Veloce Raptor

^^^ EXACTLY ^^^

sierralima

So maybe the issue is in the known car the small mistakes were easy to discount as tire wear, weather...sway bar....

In the unknown car vs other people in very similar cars I had to face the fact that the issue may be the driver. ;-)

Maybe going slower allows me to process what is going on easier.

Regardless of cause and effect, the result is discomfort and motivation to improve. Which was the goal.... And the goal is also to transfer these skills back to the more powerful cars.

TXE36

99.9% of the time you think it's the car, it's not.

The car's setup is extraordinarily sensitive to the adjustment of the nut behind the wheel.

-Mike

fleadh

IMO, it's a chicken and egg thing. It's also why from my first time driving a proper race car in 2011, I invested in a "Pro" to come help me. You simply can not improve yourself if you're driving an improperly setup pile of sh*t. It doesn't matter if it's a fast high HP POS or a low hp slow POS. You'll spend all your time struggling, working on, or blaming the wrong thing.

Get a good baseline on whatever car you want to drive, then work like hell on it. Until you reach a pretty far level it won't batter if it's a slow or a fast car, as long as it's properly setup and maintained.

Eventually, in order to round out your repertoire you're going to have to drive all different types of cars... they all require a slightly different technique to get the very last little bit of. But you can learn 95% of the fundamentals in almost anything. If you get good at that 95% you'll be pretty damn fast. :-)

All just IMO of course. Long as you're enjoying your time on the track the rest doesn't really matter so much.


edit: on a lighter note, check out really how close GT3 racing is to spec miata --

-mike

TXE36

Interesting perspective, as I had always heard it was bad form to blame the car. I guess I've have also been blessed that the few cars I've driven on the track were setup well enough that they were far from the POS class.

Love the WTF gesture there at the end of the clip .

-Mike

sierralima

When you see that in spec Miata it looks like hijinks. When you see it in GT3 it seems so wrong….

I was never a car person. My husband finally told me he was tired of me dragging his butt all over the mountains and we were going to do something he wanted to do – drive at the track. When my instructor asked what my goal was my response was “I just don’t want to be the chick at the track who can’t drive.”

I started with the M3 and didn’t like it. When we got the GT3 I fell in love.

My instructors said it was not a good car to learn on, and if I really wanted to get good I would focus first on mastering the more balanced M3.

I said so basically I’m dating Brad Pitt and you are telling me I have to start going out with Will Farrell. I was told no – the M3 is Brad Pitt and the GT3 is the most interesting man in the world.

So last summer I started trying to be friends with the M3. We made slow modifications/suspension changes through the fall and winter, but driving at TWS caused some “track specific damage.” At one point they raised the rear about ½ inch and repaired the damage and nothing else. That was fun, lol, but quite educational.

So while I think it is important to have fun at the track (which I have learned to do), as one of my other instructors in green pointed out, “We are not here to take a Sunday stroll.”

If being uncomfortable and having to listen to stuff I don't want to hear makes me a better driver bring it on….

sierralima

PS Which I guess leads back to the question who is this Miata guy and why am I spending time with him? ;-)

TXE36

Wise instructor there. Will Farrell!?!? (insert vomiting emoticon here).

Torn body/suspension mounts? One thing that is true about the Bimmers, is they are not as track worthy most P-cars in stock condition. E36 M3s require reinforcement and I can't imagine that got better as the cars got heavier.

When driving well, a lap around the track is like a Sunday drive - just a warp speed. A sign of a good instructor is one that is willing to dish on the stuff you don't want to hear. I wouldn't be at the place I am now without the some of the raw feedback I've gotten from instructors over the years (they know who they are).

The Stig?

BTW, if you like, I'll take you out in my M3 next month at TWS. It will be much closer to your SM than your M3.

-Mike

Thundermoose

I'd give Sally a few more months and she'll be giving you and the E36 a good run for its money in her miata.

TXE36

With what I've seen so far, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

-Mike

sierralima

And I heard you set some sort of land speed record at MSRH last weekend. What the hell...please tell me that was not on the NT01s....

If you want me to get better and be a good enduro team member you need to give me at least some hope I can catch you.

That or start sending me threatening memes again....

PS And Will Ferrell is actually a good looking guy. Problem is he is not sexy.

tgavem

If we are sinking to this level, I'm bringing back my cartoon watching cheerleader......

Thundermoose

I was on cheater tires. Your miata times are 8 seconds faster than my best (miata time) so I am attributing my PR to E46 M3 setup and tires. Driver still needs a lot of work.

Veloce Raptor

DO IT !!!

sierralima

Like you need an excuse for bad behavior....