Does anyone have any experience with driving an automatic car during an HPDE?

Is it a big waste of time or could it prove to be a reasonable learning platform...as in "one less thing to worry about"?

Curious to know...I have only driven manual tranny cars but have a friend with automatic car that is interested in doing his first HPDE.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by atc5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"one less thing to worry about"
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I'm sure it could be done. When my race car was in pieces, there were a couple times that I found myself eyeing my wife's auto-teg and thinking "I'd bet it'd still be fun." If you friend was going to go out though, I'd say it'd probably be worth the time and money to rig up a tranny cooler. I did one for my tow vehicle for around $100 and 2 hours of work. The only thing I'd worry about driving wise is going for the throttle as you come through an apex and not being able to get the car in the gear you want it in. This would be better if he had like an auto-stick or something.

 

It should be ok, as long as you shift it manually... wouldn't want to leave it in auto and have it shift in the middle of a turn.

 

I have used many rentals on the track, and an automatic is actually a great learning car. If it is your friends first time on that track, it will allow him to focus primarily on line and visual technique. I doubt that first timers would even need to throttle steer, which is obviously difficult in a automatic... (esp. 4 cyl)

 

My girlfriend just got a new Jetta... triptronics and all! Actually is a bit sporty to drive when you also turn off the traction control. I was eyeing it... but the race car is almost done so there is no need

 

Eh, one of my instructors at an HPDE raced in an old 80's Benz automatic. He'd shift it himself and man he could fly (e.g., blew by a new Z).

 

Yes /i do indeed.
You need to think Prelude or other car with an "auto-stick" Tiptronic Sportshift type tranny. Put it in manual mode and go out on track. You will find that the car will be in 3rd gear a good bit. Our Prelude showed that it had more than enough to pretty much stay there except on long straightways at Pocono and The Glen on the individual times it was there. A shorter track like BeaveRun the car will be in either 2nd or 3rd depending on where on track you are. These are examples for a 200HP carthat is completely stock. The current crop of 5 speedSS trannys have a different set of ratios so you will have to find the happy combination for your car.
The most important thing to remember is that you are at a school. Think more about the driving line and how to get around the course as smoothly as you can. Smooth=fast!

 

I'm not so sure I'd shift manually. Or will that car allow the **** to take place if going to fast for that gear? Especially for a novice driver, there are way too many other things to be thinking about and would be concerned with hurting the car by doing something by accident (**** when going way too fast for 2nd gear).

I've instructed a few people at HPDEs who were driving automatics. They were fine with them. Have him go to the HPDE and ask his instructor what his/her toughts are after doing a few laps with the car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by granracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">(**** when going way too fast for 2nd gear). </TD></TR></TABLE>

If I blew my engine on a downshift, I'd probably **** too.

That's a hilarious typo.

 

Oops. But it still makes sense.

 

In the example I use the REV Limiter is your friend. The only time one really needs to downshift is on slow tight corners. We tried it both ways with the Prelude-after a session in full Auto mode and the consensus was to set the tranny in 3rd for most of the track as mentioned before. Keep in mind that shifting is part of the experience and one becomes more familiar with the car by learning what it can do and when. I might note that most SS/Tiptronic trannys are sequential and you can one do one gear at a time in SS mode.
If the student is really uncomfortable using the trans-then leave it in Auto mode. Just another viewpoint.

 

Automatics can do quite well. My 3700lb 4 door sedan with an auto runs similar times on street tires to my CRX on R-compounds at the Streets of Willow. I was quite surprised since SOW is slow and tight by road course standards.

 

Run what you brung....don't be a puss.....drive an auto on track is better than anyday not driving on track!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chad &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Run what you brung....don't be a puss.....drive an auto on track is better than anyday not driving on track!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I took this rental car to Road America. It was a blast. Just step on the gas a second or two before you really need it....

I beleive I drove the SuperNeon to the limit of its capabilities... I would just leave it in "3" and let the auto do the rest. Shifting it manually would have been a pain in the ***.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I took this rental car to Road America. It was a blast. Just step on the gas a second or two before you really need it....

I beleive I drove the SuperNeon to the limit of its capabilities... I would just leave it in "3" and let the auto do the rest. Shifting it manually would have been a pain in the ***.

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lmao!! Did you return it with any damage? Hell I would have left the lettering on..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Accord94DX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


lmao!! Did you return it with any damage? Hell I would have left the lettering on..</TD></TR></TABLE>

When my dad was younger he had to rent a POS sedan for a week or so, so he and his friends used a temporary paint to put two bright red Shelby stripes down the middle of it. The only problem was when he went to wash it off before he returned it, and it didn't come off!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Accord94DX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you return it with any damage? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Just tires and brakes, that's about it. The brakes were pretty horrid, and the drivers side front tire looked like someone took a cheese-grater to it. I tried running high pressure but the sidewalls would just flex and flex and flex some more.

-Chris

 

i am so glad i found this thread.. im taking my auto teg to SOW this month and to buttonwillow in aug. i shift manually. mostly 3rd gear in the runs ive done, downshift instead of braking as much as possible. i dont have a lot of experience and SOW is my first track day, taking the school yay. trying to prepare for buttonwillow.
so a tranny cooler huh?

 

My first track car was an automatic. It was hella fun to drive it on the track. And it wasn't even a SportShift/TipTronic/etc. Although there were times that I used the shift lever to keep it in a lower gear and avoid upshifting (which you can do with any automatic).

 

I took my Caprice copcar tow rig onto the track quite a few times when the RX-7 was busted. It was always fun. It wasn't very fast, but actually handled ok for a 5000lb pig of a car on all-season radials. It was especially fun in the rain - the largeness was confidence inspiring. I never bothered to manually shift it - it was a column shifter and was a pain to do. Had it been a floor shifter, I would have.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by laezpnai &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> downshift instead of braking as much as possible. i dont have a lot of experience and SOW is my first track day, </TD></TR></TABLE>

hint to newbies:

dont use the transmission to slow the car, use the brakes. Thats what they are there for. And brakes are a lot cheaper and easier to replace than transmissions.

This applies just the same to cars with manual gearboxes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JoelG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hint to newbies:

dont use the transmission to slow the car, use the brakes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Plus, you can brake harder without the engine/transmission interrupting your nice clean threshold braking. I made the same mistake my first few driving schools, it's better to just use the brakes.

 

 

what about keeping it in 3rd?