Smoothness Experiment
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Smoothness Experiment
This weekend, I am headed back to Shenandoah Circuit, and I cannot wait. 
I am toying around with the idea of hanging a ping pong ball from filament tied to my rear view mirror to see if there is anything to the rumor that it is a great indicator for how smoothly you are driving. My idea was to tie some fishing line to a washer, and then threading it through a white ping pong ball and tying that to my roll cage or mirror so that video could catch it.
However, the more I think about it, the more I think the whole thing is probably just BS that will really say nothing. I mean, the oscillation rate of the ball will be affected by the characteristics of the device, and, unless you get the device exactly right, you will just have this thing swinging around your cab telling you, well, nothing.
It seems that a lighter weight and shorter string might be best for keeping out secondary motions.
Should I try this just for kicks, or is it a total waste of time . . . I suspect the latter, but thought I would ask.
I am toying around with the idea of hanging a ping pong ball from filament tied to my rear view mirror to see if there is anything to the rumor that it is a great indicator for how smoothly you are driving. My idea was to tie some fishing line to a washer, and then threading it through a white ping pong ball and tying that to my roll cage or mirror so that video could catch it.
However, the more I think about it, the more I think the whole thing is probably just BS that will really say nothing. I mean, the oscillation rate of the ball will be affected by the characteristics of the device, and, unless you get the device exactly right, you will just have this thing swinging around your cab telling you, well, nothing.
It seems that a lighter weight and shorter string might be best for keeping out secondary motions.
Should I try this just for kicks, or is it a total waste of time . . . I suspect the latter, but thought I would ask.
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From: NorCal
Get one of these and stick it to you dash. If you can get her to do the chicken dance, then you are maxing your G-sum
I think your DAS output will show you more than a swinging ball. I would think the ball would have momentum as it moves, so in a series of corners, the ball would be behind what the car is doing.
I think your DAS output will show you more than a swinging ball. I would think the ball would have momentum as it moves, so in a series of corners, the ball would be behind what the car is doing.
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Yeah, I keep hearing that this simple technique can show you how smooth you are in transitions, but I think it is probably a bunch of BS.
Maybe I will go get a hula doll or Schumi bobble head and screw it into the dash within view of video just for your viewing amusement. I can use "I found you, Miss New Booty" as background music . . .
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From: North NJ, USA
You've heard the old 'pretend there's a raw egg between your foot and the throttle' technique to get the driver to be smoother? Well, I think you should start with that experiement - tape a raw egg to your gas pedal, and let us know the results! 
Or, you can get an instructor to ride with you, and hand him a scalding hot cup of coffee - just make sure he's wearing his nomex suit first!
I think watching your inputs (hand, upper body, feet via the tach/red brake light thingy you can install in the car) in the video will more clearly show whether or not you are being smooth instead of a silly ping pong ball swinging around. A big factor to smoothness is how far the driver looks ahead - unfortunately, there is no easy way to measure this ability after the fact - you just can't catch that on video.
-Z-man.
Or, you can get an instructor to ride with you, and hand him a scalding hot cup of coffee - just make sure he's wearing his nomex suit first! I think watching your inputs (hand, upper body, feet via the tach/red brake light thingy you can install in the car) in the video will more clearly show whether or not you are being smooth instead of a silly ping pong ball swinging around. A big factor to smoothness is how far the driver looks ahead - unfortunately, there is no easy way to measure this ability after the fact - you just can't catch that on video.
-Z-man.
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There will be NO additional water put in my car. After the hose popped off my radiator overflow tank at VIR and dumped water and antifreeze (which was left over from the first blizzardfest race of this year) all over my own front tires, I have developed aquaphobia
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I like the idea and think it has some merit. I have been trying to teach sort-of semicirlular technique to represent how to take a corner. In the ball experiment, it should go straight forward early in the brake zone and then outlining a semi-circle in the opposite direction of the corner, then straight back at track out. If it starts swinging back and forth, you are probably not smooth.
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From: NorCal
Originally Posted by TD in DC
How about this?
I'm a cow-boy baby . . .
I'm a cow-boy baby . . .
Sweeet. Now you can bang fenders and get into fights in the infield. If you get the Shumi one, you can park your car to block the track if you think someone else if faster.
I'm not sure if the ball will be able to tell the difference between jerky driving and bumps in the track
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Too bad I'm not an instructor yet or I could use live bobbleheads: 
I think the same thing . . .
Originally Posted by sjanes
I'm not sure if the ball will be able to tell the difference between jerky driving and bumps in the track
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Originally Posted by Professor Helmüt Tester
The conventional wisdom has always been "When you have a hopeless student, you can always compliment them on their 'smoothness'"
I never want to be smooth.
I never want to be smooth.
When I used to be an architect, the worst thing you could hear from a colleague was that a design was "interesting." I never wanted to be "interesting."
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When we describe a driver as smooth, I think that is a good thing. That doesn't mean that it is not a violent experience in the car, it is a description of inputs. The car rebelling, and the good driver coaxes it into doing something it doesn't want to do. What the not smooth driver is doing is jerking the car around which negatively effects the contact patch. I want to be smooth.
