Good to get feel for what car’s going to do in certain situations

Watching professional NASCAR driver Robin Buck put a Ford Edge through its paces on a closed course is a beautiful thing. From a vantage point in the passenger seat it’s also a little scary.

The course is a ring of orange pylons set up in the parking lot at Exhibition Park in Halifax. We’re here at the invitation of the Ford Motor Company to learn the subtleties of winter driving first hand.

“A lot of people don’t consider changing their driving style when road conditions change,” Buck explains as he prepares to negotiate the course. “They don’t slow down. They don’t drive smoothly. If you are accelerating and getting wheel spins, what do you think might happen to your braking? Probably the same thing.”

It’s early December and the weather is typical early December bad, but instead of snow we’re hunkering through a driving rainstorm. To simulate the slickness of winter conditions, the course has been strewn with liberal amounts of sand.

“It’s the next best thing to snow,” says Buck.

He starts the demonstration by flooring the gas pedal and heading straight for the first soaking pile. He slams on the brakes as he hits the sand, spins the car around and negotiates a slalom course of pylons at a speed that almost feels impossible. Then it’s my turn.

“Ford has a lot of driver assist technologies,” says Buck. “One of them is AdvanceTrac ESC. It’s all about wheel slippage. We’re going to get you to try and spin the wheels and you’re going to see how that technology prevents that from happening. Then we’re going to get you to jump on the brakes and activate ABS. You’ll see that with ABS you can brake and still steer the vehicle at the same time. You’re also going to experience Electronic Stability Control. We’re going to do a quick little lane change and you’re going to feel the vehicle wiggle around and its going to stabilize itself without you having to do anything.”

The first test is a panic stop on sand.

“Don’t be afraid to stomp on the brake as hard as you can,” Buck says as I start to accelerate. We hit the patch of sand and the car slides to the right as I apply the brakes to avoid smashing into a wall of pylons. It stays under my control.

“If you get into a skid, look where you want to go,” Buck says, “because if you do your hands will automatically start to steer you in that direction. If you look in the ditch you might end up in the ditch.”

I take the Edge through the rest of the course at about one third the speed that Buck blasted through it.

The driver assist technologies — and my own tentativeness — prevent the vehicle from losing control. Buck is a patient teacher.

“You don’t often get a chance to experience panic situations under controlled conditions,” he explains. “It’s good to get a feel for what the car is going to do in those situations. Systems like ABS can feel strange when they kick in, but you have to learn to trust them and know what they can do. They can save your life.”