If only I could go back 30 years.
Once my time machine gets finished, as soon as I’m done collecting Infinity Stones and buying Apple stock, I’d head to whatever track a younger, likely mulleted me is circling and share the following driving tips. They would have gotten me up to speed sooner.
When you get that time machine working, make sure you take this, too:
friction circle, bitches!
1. Put down the cell phone.
2. Keep right except to pass.
3. Look where you want the car to go! (Credit to Bertil Roos)
You'd be surprised how many people think that the brakes are for slowing down the car"
Mario Andretti
I'm a big fan of left foot braking for yaw control.
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And while we're quoting famous people and thinking about time machines...
Albert Einstein, obsessed with gravity, was once asked: "What do you think is the most powerful force in the universe?"
Compound interest.
These are not fundamentals, they are tips. Fundamentals are the core structure of process, how you do something with clear objectives and report cards. Fundamentals are looped, meaning they reconcile and build upon each other. The fundamentals for track driving are:
- Car placement
- Vision and Focus
- Motor Controls
- Brake Adjustability
- Turn in Point/Turn in Rate
- Body Position
Ken Hill
Focus on driving and seat time before you do any mods.
Choose a reliable, low cost platform with good support.
But also... Choose a fun and rewarding platform. Having fun trumps winning. Isn't that why we're here in the first place?
Read rule books first!
The "best driver" is definitely not always the fastest driver or the driver who wins. Decide early whether you are committed to out prepping and out spending competitors, or whether executing to your own personal best is sufficient reward.
To younger me: Pick a car and stick with car. QUIT SELLING AND REBUILDING. The fun is driving and tinkering, not car shopping and building you idiot.
Matt Huffman said:Having fun trumps winning.
That's a big life lesson that can't be repeated enough.
It is preferable to sacrifice a small gain in one corner if it gives you a much larger gain in the next.
And don't accelerate so damn early.
Every car mod can be viewed through the lens of whether it helps or hurts the driver's ability to execute the task of driving the car at its limits.
I read the first one and laughed mostly because it's true but more so becuase "you've never driven my Datsun."
When you are adding to, or taking away from the car, think safety first. Just because the car is now able to go faster, don´t immediately think you are able to go faster.
Getting comfortable (And properly positioned) should be at the top of the list. You can't possibly get the best out of the car on track if these aren't right.
Timely, as I'm trying to embed this one in my gf's head: slow, smooth, thoughtful inputs are key to getting the most out of yourself and the car. driving in a way that "feels" fast is often quite slow, upsets the vehicle, and on the street, makes for a lot of headaches and car sickness. Even autocrossing, I've always found inputs should never be jerky, just fast.
gearheadE30 said:Timely, as I'm trying to embed this one in my gf's head: slow, smooth, thoughtful inputs are key to getting the most out of yourself and the car. driving in a way that "feels" fast is often quite slow, upsets the vehicle, and on the street, makes for a lot of headaches and car sickness. Even autocrossing, I've always found inputs should never be jerky, just fast.
I use this analogy for that:
If you take a wooden dowel / stick and bend it slowly and uniformly, it will bend really far.
In contrast if you make a sudden input it will snap.
A tire is no different; you need to bend it into a corner. You need to slowly pry on the tire so it doesn't snap.
The only thing I would recommend to a younger me would be to go find a group of people who are driving enthusiasts to start sooner. I didn't have a family member that was into wrenching or driving and the internet didn't exist, so I really didn't get started until I was well into my twenties.
The younger generation has so much collective knowledge to draw from on the internet, it's silly. I would still tell them to go find some real people with similar interests to hang with, ask questions, and listen.
BimmerMaven said:You'd be surprised how many people think that the brakes are for slowing down the car"
Mario Andretti
I'm a big fan of left foot braking for yaw control.
=====
And while we're quoting famous people and thinking about time machines...
Albert Einstein, obsessed with gravity, was once asked: "What do you think is the most powerful force in the universe?"
Compound interest.
I don't think he said that. It's more likely “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn't, pays it.”
Based on Wallens' photo of JG, number 7 would be: Open your Eyes.
In reply to jhorn36 :
Bunta Fujiwara never opened his eyes and he was a driving master.
jhorn36 said:Based on Wallens' photo of JG, number 7 would be: Open your Eyes.
He's praying.
This may not apply well to this group since most of us are racers to some level, but don't be afraid to start. Find a local race club, join and go out there. You can start with Autocross, which is less intimidating and once comfortable with your car make then jump to the track. I only wished I would have started many years earlier.
In reply to tony_muscle71 :
Sounds simple but also so true. Worried that you’re too old? Just go do it.
Going back to my karting days: read and study more instead of just winging it and hoping you'd get faster.
Regarding the 6th point in there, there's an idea in popular culture (came from a book, I think) that to become an expert at something you need to spend 10,000 hours practicing it.
If we accept that idea and apply it to the question of driving a race car, then to me it says that essentially NOBODY is an expert in this area. A typical race weekend might have 2-3 hours of driving, if we assume someone did that every weekend of the year for 20 years he rack up no more than 6000 hours.
Then there's the cost -- any type of honest accounting of race car operating costs gives a minimum of $500/hour, meaning that to get there you'd need to spend at least $5M on seat time (and probably a lot more).
So what this tells me is that yes, like JG wrote, even the best race car drivers out there still have lots of things to learn.
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