Q: What does it mean to be "smooth"?
A: A huge part of "being smooth" is literally how your hands and feet adjust the controls. The first time I rode with my current ex-wife, after a few miles in her Durango, I asked how many throttle pedals or cables she had replaced in the last 6 months, for she was on and off the gas 17 times every 30 seconds! (I actually timed it!)
It was as if she was thinking, "Here’s some gas, let’s see how far this shot goes.” She'd coast a minute, pop the gas again, etc.
Good news/bad news. She thanked me profusely for pointing that out (I’m joking), but she did clean that up!
Instead, she swapped it for "steering response!" I would literally reach over and grab the wheel to show her we did not have to saw at the wheel every 3 feet.
It was a lot like popping the gas pedal: "Let’s steer right, oops too much, let’s go left!” So I advised we go back to popping the gas, since power steering pumps are more expensive than throttle cables. She actually was a pretty good driver, awesome with a manual tranny, but has now moved on to another driver coach. Or whatever. We’re still friends.
I'll also never forget a lesson my Dad taught me: "Pretend you have a nearly full glass of water on the dashboard. Be smooth enough to never slosh out any water.” My Dad had great cars, from Lincolns to Porsches to Jaguars, and he never ever put a scratch on one the 71 years he drove. And he drove quickly. We always compared “elapsed time, from say, Atlanta to Sebring. He was smooth, because he loved to drive, so he paid attention to details.
