Track alingment setup
#16
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Here's the thing. As nice as "this will definitely make me focus" sounds, the only thing that really works is spending serious time picking the brains of experienced drivers and spending as much time as possible learning from the best instructor you can find sitting right beside you. Preferably the whole time you are on the track. Ideally spending at least several minutes after each run reviewing the run, and at least a few minutes before each run planning your objectives for that session. You might for example decide to devote one full session to getting just one turn just right. Then drive the rest of the lap precisely on-line. Not fast, but rather thinking about that one turn. Until you got it down. Or even smaller, just try and nail your braking point as consistently late as possible. Not freeway off-ramp braking either but good hard threshold braking as late as possible. Which no one ever does. Because it is just too damn scary. Even though the brakes are the most powerful component on the car by a long shot, and if you are not using the most powerful component to its max you are leaving an awful lot on the table. But to learn that you have to be willing to sacrifice that turn, or your time, or "position", or whatever, to just getting the braking down. To learn the perfect line you have to sacrifice the perfect braking. Eventually you get to where you can put them all together. First though you have to get to where you even know what these are individually. These are the kinds of things a knowledgeable instructor would have had you doing. Drive with instructors like that a year or three and you will be shocked at your improvement.
The absolute least productive thing you can do is go out solo run after run trying to go faster. Almost everyone who tries that, they do feel like its working because they do at first go faster. What they usually don't realize is they fairly quickly hit a plateau that is way, way, waaaaaay below where it would be if they had set out to first eliminate the bad habits and learn the best techniques from the beginning. I myself am a perfectly normal case study in this. Began with habits I had no idea were so horrible, ate through tires, got faster at first then got stuck and blamed the car. Only when I made it a point to always go out with an instructor- and the best one I could find- only then did things start to click and improve. Not that it was easy. Its a whole lot easier to throw money at the car. It does however actually work. Like nothing else.
The absolute least productive thing you can do is go out solo run after run trying to go faster. Almost everyone who tries that, they do feel like its working because they do at first go faster. What they usually don't realize is they fairly quickly hit a plateau that is way, way, waaaaaay below where it would be if they had set out to first eliminate the bad habits and learn the best techniques from the beginning. I myself am a perfectly normal case study in this. Began with habits I had no idea were so horrible, ate through tires, got faster at first then got stuck and blamed the car. Only when I made it a point to always go out with an instructor- and the best one I could find- only then did things start to click and improve. Not that it was easy. Its a whole lot easier to throw money at the car. It does however actually work. Like nothing else.
#18
Burning Brakes
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tire internal cords showing on outside edge. Cold pressure of fronts set at 28 - 30 rears. I am not sure on the hot temperatures but assume 4 or 5 psi more. This was recommended and actually done by my instructor the first track day that we tracked this car one month ago. This weekend I was participating in a 2 day Driver's Edge event and only made it through the first 4 track session day. Discovered the exposed cords. 991.2 2 GTS Coupe. Standard camber set up. Rear wheel steering manual. 5 spoke Tubo S rims.
#19
Race Car
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Fairfax County, Virginia
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#20
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Pyrometer, cool. One day at the track there was this startup company offering corner balancing and alignment. They had this cool rig set up to do it right there. Wanted to do a regular thing at PCA events, offered to use my car as an example. So next run, pulled right in nice and hot, wasn't even out of the car they were all over it. Okay well, right side hotter than left side, counterclockwise track, same temp outside middle inside across each tire. Which they were looking to do something to show people but now nothing to do, kind of a letdown. For them.
Now the interesting thing about this, to me anyway, my car was never really set up for the track. Its a driver. That I track. And autocross. But its a daily. So it is set up with that in mind. To get, among other things, as even tire wear as possible on all my sets of tires. Which it does. And yet here we are at the track, way out on one extreme of the spectrum and lo and behold, nice even temps. Reflecting nice even wear. So wear and temps, they go hand in hand. The pyrometer (which I never used before) will get you there faster than waiting for wear, but either way you are going to wind up in the same place.
Also interesting, that was way less camber than almost all the guys going for the track setup, following all the camber wisdom advice.... and constantly complaining about wear, and handling, messing around trying to get the temps even.
Go figure.
Now the interesting thing about this, to me anyway, my car was never really set up for the track. Its a driver. That I track. And autocross. But its a daily. So it is set up with that in mind. To get, among other things, as even tire wear as possible on all my sets of tires. Which it does. And yet here we are at the track, way out on one extreme of the spectrum and lo and behold, nice even temps. Reflecting nice even wear. So wear and temps, they go hand in hand. The pyrometer (which I never used before) will get you there faster than waiting for wear, but either way you are going to wind up in the same place.
Also interesting, that was way less camber than almost all the guys going for the track setup, following all the camber wisdom advice.... and constantly complaining about wear, and handling, messing around trying to get the temps even.
Go figure.