sierralima

Hmmm...I never considered myself much of a Paul Simon fan.

Great feedback, thanks! I know in those slow slides I was overcorrecting in a vain attempt to get some response. I'll work on holding 9&3 as long as possible.

I never really had much experience in snow/ice driving in Houston. I have to admit the sliding around part was fun (which is why I think the TORC and rally would be fun). But I get it is not getting me around the track any faster.

TXE36

Me neither, but the chorus of that song fit.

Per the bolded, once the car is pushing, turning the wheel more actually makes it worse - you'd be better off juking the wheel back and forth at the angle where it begins to push to coax a bit more grip out of the tires.

Up north, ice driving sucks. Zero grip, literally, and with black ice it can come out of nowhere. Snow, when it is cold, actually has quite a bit of grip. It needs to be cold enough that it squeaks when you drive over it. Sloppy slush is a whole 'nother thing. I. Don't. Miss. It. At. All. For daily driving, but it can be fun to play in.

This also reminds me of a comic's politically incorrect song from the late '80s: "I don't care if it rains or freezes 'long as I got my plastic Jesus" - describes winter driving in Missouri to a T.

-Mike

onefastviking

Mike really hit it dead on here.
Had you quit turning the wheel in vain your hands would have stayed on 9&3 which also covers what Greg suggested.
Rain driving is about learning the slick vs the traction areas, then predicting what will happen along with constant minor adjustments so you can feel what the tires and car are doing underneath you.
Oh, and lots and lots of patience.

Changing tire pressures, loose or disconnected sway bars, and rain tires will also help out.

Rain driving forces you to be smoother and feel more, it's a wonderful learning experience, great to see that you went out and enjoyed it.

Me personally, I love rain, ice, snow driving, but dad taught me how to drive at a very young age on back roads in Wisconsin and even a frozen lake / pond. I guess it's part of the Scandinavian way of learning how to drive which is also why there are so many Scandinavian World Rally drivers. I actually feel quite at home going sideways and still on the gas.

Hope that helps,
Viking

TXE36

Per the bolded, again, I recall a video you posted where you did the same thing your M3, in the dry, at TWS CCW in T1. At the time I just left to to a simple entry overcook, but there is a bit of a habit here. You went nearly straight off the right side with a lot of steering wheel lock dialed in. The wheel juking at the push grip limit works in the dry too, although it may not have saved you there.

Come on out and instruct at the next LSRPCA Car Control School in April. At lunch you can play on the wet skid pad. It won't cost you anything but gas.

Viking, thanks for the complement and to your point about the wet. I drove MSRH CW for well over a year and got to sub 2 minute lap times which means not great but I didn't suck. Very first time in the wet it was bloody obvious the kink coming out of Diamond's Edge is a bit off camber at the apex. I had no clue, and indeed, in the dry, it is difficult to feel this. You really get to know a track as well in the wet.

I like the wet too, as compared with my peers, I'm faster in the wet than in the dry.

-Mike

Thundermoose

Like this guy?

sierralima

Ok, I got it. Makes sense.

It is like the first time I had no ABS and I locked up the brakes. My brain told me to release the brakes, but my subconscious saw I was about to hit a wall and didn't do it. Fortunately, someone was thoughtful enough to put in a gravel pit in front of the wall.

Thankfully it only took one time - now I tell my self to release the brakes and it happens. I think if I tell myself enough w/ the ineffective steering input I'll cut it out.

Now I want to go practice again....

Thanks for the invite, Mike! I'll have to look at our schedule. I actually did the skid pad at MSRH the weekend before last w/ Chin, but compared to MSRC in the rain it was really tame.

surlynkid

Cresson in the rain is like ice skating. They sealed the asphalt after they poured it. You can drive the wet line but eventually you have to cross the dry line.

On almost every lap, SierraLima came out of Big Bend headed toward S/F where the river flows across the track and had the back end stepped out without getting out of the gas. It was fun to watch the drivers headed up track with the car in a 5-10 degree yaw for 100 yards. Some didn't make it and spun.

hf1

The camera view angle is not optimal but looks like your track out after the crest left no space for the yellow car. Probably not intentionally and in the heat of the battle you went into the crest too hot to allow him any space at track out. In other words: The right turn after the crest was not "yours" to take the way you tracked out, IMO.

Great driving, though, especially for a rookie!
Did you win the race?

sierralima

Yeah...but that video is boring.

Actually...as much as I hate to admit it, I think Mike is dead on w/ his comment on this being a habit of mine to hold ineffective steering inputs to the point of drama.

Here is a vid from MSRH Chin the weekend before. My default way of catching someone is to cheat the corners and try to slam on the brakes at the last minute (no, I'm not very patient , and I end up w/ the car unsettled which makes me late getting back on throttle at corner exit for a vicious cycle). Of course, this leads to the drama at 2:06 in which I (IMO) entered the corner too early and am surprised by his braking which causes me to brake w/ too much steering input. The input becomes ineffective, but I continue to add more in a vain attempt to go the direction I want, resulting in the tank slapping drama that unfolds:

tahoelife

Thank you for the feed back everyone so far. Yes I did win the race and set fastest lap. I placed 2nd in my first sprint race and set fast lap. Placed 3rd in race two after starting on pole in class because I stayed on the rain set up when #11 and #23 went to dry tires and setup. This made is so we each took a 1,2,3, over the weekend. I was awarded rookie of weekend and the Corner worker choice award. Very happy that my only real mis-step was the pass in turn 5. Saturday was pouring rain and very challenging I did not put a tire off or spin all weekend so feel good that most of the time I had pretty good control of the car.

Little Fryer

Is there a way to find out if my car has been tracked by previous owners? Is there a registry that I could check to see? Thanks

winders

Considering the turn, the yellow car was expecting a lot if he thought there was going to be plenty of room at the exit for two cars. Based on the speed you both entered the turn, it was no going to turn out any other way and he should have planned for that. Maybe he did which is why there was no contact.

You did great.

Thundermoose

Looked to me like you turned in too early into sweeper. Back end was already loose when braking into bus stop. The bus stop is off camber so you really need to have car settled and to the left of the first apex to make that turn without drama. I think the patience needed was to turn a bit later into the sweeper, of course what do I know, I am still much slower through the sweeper than my fellow TT'ers.

sierralima

Flat out - let me know if it works for you.

I definitely think I turned in too early. I can see my brain thinking "I'm not going all the way over there - I'm taking a short cut to catch you!" But I'm also thinking I overcorrected and held the wheel at lock out which caused all the resulting drama when I did not catch the wheel in the correct position on recovery?

hf1

This sounds as if you are assigning 50/50% responsibility for the incident. I don't know that track but it looked like the yellow car wasn't given any room at the exit (much less "plenty"), and that was not his fault. Granted, he should have predicted this outcome given the entry speed of both cars but probably it was too late to do anything about it. They were both already cresting and turning at that point. It was not intentional on the red car's part but the fact remains that the yellow car was not given racing space at track out.