How to roll a car 360 degrees

Sheffield-born Glenn Foster is a world master in the delicate and highly dangerous art of car-rolling. The stuntman, Robert Downey Jr’s double in the movie Due Date (out on Blu-ray and DVD on 28 February), gives usa step-by-step guide through the basics.

“First, you need a kick ramp, just like the kind of thing you’d have gone over on a BMX when you were a child. Assuming you are in a right-hand drive car, you should place the ramp so that your left-hand wheels will hit the ramp. This way, you will be at the lowest point of rotation.”

“Ensure that the back end of the vehicle is as light as possible and approach the ramp at between 60 and 70mph. You will need to ‘snake’ the car by steering left then right. Your goal is to unweight the vehicle, so that the unweighted side goes over the ramp and lifts the car up.”

“As you’re flipping, there’s very little chance of you maintaining any control of your body. However, you need to keep your hands on the steering wheel, ensuring that your thumbs are on the outside in case of any sudden whip. It also keeps your arms from being smashed around on the inside of the car.”

“This is where the light back end comes into it. As the car is turning on its side in mid-air it will come down front-heavy and punch into the ground with its nose — this is for a smoother landing — but brace yourself as it’ll likely go over itself and produce a series of smaller cartwheels. Don’t loosen up until it’s stopped completely.”

(Images: Dave Hopkins at Photoshopart.com)