Originally Posted by Pho King Fast

There’s no arguing that if everything was flat, the fastest way around a corner is to draw the straightest line possible, using as much track as possible. It’s just physics. But when we apply it in practice, the path we take is not 2-Dimensional – it incorporates many more variables than you can see in 2D (suspension load, tire load, weight manipulation, etc). The most common rookie mistake is to imagine the 2D line as a rail, and then try to ‘trace’ or ‘ride’ the rail as much as possible, correcting as you slip off the line. When we think like this, we are not looking ahead, nor are we thinking ahead.

If you look at Roman’s video, he is sideways half the time. His inputs might appear jerky, but ‘deliberate’ is better word in describing his actions. Regardless, if you attach a can of paint to the back of his car, the resulting line would be relatively smooth, and it would look pretty close to what the 2D line would look like (passing aside). And while the lines may look similar, they are actually built very differently. Even if you are positioned at the exact same longitude/latitude, the dynamic load on the car can differ entirely depending on how you planned your path of inertia. The key difference between his approach, and “staying” on the 2D line, is that one is predictive, and the other is reactive. This is very important to remember when you are developing your line.

Further incorporated into his line is risk management. He takes a rain approach because his car has very limited grip. He keeps the car sideways so that the inertia is never directed away from the track. Staying within the slip allows him to keep the change rate progressive without sudden “hooks” of traction. If he tries to keep his inputs smooth and turn into the apex with no yaw, one of the issues is that moments would arise where the inertia is directed away from the track. Even if the risk from those moments is just 1%, if a track has 10 corners, for every 10 laps you drive, there will be a risk of significant correction and/or off. So he mitigates his risk by approaching the corners differently, predicting where the inertia will go rather than reacting to it. The line behind him still looks very similar – but it encompasses so much more than what you see in 2D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvDD8V9Liq8

Now…taking things a step further...how do you figure out what a driver is thinking? It’s actually very simple – first you figure out what he’s looking at based on his inputs, weight manipulation, and corrections, and then you just follow the natural tendencies of the brain. Are you familiar with target fixation? It is our worst enemy that will try to kill us, right? Well, we can look at it from that perspective, or we can take target fixation and turn it into our best friend.

What is target fixation? It’s when you are fixated on an object, and your mind/body automatically does everything necessary to ensure a direct path to whatever you are fixated on. Because of how powerful fixation is, we never, ever want our thoughts or eyes to be anywhere near where we are in relation to the 2D line. We turn this enemy into our friend by fixating on where we want to go – i.e. looking ahead – and the result is that our mind calculates everything necessary to get us directly to our exit as fast as possible. All the resulting corrections should be subconscious, and with practice, we can start to consciously influence the path that our mind takes towards the fixation. Eventually, we develop the skills that teach us how to modify and plan our path of inertia. We look where we want to go, and the line happens behind us.

Originally Posted by RugermanTilst

Holy **** Pho you are a monster both on and off the track! I looked you up after seeing your video on youtube and found this post. This was the best piece of driving instruction I've ever read! I don't have a Porsche but I tried the fixation technique in my M3 and it worked. It was amazing, I felt a huge lightbulb go off in my head once I started fixating my eyes towards the exit.

As for you haters, I actually read through this thread. Pho was being humble and neutral as hell and then you guys started attacking him out of nowhere! WTF?? You guys are messed up!! Even then he STILL being polite while putting the smash down on you idiots.

Anyways just wanted to say thanks Pho! I posted on your wall (not sure how to send a DM). Hit me up if you are ever come back to buttonwillow!

Originally Posted by himself

First post. Not suspicious at all.

-td

Originally Posted by Alexandrius

this is the gift that keeps on giving

Originally Posted by Pho King Fast

We look where we want to go, and the line happens behind us.

Originally Posted by Jack667

Exactly!

I couldn't help but skim the last posts here and this line struck me as particularly funny:



Regarding: "We look where we want to go", this is the line! Crazy! If we didn't know the line, we wouldn't know where to go, and where to look. This is so funny to me. Oh well. I really didn't want to re-post here, but this one really caught me this morning...