Cheers Jon - like what u've done to your car!

T5 at Killarney Cape Town - check trackpedia - is the sharpest hairpin (more than 180deg)
With rising camber to help slow/inc g forces. I try various things - see my cup car vid/thread re white line rule and dices - but benerally I try make a v not a smooth curve.

Ie brake very late and hard, cut apex into corner from mid track, then ride up camber to slow .. So still quite straight .. Then turn hard to try rotate the car ( slow enough to do so without too much risk of loosing it) so I can again cut inside apex and get the car straight early and be full throttle by the time I hit that apex ... Well that's the theory...

"In my mind" as Eddie Izard says

Which is yr track?

 

Is that a double apex? My track is Hampton Downs http://www.hamptondowns.com/pages/65/circuit-map.htm

The turn I'm having trouble with is the one after I overtake the red C2.

 

I can't wait till late February when the autocross season starts up again in my area. I'm anxious to abuse some tires and put all these driving tips to good use.

 

This is a great thread.. Very helpfully. thanks Kaib!

Just to show how unqualified I am to comment; I lose at least 0.3 or more seconds in t1
The RSA likes to turn in later, slower to come out faster.
T17 is not ideal either because I'm not 100% sire "I got it" over the bumps..

There are seconds there with a 964 familiar coach!

BTW I was thrilled to see the shop pointed the camera at my fat gut and ugly mug instead of at the pedals and steering wheels ;-)

Up again next week at Sebring ng

 

Hi John (It would be nice to have the camera show a bit of the driver - head and steering wheel).

Wide open sweeper, usually said to be a "*****" corner. I don't use that term because I feel it implies aggression and prefer to use the terms vision corner or commitment corner. Just a few points...

Use all of the track there; you're leaving a lot of surface out of the equation at track-in, apex and track-out. More track = more confidence = faster. During your warmup and cooldown laps, put the car all the way over both left and right until you feel the edge of the track beneath your wheels. Concentrate on looking through the corner as you feel the turn-in point while you're scanning for the track-out point. The apex should come naturally if you have scanned for track-out and hit turn-in right.

By the time you're at the apex, your eyes should be all the way down the track.

Once again, we bring vision up. I'll wager because this is a higher speed entry, and just a shade blind, that your eyes are far further down in front than they should be. Get them up and out; this will help the early turn-in...it seems to me that you turn in early and then correct after the car is bent just prior to the apex.. Get your line right using the above suggestions.

Once the line is correct, turn the car in and go flat with the throttle before the apex. The car likes that!!!

 

Peter, that little car will go in a lot faster than you (currently) think it will.

It merely wants a somewhat more gentle bend and longer apex to get there and to carry far more mid-corner speed through to track-out.

The big difference I find btw. these cars and the GT3s is stability under braking. The GT3 allows for more confidence there as the 964 can get nervous...but it can go just as fast in and through the corner.

Cheers, looking good (expect to see .25s by the spring!!!)

 

Have you ever driven LRP in your RSA or another 964?

It's the 2nd closest track to me (the first being NHMS, but that's a different issue altogether) and likely the site of at least a few DEs for me next year in my C2. I took Skip Barber Formula Car school there in 2011, it was a lot of fun and a great learning experience, but I also had the scariest in-car moment of my life in the form of a wipeout coming down the sweeper in turn 7. I didn't make contact with anything and ended up with just a spray of grass in my face. Being the fastest corner on the track, my instructors reminded me that it could've ended very badly for me. I ended up taking it easy on that part of the track for the rest of the day. It was a pretty simple lesson: don't come off the throttle with the rear under load mid-corner. From then on I just stayed on power and I was fine.

I'm a little wary to do the same course/turn in my car, with the 964 being much more rear weighted than the skip barber cars. I guess the same basic driving rules still apply, though my experience there I think is slightly "scarring" and will limit me in how fast I can take it.

 

This session was a bit relaxed I did a few 2:26's just having fun, not paying too much attention.

I don't get the nervous part under braking.. Not this 964!
This car is more stable than my GT3's with heavy LSD under braking?

I do agree that it will go faster!
I just cant bend my mind around what it will do you; kinda stuck in the GT3 rhythm, even shift points are the same... I just have to brake a little earlier and turn in later T1 and than just keep the pedal going down. That's a 25 right there I bet. The rest I just underestimate mid corner ability of this one because it feels like it just wont rotate, but I need to get used to the fact that it does not need to rotate as much, as it will just turn better than a GT3..The nose just reacts that much quicker due to light wait I guess.
Going to Sebring for Wed - Sun unfortunately its '80's so still not great for low lap times but with your assessment, my goal is a 25 :-)

I'm a slow learner build it up slowly, but need to get my mind on laptime not just fun. And work on arms strength LOL.

Thanks for review and appreciate your comments !

 

Thanks Kai, I'm back at the track this Saturday. I have just completed my ergonomic changes (passenger seat to carry an instructor, custom lowered seat runners so I no longer hit the headliner with my helmet and a 3" harness to keep me in my seat) so I can concentrate on this. The only thing left is to sort out my GoPro mount on the harness bar. It's 40mm (1.5") diameter when the attachment can only go to 35mm. I'll come back with an improvement for sure. Thanks again.

 

3M tape it to your helmet John

Look forward to seeing more - I see why they seem similar to you from looking at HD's track map
... the rise on your last turn before the straight looks quite severe and it keeps climbing, right?
There's a corner like that at Mugello in Italy with lots of cup car in-car footage to youtube...

It's all about that fine line where you start increasing throttle... which is why Kai talks about *****

 

Don't misunderstand me with the term "*****", as it is one I don't like to use...either when describing a turn, or when I work on myself.

To me, the term rhymes with "guts" or bravery and I honestly believe none of us are at the level where courage could possibly make us faster. If we are, then we are being paid a decent wage to drive other folks cars and we're expected to perform at a certain level day in and day out.

Comfort, yes.
Confidence, yes.
Relax, yes.

I find teaching braking and corner entry (to myself also) far more challenging than asking the student to get onto the throttle. Most of us are far more comfortable asking the car to go faster from apex on than we are asking it to go faster at entry and to the apex...but this is where true speed is developed.

Braking and corner entry skills are also the very last ones to develop as the driver progresses.

 

Understood. Not long now until I can put this into action on the track.

 

Understood Kai .. confidence is the right word .. or trusting in the practice you've done and your ability
to control the car better as you push it harder ... and to do that with small steps (which is why *****/guts doesns't really work)
as it implies 'all in right now'

Glad to hear it John - look forward to seeing more - ps the Red 964 in your first vid looks well driven/nice lines to me (not a pro tho!)

 

VERY well said!

Thinking about this thread....

We more experienced guys should also remember that this is the 964 forum and that many relatively new track guys are on it. The primary purpose of the thread was to help open doors for them and provide a place where they ask and learn - away from the "racing" forum - and in a more friendly place.

I'll certainly try to keep this in mind as we work with the more experienced guys, but also ask that the newer ones come on in...there are NO wrong questions!!!

 

No reaction on this? Did I say anything weird? Or definitely unclear?...