stink as in driving that is , but i just started to autox (2 events) and i really stink. in the 2 events, i have come in dead middle and second to the last. what can i do in terms of driving technique to better myself.

 

I was looking for you at the last race to give you a ride. Keep an eye out for the newbie school coming up on Thursday January 23. It will be posted on www.sfrscca.org/solo2 . I'll be one of the instuctors/coaches and the students wil be matched with instructors of similar cars. The first day will be classroom stuff with it put to practice at the following event.

[edit] January 23 is the school date.


[Modified by Geratol, 10:50 AM 12/13/2002]

 

Prepare yourself for a billion bits of advice, but remember that I am right

Make friends with the good drivers at your events. Ride with them and *feel* what they do with the car. Then have them ride with you and give you feedback. If their comfortable, have them drive your car with you as a rider. It's best to pick someone who drives a similar car to yours, but take what you can get if your region has a small number of really good drivers.

Or, take an evolution school.

After that, force yourself to stick to good habbits and avoid bad habbits no matter how awkward, and practice, practice, practice.

Then

 

haha as much as i hate to admit it, he is right
one thing to add tho
PRACTICE! as much as you can!

 

When is the next Evolution School near GA -- does anyone have a link to the registration/site? TIA

(edit: sorry for hyjacking link, but I stink too )


[Modified by SpiceyRice, 2:48 PM 12/13/2002]

 

seat time seat time seat time

also........start slow (seems you have that covered ). it's much easier to do things properly when going slow, and when you get comfortable, speed will come. when you start out trying to go fast, you develop bad habits a lot of the time. i know this from firsthand experience. don't overdrive the car (i have a terrible terrible tendency to do this), just because it feels faster, doesn't mean it is.

2 OT questions.....
1) how's the latex business?
2) is your festivus pole up yet?

 

I've said this before: Find the guys out there who are fast (and not ********) and learn from them. I actually had a woman instructor teach me how to be fast! Riding with a good instructor is invaluable...they will chatter away when you mess up and even when you THINK you are doing good. As a rookie, it's hard to tell when you are messing up and you can't fix the problem unless you know what you're doing wrong.

Also, get some books and talk to people (who actually know what they're talking about) on vehicle dynamics. Racing is governed entirely by the laws of physics...there is no such thing as LUCK in racing. I learned alot of tips and techniques from the books written by Carroll Smith (Driving to Win, Prepare to Win, etc.). Knowing why the car does what it does is very helpful in correcting the situtation...more often than not it is the driver who requires the correction! Most of all: seat time. As the other guy said: practice practice practice. And this never ends. Michael Schumacher is one of the best in the world, but he pushes himself further and further everytime out on the track on every lap. Driving isn't easy, but I think there is nothing that compares with the rewards!

Oh, almost forgot! Don't fall into that trap of making the car faster to level the playing field. Any old car will get you started. Wait until your skills exceed the car's limits before upgrading (you can tell when you start turning dead consistent lap times every time...only after this can you think about going faster). It is a common myth for drivers to think they are better than the car. A crappy driver in a fast car will almost ALWAYS be slower than a great driver in a slow car. Don't believe me: just pay attention at the next event...


[Modified by archmanrsx3, 5:34 PM 12/13/2002]

 

darn west coasters autocrossin all year round in nice warm weather.

 

Did I give you a ride in round 5? Didn't you learn anything from it

If you're new, it just takes time. It can't be that easy. I'd say learn to read/memorize the course 1st. Get there early and walk the course a few times. You can't improve if things just seem to pop out at you.

Get as many rides as you can to see people's lines and braking points. And get people to drive your car and ride with you on fun runs. I know I wouldn't turn down such an offer.

-allen

PS My buddy stole your ride. I got him a ride in Geratol's car. Thanks again, Geratol.

 

geratol- i was lookign for you too, but there were a few other black tegs there and i didn know what class you were in...but i was looking high and low

allen- yeah man thanks!!! that day with a ride with you really helped me out!!! i droped 11 seconds from my time that day!!!

i honestly dont think i am driving slow, i really think that i am driving way to fast for my skill level, but its hard to slow down. i have the mind set of driving hard and fast. i know i should get that out of my head....

i just feel, i really dont know what the car is going to do or how d=fast to take a turn...i can hear the wheels screaming at every turn and i get a HUGE amount of oversteer.

i also feel that my brakes start to get mushy and seem to fade a bit, but everyone seems to bow down to the itr brakes....

thanks all for your comments. i guess there is really nothing that can be done but more seat time and rides.

 

watch the Anime "Initial D"

 

Sounds like you're overdriving then. Either by overcooking turns or going full throttle too early (wheel still turned too much). A nice medium steady screech (street tire people) throuh the turn is good. Sudden harsh screech ==

As for judging the speed of a turn. That's basically the essence of racing/autoxing. Even Juan Montoya overcooks corners. Couple of points. If you overcook a corner and go sliding off line, it'll cost you a lot of time. If you brake too early, you can ease off or even coast if you realized you braked too early. Then adjust next lap.

Did you mean oversteer (rear kicking out) or understeer (car won't turn)? If you have the wheels really cranked and it still won't turn, don't keep turning the wheel. Unturn the wheel and/or slow down a bit, then the car should start turning again. Your car should be pretty neutral bone stock, unless PY and NHB handle differently. You can put the rears pressure very high or low to add some cheap oversteer.

That should give you something to think about for SFR Round 1 come January.

-allen (who should heed his own advice -- spun out and mowed lots of cones last round)

 

There's only one black #12 Integra in DSP Anyhow, Allen is a very good driver as well and you probably learned just as much riding with him as you would have with me.

 

He was working while I was running round 6. I gave him a single ride round 5 (after some gentle prodding on my part actually). But he would have had more fun last round since I spun about a 100 degrees and hit about 8 cones on my 1st lap Ochi style.

Summary: he has only gotten one ridealong AFAIK.

Geratol, do you get more oversteer at Oakland compared to McClellan? I've been wondering if my PAXing better at Oakland than McClellan is related to surface grip (fronts don't seem to heat up as much). Possibly confirming my hunch that I could use some more oversteer on the car.

-allen

PS. Us y2k (just noticed this ) tegs gotta help each other. I just noticed this.