What driving books would you recommend for a novice, whether it be for road racing or autox?

So far I've read Speed Secrets by Ross Bently. Currently reading Inner Speed Secrets and have Speed Secrets 2 waiting for me. I'm no engineer so these books have been easy to read and understand.

There are a couple more I've read but I can't think of them right now.

What else would you recommend to read about racing techniques and so on? Handling/suspension tuning? etc...

I've only run in two HPDE's at Thunderhill and Sears Point and a Subaru event here in TX at Motorsports Ranch (Subaru Daze). I was the only Integra out there! hehe! Anything to learn while I save for more seat time...

Thanks!

 

Read:

Niki Lauda's first book - The Art & Science of Grand Prix Driving

Keith Code's books - All of them (yes, I know they're Motorcycle Racing books)

Mark Donohue - The Unfair Advantage

Carroll Smith - the entire XXXXX to Win series

Carroll and Marks books in particular will be interesting every time you pick them up. I find them to be friends to be relied upon in times good and bad.

Scott, who finds Smith to be his most read author...

 

frankly, only ross bentleys books are what i would recommend for anyone as "required" reading for the casual enthusiast.

i personally dont find much PRACTICAL knowledge in those chassis and suspension design books to driving a street car. suspension tuning is simply about test & tune because of the vast different types of car suspensions, and driver behavior that you just cant read out of a book, make calculations and boom, you got the "ideal" setup.

carroll smiths "___ to Win" series is full of a lot of great reading, but not required. maybe the first few chapters of Drive to Win is probably the only thing i would say is required. Also, what is worth buying tho is Carrolls "Engineer in a Pocketbook" is worth having around, because its all about PRACTICAL steps to take to help cure whatever problems you have.

now, required reading for anyone who wants to go ROAD RACING, (real w2w driving), is Winning: A race Drivers Handbook. Doesnt just talk about driving, it talks about how to successfully Road Race a whole season and has lots of great advice from great names in racing like Carroll Smith, Bertil roos, Pal Van Valkenburgh, and so on.

 

Cool, thanks for the info so far.

Isn't there a book called something..(?) Solo Racing about autoxing. I thought that was supposed ot be a good book too.

BTW, Tyson, do you know an Elton Hom (elmoizme on h/t.com). He autox's his black EK with a b16a swap. He's also a tech at Honda of Burlingame.

 

Secrets of Solo racing: Expert Techniques for Autocrossing and Time Trials
Aurthor: Henry A. Watts

A link to that book is here as well as some interesting reading online:
http://www.nerdsracing.com/links_stories.htm
- and -
http://www.nerdsracing.com/nerdnotes1.htm

Hope that helps,

 

Going Faster: Secrets to Race Car Driving by Skip Barber Racing school

or a title that's close to it.......goes into engineering and chassis setup only to the point that helps you understand how your DRIVING is affected, or effects how a chassis is/should be setup.

easily found on Amazon for $35 i think.

 

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

Excellent book.

 

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

Excellent book. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Reading it right now at work!

 

Kama Sutra! Very helpful....

Also, The Best of Penthouse Forum.

Once those are out of the way, you are ready to concentrate on racing...


Matt

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Kama Sutra! Very helpful....

Also, The Best of Penthouse Forum.

Once those are out of the way, you are ready to concentrate on racing...


Matt</TD></TR></TABLE>

But practicing what's in those tends to make ur ballz smaller, which is no good for those 120mph flat out esses...

 

Sports Car and Competition Driving by Paul Frere