Watkins Glen, NJMP, VIR.....

 

Some corners beg for it. It just feels right and you end up doing it without overthinking it. Same thing with trail braking.

Skidpad time is great for exposing the concept and building some skill but you need dry corners to learn how to use it. Start with the skidpad and then workig in the right corners.

 

as joe said. do it in autocross settings. concentrate on the sweepers and hairpins. don't try to get better times like the people that are racing. just intentionally try to get the back to step out.

learning to keep the car in control is all great. but there's also achievement in learning how to cope when the car is past its threshold.

 

It depends on the Porsche. As Joe mentioned, with the 944's we're always making small throttle or trailbraking adjustments to balance F/R grip if were going fast enough. If we're "stuck like glue", we're not pushing hard enough.

I'm going ice racing (more like ice autocross) this weekend - the best of the snowy parking lot & autocross. Highly recommended if you have access. While 944's can't compete with AWD cars (in a separate class anyway), they sure are fun!

 

Bang. All winter long here in Buffalo.....by the time I hit Mid-Ohio in April I'll feel like Stirling Moss.

 

You wil never learn where the threshold is unless you learn to survive exceeding it. If you drive every session in fear of having any sliding at all you wil never go as fast as you could . Once you learn how to control a slide you then can figure out how fast you can go. Maybe you don't slide at all. Maybe only just a little in certain corners. Either way if you can't control a slide and learn to drive right through it working at the limit is impossible.

 

I certainly appreciate all of the suggestions. The suggestions regarding skid pads, autocrosses, etc. are all very good, and I will try to push myself to explore a bit more (without being a freak) at autocrosses especially. However, given work, family, etc. I can only get so much time on an autocross course, skidpad, track. During an autocross, I only get so many runs; generally between 5 and 10 minutes of actually driving. I don't think I can go to a local skidpad and just drive for an hour or two.

What happens if I go to a big parking lot (perhaps the local high school) on a Sunday when the lot is empty? Can I just start driving circles, sliding, etc? If a cop comes by does he tell me to stop and get lost, or does can he cite me for something?

 

Yes...sometimes you end up in the infield...and set the grass on fire...and are happy you were able to move the car from the scene of the crime. To learn your limits you have to exceed them on occasion....margin of safety....

 

Mark, you can probably just practice by yourself at the bottom of the lot while we are cleaning up the course at the end of the day. I doubt anyone will mind, as long as you give us some warning.

 

About 18 yrs ago when I was learning to touch my knee down I would find a parking garage at night time and just practice going up and down the ramps. I used to go up to the left and come down to the right and vice versa. It was really good practice and because it was somewhat concealed, nobody bothered me.

 

John,

Nice to hear from you. Are you enjoying the winter wonderland? I am so looking forward to spring! I'll definitely look into helping with cleanup at the next autox and then seeing if I can play around a little.

Mark

 

I think it's an unconscious automatic response for various situations.
Think of having a family sedan that 99.9% of the time is setup with understeer. Now when you are getting along through some corners and you feel it pushing wide, you don't have to wrench the steering wheel around harder. You merely lift off a bit and the nose tucks in and you have just throttle steered into a tighter axis. Another good thing to practice with the Family sedan (as they're almost always auto) is to use the left foot for brakes and then you can really play with the throttle steering aspect. You don't have to be going crazy fast on public roads either. Even 25mph will allow you to get a feel for this and it's great practice for the track. I would LFB 90% of the time in my Daily Clunker and as it's got such ****e trampoline suspension I have to throttle steer all the time in it.

Apart from that, the suggestion of a skid pan is really the best way to play around with this.

 

As a follow-up, my sixteen-year-old son learned how to steer a race car with only the throttle last weekend...


Click on image for hyperlink to a (very) short video of his experience at the Dirt Track Racing School.