Quote:
Originally Posted by PeanuKeeyes
I am having trouble imagining myself handling a car like this in the near future...
No GoPro footage this year I don’t think. I’m going to hold off on that until I have some seat time.
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Rally school and winter car control clinics can speed your acquisition of significant car control skills. There's nothing quite like piloting a car with all four wheels loose on the surface at speeds that don't threaten you or the car. A plus is that in the case of rally school it won't be your car that you're driving.
This is the rally school I attended; I went for the first four days of the five-day school and developed major car control skills, the kind that you won't develop on a paved race track:
https://www.teamoneil.com/.
It's major money, no question, but the skills just might keep you from wrecking a car. It did for me when my car pulled a fast one on me that resulted in a tank-slapper in T6 at the Glen. No way would I have saved that car without having attended rally school. The difference in cost was substantial, as T6 at the Glen is by far the turn most likely to result in a totaled car, which is what I was headed for if I hadn't reacted automatically to what the car was trying to do. The instructive thing is that it was all over before I had any time to think about it; my training allowed me to simply react, in real time, without thought, and in an incredibly short few tenths of seconds. I don't have the car's data during that event, but I'm thinking the drama was all over in less than three seconds total, maybe less.
The best part of all, for me at least, was it the most fun I've ever had in a car. The kicker is that it's not about the cars, which are very modest units – it's about the driving skills that you develop under the tutelage of excellent, committed instructors.
Another cool thing is that you're in the car
a lot. That's been a major gripe of mine about some other forms of car control events – you're just not behind the wheel out on the course for very much time before the day is over. Karting is probably the best when it comes to having on-demand unlimited seat time that provides a legitimate car-control improvement opportunity.
Finally, you meet some very interesting fellow students. I was paired with a Marine captain whose day job was flying a rescue helicopter in Afghanistan. I learned something from watching him methodically follow the class and in-car instructions and steadily and consistently get better over the four days.
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Another car-control exercise I've found useful is the Audi North Atlantic Chapter's winter driving events. They're generally held twice each winter up at the Team O'Neil facility in Dalton, NH. Normally, they'd be on their calendar by now, but they may not be scheduled due to Covid-19 and the fact that in-car instruction is involved, at least for most students. The cost of these events is modest, the Audi crowd is very social and friendly, and if the winter conditions are good it offers excellent (and fun!) skill-building exercises.
Audi NAC's site:
https://audiclubna.org/north-atlantic/; and,
A listing for a previous event explaining what's on offer:
https://audiclubna.org/north-atlanti...ary-27-28th-2/.
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Besides having fun and getting rid of even more money, the main reason to do these sorts of events is to increase your margin of safety on the track. In my opinion, that's the real value they offer.
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Don't get a GoPro to share video with others; instead, get it so that you can share what you did with yourself and your instructors. You'll learn faster by reviewing what you actually did, rather that what you remember doing. Put it up by the rear view mirror so that it's clear
exactly where you're placing the car. That's more important than what you're doing with the wheel or anything else that might seem interesting to include in the image.
As always, my 2¢ – hopefully, some of it is of some use, now or later.
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P.S...
Quote:
Originally Posted by PeanuKeeyes
The 228i felt like a boat after the first two ride-alongs which was a bit eye opening.
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Our car's
are boats, and they'll remain boats for the rest of their lives. The challenge is to learn to pilot a boat around a race track. I think they're a lot more fun on the open, high-speed tracks like the Glen, and more of a wrestling match on handling tracks like Palmer and Loudon.
Interestingly, Lime Rock is in-between in that regard. At the same time, to remain safe there requires a level of precision that many other tracks do not. To manage water runoff, the track has a pronounced crown, and the off-camber track-outs can be pretty exciting for the incautious driver.
To be fast there also requires a fair bit of...dare I suggest it...courage!
There are three successive turns (the Uphill, West Bend, and the Downhill) that may be the most demanding three-turn section on any track in the Northeast.
Here are a couple of Bill Auberlen videos that I found useful in helping me get down into the 58s in the race car I used to run:
Bill Auberlen doing a demo lap of Lime Rock in a stock E92 M3 - April 27, 2010:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfb2R5MHKS0
Bill Auberlen running 59-second Grand-Am Continental Challenge GS Class practice laps on May 28, 2011:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56uANBa60LU.
Here also is a video where I demonstrate why your wheel
must be straight as you approach the crest of the uphill:
https://vimeo.com/7733020.
Notice how my gloved right hand never returns to the nine o'clock position before cresting the hill. Oops!
Notice too all of the skids marks already made by drivers who'd made the same mistake. You'll see the current set of skid marks when you run there. My skills were very undeveloped at that time, and I was very lucky not to have wrecked the car. I waited a couple of more events before succeeding at doing that.
That's when I decided to get serious about learning to drive better, starting with hiring a pro driver to coach me on every track I was running on.