensively in Karjat, Kasara and Malshej Ghats and I must admit, I never felt unsafe for a moment he was on the drivers seat. He used to go flat out on those ghats with those prototypes (including Thar). Learnt a LOT from him. He is a LEGEND!

2. I was traveling in a KSRTC from Wayanad, the way this KSRTC driver came down the ghats, that left me in awe at his driving skills. He was hardly 5'2" and would be weighing below 50 kgs, but the way he handled the ghats was absolutely mind-blowing. After the journey I went up to him and gave him a handshake saying "you were too good behind the wheels", he smiled nonchalantly and walked off. I don't know his name.

3. SS_Traveller - I've not traveled with him, but would like to someday.

Spike

[AtheK]

I haven't seen him ride, but when it comes to skills hardly anyone better I can think of but our very own @no_fear. His thread today on restoration today is one of the best threads I have read on Team Bhp in my memory. The skills and patience to get it done is exemplary.

[2000rpm]

I dont have anyone in my circle who drives better than me, and that is not a compliment. People in my circle are either too rash (25 kmph while reversing) or too slow (50 km in first lane type).

The driver / s whom I was really impressed with are
1. BEST drivers, they drive huge vehicles in narrow streets of Mumbai, with archaic vehicles. Without ac, without music with noise, with irritating passengers and are paid pennies.

2. State bus drivers who drive in the hills of Kashmir and Himachal. I was shitting my pants, when large parts of the bus had no land underneath on acute turns!!

[JediKnight]

1. HRTC drivers. Insane skills. Probably the best mountain drivers in the world.

2. Moto GP drivers: 190 kmph turns. Godly skills. Oddly I am not impressed by modern F1 drivers. F1 nowdays is like the better car wins.

3. Isle of Man TT racers: 300 kmph on narrow streets inches away from stone walls. These guys are super human.

[landcruiser123]

Two experiences I'll remember for a lifetime:


1. Our driver cum guide in Sikkim: In May 2012, it was out last full day at Gangtok and our pass only allowed us to Changu Lake. Little did we know how treacherous the climb from 5,500 ft to 12,500 ft was going to be. Battling narrow roads, landslide debris, intense fog, and the unforgiving slush, Mr.T took us to Changu lake and back in utmost comfort. Never did we ever feel unsafe as his navigated the Sumo 3.0 4x4 thru the mountains. At the end, my grandpa (who isn't exactly generous with tips) gave him a generous tip.

2. Detroit to Chicago in a Megabus: During end 2018, I must thank my friends' dad for booking us on a bus and not allowing us to rent a car and drive. The whiteout conditions were the worst winter conditions I've ever seen in the US till now. Heavy traffic took the fast lane and cars were relegated to the right lane. I lost count of the number of cars in the ditch and there were at least 3 dozen semi trucks in the ditch in the median. Our driver never let us feel unsafe. Despite the crazy blizzard and the numerous traffic accidents, she was only 45 minutes late. Deservedly, she got a standing ovation when we pulled into the bus terminal in Chicago.

[MatteBlack]

Most of the stories here just make me smile wide, leaving me with a hint of fascination and appreciation.

My contribution to this thread - My Dad.
I'm 18 right now. And for atleast 13 years of my life, I have not been one day without hearing someone praise my dad's skill of driving nor his impeccable attention to maintaining his rides and details. To this day, all of our cousins still have a word with him before finalizing their car of choice. I have never seen him stall at all and the way the car just flows around on highways... magical!.
My granny always tells me how she never feels comfortable in any car after getting used to my dad's driving. Infact, she refuses to sleep in any car that is not being piloted by my dad. Even when her own son is driving!
I can now see influences from his driving style in mine, but I will never be able to match his precision or smoothness. Ever.

[CArspeed]

I owe my driving skills to several drivers of State Transport and Private bus drivers whom I have observed keenly for the past several years. I have always booked the front seat to follow and learn from them. They have not disappointed me atleast 8 out of 10 times. The manner in which they manoeuver ghat sections with so much of ease have always inspired me.
I also owe a special thanks to my elder Cousin Girish who inspires me with his driving skills. I have learnt that driving is not about driving fast whereas driving is about the passion to drive and be behind the wheels and in that process inspire people to drive. A good driver will also encourage you and give you the confidence to drive through any roads and under any circumstances irrespective of whether it is pouring rain or driving in pitch dark or driving in narrow two lane highways or taking a winding and dangerous ghat section. My cousin offered me to drive in the Ooty Ghat section at about 11 PM, when I was a novice. There was no looking back after that experience.

[Dieseldunk]

Excellent thread to be initiated. GTO I could very nearly picture what you wrote

Have 2 people

(1) My dad's car driver- he was so much in control of the Amby M4. He would reverse park the car in our driveway which is just about enough to scrape. I really appreciated his skills after our neighbor asked a cab driver to back in to load luggage , that guy refused but our neighbor egged him stating "upar ghar ka driver roz andhar park karta hei", the driver banged the car on both sides and argued with the neighbor to pay up. THis incident and later on when realizing Amby without a power steering, reverse cameras/ sensor nor park assist and relying on pure judgement made me his fan.

(2) My friend who drives effortlessly and converses (w/o taking eyes of the road) and you never know when he is shifting gears, is a pure pleasure to travel as passenger(which i rarely do)

Cheers
Prasad