Friday, September 14, 2007
Lessons from Seat Time and Instructors
Here are a bunch of stuff I got from different instructors.
1. Slow in and fast out
Contrarian View: Keiichi Tsuchiya says drifting may not be the fastest way around a turn, but it's the most fun.
2. Use the entire width of the track. Every inch counts, especially getting close to the apex. Read "Techniques of Motor Racing" by Piero Taruffi to see how much difference this makes.
3. Hands follow the eyes. Obvious, but when the shit hits the fan, instinct takes over and people stare at what they want to avoid.
4. THROW car at apex and add throttle to plant the rear. This translates to turning the steering wheel much faster and harder than normal driving. Despite performing this abrupt control movement, the car transition should be smooth. The car should be settled when initialing the turn.
5. In a slalom, thinking about planting the rear on the cone.
6. When 2 tires are in the dirt, ease off the throttle and ease the car back in, or steer the car to the dirt. If you turn too sharply toward the road, then when all 4 tires are back on the pavement, the car will shoot toward where the wheels are pointed quickly. Possible hitting another car or a wall.
7.Allow 1 second to go from no braking to full braking. This allows time for the front to settle(more weight to transfer to the front). More weight means more traction. The actual time it takes for the car to settle depends on the anti-squat geometry of the car and stiffness of the shocks.
8. Despite what your instructor says, roads will be slightly more slippery in a misty morning.
9. When you brake so hard that the tires spin, ease off the brake until they roll again.
10. For sever under-steer, ease off throttle and unwind steering. The latter sounds logical, but is anti intuitive when you're actually driving. Normally, when you point the wheels at something but the car isn't turning enough, you turn the wheel more, not less.
11. On street tires, it's faster to slip a bit, as long as there's no corrective steering needed. The suggestion came from a kart racer and seems to help my autocross time. Different tires have different sounds when it's near the edge of traction, but you'll learn what your tires sound like after a few spin outs.
1. Slow in and fast out
Contrarian View: Keiichi Tsuchiya says drifting may not be the fastest way around a turn, but it's the most fun.
2. Use the entire width of the track. Every inch counts, especially getting close to the apex. Read "Techniques of Motor Racing" by Piero Taruffi to see how much difference this makes.
3. Hands follow the eyes. Obvious, but when the shit hits the fan, instinct takes over and people stare at what they want to avoid.
4. THROW car at apex and add throttle to plant the rear. This translates to turning the steering wheel much faster and harder than normal driving. Despite performing this abrupt control movement, the car transition should be smooth. The car should be settled when initialing the turn.
5. In a slalom, thinking about planting the rear on the cone.
6. When 2 tires are in the dirt, ease off the throttle and ease the car back in, or steer the car to the dirt. If you turn too sharply toward the road, then when all 4 tires are back on the pavement, the car will shoot toward where the wheels are pointed quickly. Possible hitting another car or a wall.
7.Allow 1 second to go from no braking to full braking. This allows time for the front to settle(more weight to transfer to the front). More weight means more traction. The actual time it takes for the car to settle depends on the anti-squat geometry of the car and stiffness of the shocks.
8. Despite what your instructor says, roads will be slightly more slippery in a misty morning.
9. When you brake so hard that the tires spin, ease off the brake until they roll again.
10. For sever under-steer, ease off throttle and unwind steering. The latter sounds logical, but is anti intuitive when you're actually driving. Normally, when you point the wheels at something but the car isn't turning enough, you turn the wheel more, not less.
11. On street tires, it's faster to slip a bit, as long as there's no corrective steering needed. The suggestion came from a kart racer and seems to help my autocross time. Different tires have different sounds when it's near the edge of traction, but you'll learn what your tires sound like after a few spin outs.
