"SEX AND RACING go hand in hand," says extreme driving guru Bob Bondurant. "We all love to have sex, and we all love to drive fast." But sex and racing have another thing in common: major pitfalls for those who are reckless. We already know you know your way around the bedroom -- that's why you're at Playboy.com. But if you want to know the smart way to drive the bejeezus out of a car, the man to talk to is auto-racing legend Bob Bondurant.

A former Formula One racer who drove at LeMans, Bondurant opened The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in 1968, now based in Phoenix. The ranks of the school's graduates include numerous NASCAR pilots (including Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart), sports stars like Gabrielle Reece and the late, great Walter Payton, and dozens of celebrities, including Clint Eastwood and Tom Cruise.

When Bob spoke to us, he said he'd gear his comments to "guys driving a hot sedan who want to get out and run, a Mustang or a Corvette." In just a few minutes, he rattled off 10 keys to getting the most out of your ride. "If you learn all these maneuvers," Bondurant says, "you'll be a much better driver; you'll be smoother, and you'll enjoy driving." Buckle up.

1. Adjust the seat.
First things first. Adjust your seat position so you are sitting upright. "That lets your body sense and feel what the car is doing," Bondurant says.

2. Learn heel and toe downshifting.
When you come up to a corner, first slow the car down with the brakes. "The ball of the foot remains on the brake pedal," Bondurant explains. "Raise the heel about an inch, slide it over to the gas pedal, and roll the gas on as you put the clutch in smoothly." Hold the throttle down with the heel, bring the engine to 3000 to 4000 rpm, and then downshift. "As soon as you get into the next lower gear, ease the clutch and the gas off gently at the same time," Bondurant explains. "They both go in together, they both come out together." This allows for a smooth downshift. "And if you happen to have your girlfriend there," Bondurant adds, "you look cool, too."

3. Look well ahead -- vision is the key to performance driving.
"You'll go exactly where you look. It sounds crazy, but it works that way," Bondurant says. Check how tight a turn is as you enter to see if the road is tightening up or opening up.

4. Be smooth with your steering, brake and throttle to keep the car balanced.
"Think of the brake and throttle pedal as a sponge," says Bondurant. Squeezing on the brakes controls the weight transfer to the front of the car, compressing the front shocks and springs, expanding the contact patches where the front-tire rubber meets the road, in turn giving the car more traction. "If you're abrupt with the brakes, you can spin the car out," Bondurant cautions.

next
01 · 02