Too Cool for School, Unless It's Driving School.(Column)(Column)

Byline: Rich Ceppos

Let's talk about speed. Speed that thrills, not kills. Your ability to make speed behind the wheel with consummate skill. Mastery of the driving craft. An understanding of the physics and a feel for the machinery. You have it. Sure you do.

As you thread deftly through traffic, secure in the knowledge that, as a driver, you have it, baby-and the common folk don't-consider this: Piloting a car is different from any other skill. Push yourself to your limit in a round of golf and you might hit one farther than ever before or doink it into the trees. Personal best or your worst hack, either way it's okay.

But try expanding your abilities behind the wheel on a public road and, well, let's not go there. Like former Indy car great Danny Sullivan once said, "In racing, there are no five-yard penalties for mistakes.'' It's the same on the street. If you want to hone your skills, get thee to a high-performance driving school.

The use-it-or-lose-it rule couldn't be more appropriate when applied to high-performance driving. That's because pushing a car anywhere near its limits is a delicate dance between traction, vehicle and driver, in a range where we don't normally operate. You could drive 100,000 miles a year on the road and it wouldn't make a difference. Unless you are an active race driver sliding cars around corners on a weekly basis, you are not in the practice of feeling and reacting to a car at its limits.

And knowing where those limits are in a visceral way is the key to mastering and enjoying the craft of driving. You must drive in the zone, not thinking, just acting. Very Zen. Very true. Most important, if you're not constantly using those skills, you're losing them. Because there's no way to ...