In stunt driving, you take all the driving skills you could ever possess, and challenge them in ways you could never have contemplated.
It not only takes driving skill, but also imagination to make the car do what's in the mind of a director or stunt coordinator, timing to make it all happen at the right time and at the right place, and most of all, an ability to adapt and bring energy into each new and challenging situation.
Here's a good story to illustrate this.
A friend of mine was working on a car commercial.
The shot they wanted was that of a car driving through a torrential downpour at a high speed.
To achieve this, they mounted a jet engine in the back of a truck, along with a big water tank (only in film could anyone think that up!) My buddy was to drive one foot behind this thing, in a convertible, with the top down, without using his windshield wipers! He couldn't see a thing! On top of having water sprayed into his face, the jet engines fumes were brutal on his eyes.
I have my own as well.
In one of the scenes of My Boss's Daughter, I was driving a BMW when an Owl flies in through the passenger side window.
This knocks the passengers head into my lap, and then it hovers right in front of my eyes, flapping it's wings.
Because of this, the car goes off the road, over medians, into oncoming traffic and ends up smashing through the side of a house.
Now, there just isn't any way to practice for something like that! Stunt driving will take everything you have ever learned about driving and put it to the test in ways you could never imagine.
Having as varied a driving background as possible is the best way to prepare yourself.
On with the fun..
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Be fast, be safe, be precise.