In general (except during the lessons) I have taken what I see as the best bits (mostly the awareness training, but also some of the smoothness.

The most useless bit is the steering - the argument for feeding the wheel doesn't stack up, and although various police forces have realised this, the examiner up here is very conservative. The roadcraft technique for steering is actually more dangerous than any proficient driver's technique, and one instructor did point out it was specifically designed to slow people down.

And I tend to be very aware of the balance of my car and the road surface, and use gearchanges and braking to change the balance...

Also, changing gear while slowing ensures I am always in the right rev range, so the turbo is spun up and ready for when I do want to accelerate. My instructor does see the validity of this argument but asks the question - do you need to be able to accelerate at any time.

My answer is yes for two reasons - one, for safety I may want to get out of trouble quickly, and two, on the track it is essential

I do make an awful lot of gear changes though!