Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday's Theme: Trail Braking
The highlight of this weekend was an AutoCross event here in Denver. My boss, Todd, was gracious enough to allow me the privilege of racing his Acura RSX Type-S for the second time. Just in case you haven't figured it out already, this post has a lot of nerdy cornering-related content.
Here's what my first run in Todd's car looked like last November...
Possible titles include "If autocross were supposed to be easy, they'd call it drifting" and "CWNED!!1!"
Fail!
Back to last Sunday... My first two runs were pretty uneventful, just working out what lines to take and how to control the car. As planned, I tried running the optional feature of the course in the opposite direction on the 3rd run and took eight very significant tenths off my previous time. Though much of that could be attributed to the fact that I drove a bit better than in my previous runs, I decided that some of the improvement was because I had initially made the wrong choice regarding which direction would be faster.
Before my fourth and final run, one of Todd's old friend's who has lots of autocross experience advised me that I should focus on doing a better job on the one corner where I thought I had screwed up the most. Good advice, really. Just remember to get that one corner at the end that gave me trouble, and drive the rest on autopilot to avoid thinking too much and getting mixed up.
About 30 seconds before hitting the course for my final run, I hear that some guy in my class driving a Subaru was almost a second faster! The Subaru must be beaten at all costs, and I'm not going to gain a second on a single corner. My only option is to just go flat out from start to finish. Priorities: above all stay 100% focused from start to finish, eyes up, keep a very delicate grip on the steering wheel and push the front tires just hard enough, and jump on the brakes at just the right moments. Off I go. The first part of the run was nice and smooth; I was putting the car where I wanted it and was doing a pretty good job of managing my traction. There was a u-turn at about half-way, which was very tricky because of it's decreasing radius and a second u-turn in the opposite direction immediately afterward. This corner also required very early commitment and lots of braking, since it was the end of the fastest part of the course. I've driven corners like these many times before, so it was prudent to go by the seat of my pants and charge in fully committed, giving no consideration to any possibility of overshooting. I ought to know what I'm doing, right?
The first thing that ran through my mind when I got on the brakes is that I would overshoot the turn, which was coming up extremely fast (Todd was riding with me and told me afterward that he had thought the same thing); I knew that I had gotten on the brakes a couple car lengths later than any of my previous runs. Nevermind. The only thing that matters at this point is to get as tight as possible on the last pylon on the inside of the turn (at which I am now looking through the side window) and set up for the next turn. Despite what any driving instructor might tell you, it is quite possible, to brake and turn at the same time. This I did, and did, and did, and managed to get on the gas reasonably soon and clip that last pylon just as I had wanted and pointed in just the right direction, awesome!
Soon after was a decreasing radius 90 left followed by a straight that was just long enough to set up for the hairpin right which followed. This is a very special set of turns because: 1.Any extra speed coming out of the left hander will be lost since it feeds into a very slow corner, so a late apex isn't necessary. 2.There is enough room to cross over to the left and set up for the hairpin, so a late apex isn't necessary. 3.The corner was preceded by a fast section, so a late apex would require a fair amount of early braking. In short, this is a very rare instance where a ridiculously high entry speed and early apex will be fastest. Early Apex!!! I took another seven tenths off my time on that last run and took first loser honors in the class. Still a bit over a tenth of a second slower than the guy in the Subaru.
Next time...
Moral of the story: Look where you want to go. Fear nothing. Be like water.
Here's what my first run in Todd's car looked like last November...
Possible titles include "If autocross were supposed to be easy, they'd call it drifting" and "CWNED!!1!"
Fail!
Back to last Sunday... My first two runs were pretty uneventful, just working out what lines to take and how to control the car. As planned, I tried running the optional feature of the course in the opposite direction on the 3rd run and took eight very significant tenths off my previous time. Though much of that could be attributed to the fact that I drove a bit better than in my previous runs, I decided that some of the improvement was because I had initially made the wrong choice regarding which direction would be faster.
Before my fourth and final run, one of Todd's old friend's who has lots of autocross experience advised me that I should focus on doing a better job on the one corner where I thought I had screwed up the most. Good advice, really. Just remember to get that one corner at the end that gave me trouble, and drive the rest on autopilot to avoid thinking too much and getting mixed up.
About 30 seconds before hitting the course for my final run, I hear that some guy in my class driving a Subaru was almost a second faster! The Subaru must be beaten at all costs, and I'm not going to gain a second on a single corner. My only option is to just go flat out from start to finish. Priorities: above all stay 100% focused from start to finish, eyes up, keep a very delicate grip on the steering wheel and push the front tires just hard enough, and jump on the brakes at just the right moments. Off I go. The first part of the run was nice and smooth; I was putting the car where I wanted it and was doing a pretty good job of managing my traction. There was a u-turn at about half-way, which was very tricky because of it's decreasing radius and a second u-turn in the opposite direction immediately afterward. This corner also required very early commitment and lots of braking, since it was the end of the fastest part of the course. I've driven corners like these many times before, so it was prudent to go by the seat of my pants and charge in fully committed, giving no consideration to any possibility of overshooting. I ought to know what I'm doing, right?
The first thing that ran through my mind when I got on the brakes is that I would overshoot the turn, which was coming up extremely fast (Todd was riding with me and told me afterward that he had thought the same thing); I knew that I had gotten on the brakes a couple car lengths later than any of my previous runs. Nevermind. The only thing that matters at this point is to get as tight as possible on the last pylon on the inside of the turn (at which I am now looking through the side window) and set up for the next turn. Despite what any driving instructor might tell you, it is quite possible, to brake and turn at the same time. This I did, and did, and did, and managed to get on the gas reasonably soon and clip that last pylon just as I had wanted and pointed in just the right direction, awesome!
Soon after was a decreasing radius 90 left followed by a straight that was just long enough to set up for the hairpin right which followed. This is a very special set of turns because: 1.Any extra speed coming out of the left hander will be lost since it feeds into a very slow corner, so a late apex isn't necessary. 2.There is enough room to cross over to the left and set up for the hairpin, so a late apex isn't necessary. 3.The corner was preceded by a fast section, so a late apex would require a fair amount of early braking. In short, this is a very rare instance where a ridiculously high entry speed and early apex will be fastest. Early Apex!!! I took another seven tenths off my time on that last run and took first loser honors in the class. Still a bit over a tenth of a second slower than the guy in the Subaru.
Next time...
Moral of the story: Look where you want to go. Fear nothing. Be like water.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
New hotness...
Some dude in I've never met before gave me this... to keep:
I just wanted a picture, but I ended up rolling it home.
I just wanted a picture, but I ended up rolling it home.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
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