A total of 58 cars spun, slalomed and surged through the first Hyundai Advanced Driving Course that left the women participants gasping for more.

Photos: Komoco Motors

All taking part in their first-ever driving course of any kind, the Hyundai owners marvelled at what they could do with their cars – if they knew how to handle them in the first place. Designed as a defensive driving programme, the two-session four hour course put the participants through braking exercises on wet and dry surfaces, feeling the real benefits of ABS and ESP, changing lanes in emergencies, and then competing in a motorkhana to apply all they had learnt.

And they certainly learnt a lot from the chief instructor Rick Bates of Australia, a former international rally champion who now runs Bates Advanced Driving in Canberra to provide all levels of driver training, including rallying and racing. His expertise was telling, particularly in showing how things were done as he accompanied the participants through all the exercises. Just as well that the venue suited the programme, with The Plaza at the Changi Exhibition Centre in Changi Coast Road providing the wide open space needed for such a safety event.

The most thrilling section was obviously the split-surface emergency braking on wet or dry conditions, or both, as the cars spun round to activate the Anti-Brake System and Electronic Stability Programme for firm control of the car.

Of the 58 cars, 29 were Avantes while the rest were quite representative of Hyundai’s recent models in Singapore, from the big Trajet MPV and the Sante Fe 2.7 V6 SUV to the tiny Getz, Matrix mini-MPV, Tuscani coupe, Elantra, Verna, Sonata and the new i30CW and 2010 Tucson.