smlporsche

Agree w/ VR and would also add that if your rules allow it get an LSD. I put a Gaurd unit in mine and my lap times dropped over 2 seconds (best lap to best lap). The difference going into a corner and comming out of it are amazing (of course in the middle I have no clue )

TD in DC

As should be no surprise to anybody, I have read just about every book that I can find about driving and how to make your car handle, and I also have benefited from data acquisition from nearly day one.

That said, until you get a certain amount of experience, you cannot truly understand what you are reading, and you cannot accurately interpret the data you have acquired.

It would be like reading tons of sex books while you are a virgin . . . you see the words and understand in theory, but you really just will not be able to get it until you get a fair bit of experience "under your belt." First times don't really count either because you are so euphoric that you are actually doing it that your brain overloads.

The same is true with data. I mean, if you took data on your first sexual encounters, you might learn that you are consistent and improving a little each time, but unless you could compare to a "pro," you might, in reality, just be confirming that you are consistently bad.

So, there has to be a balance. Read the books. Understand that you probably do not really get it.

Go out and drive. Drive some more. Drive even more. Remain open to learning because you know you are not Senna.

Then go back and reread the books. Understand things that you didn't the first time, but realize that you still probably are not getting the full benefit.

Go out and drive. Drive some more. Drive even more. Remain open to learning because you know you are not Senna.

Get data acquisition. Start talking to those who know what they are doing. COMPARE DATA WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

Go out and drive. Drive some more. Drive even more. Remain open to learning because you know you are not Senna.

Work with a chassis specialist to experiment.

Go out and drive. Drive some more. Drive even more. Remain open to learning because you know you are not Senna.

Repeat . . .

M758

I believe #1 will help, but the cost is high.

2) Is probably the best. Hey Chris will you instruct for a few beer's? Come on man! Sadly it will cost me alot more. Dang I hate not having the $$$$$


As for the LSD there is more $$$$$$ I don't have.


I think you can see where some of the frustation comes in. I guess you just need to pay to play.

trumperZ06

Subscribed.

Veloce Raptor

Well....you can look for a pre-owned data kit, even a basic one, for a lot less than new.

And you can probably search your friends & track buddies list in depth for someone who would be willing to drove you car for 10 laps or so at a DE (for example) who has the talent to give you detailed feedback...and this might only cost you lunch!

Sean F

I think another thing to keep in mind is the point from the previous thread about driving style. TD made the point about his car being setup for trailbraking but trying to drive it at first without trailbraking. I think very few drivers keep the same driving style from when they first learn to when they transition to racing and as they become more accomplished racers/drovers. You make changes to your technique and your demands on your setup relative to your driving style goes up as you get closer to the limit on a more consistent basis. I found that I needed to experiment (with sway bars because that's all I can adjust other than alignment) and as I got faster I needed to dial out some understeer and then as I started to trailbrake needed to make some adjustments again (and when moving to Hoosiers and taking a lot of weight out of the car). On the recommendation of Jim Lewis I started moving my bars to extreme positions on DE days like full stiff or full soft in the front and then in the rear to see how the car would react (and it did ). Going to extremes really gives you the understanding of what understeer/oversteer and where it is in the corner really means.

weneversleep

Wow, good stuff guys. I'm in the process of re-reading Carroll Smith's "Drive to Win", which goes into quite a bit of detail about what's being discussed above. I found my copy in a used book store for seven bucks.

JoeMag

+1 for what Sean said on the extremes... was at a DE few years ago and E Paul happended to be there and jumped in for an advanced session on tires. His recommendation was to move your ajustments to the extremes (he was talk'n tires, but mentioned it applied to other areas) and see what happens because you'll learn faster and really see the effect.

kurt M

I use the rule of 1/2. Full one way then back 1/2 then back or out 1/2 of that untill the car does what you want. The old saw of moving a little and testing makes for much time spent testing. Once you get dialed in and know the feel of the car you can feel and make use of small tweeks.