10 AX driving tips from Sportscar

[Grantsfo]

The SCCA magazine Sportscar had 10 great AX tips in this months edition. I thought it was worth sharing with those who are still learning.


1. Postion First, Then Speed. Positioning the car perfectly is more important than trying to attain the highest potential speed. For example, you will drop more time by correctly positioning the car nearer to slalom cones than you will by adding 1 or 2 mphin speed. Also position is a prerequisite for speed. If you are not in the correct place you will not be able to go faster.

2. Turn earlier ...and less. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place, the arc must start sooner. (turn earlier)


3. Brake earlier ...and less. Waiting until the last possible second approaching a turn and then dropping the anchor at precisely the correct place so that the desired entry speed is reached exactly as you come to the turn in pointis quite difficult to execute consistently. Its better to start braking a little earlierto give some margin for error. And by braking less you can eitheradd or subtractbraking effort as you close in on the turn in point. This will make you consistently smooth.

4. Lift early instead of braking later. When you need to reduce speed only a moderate amount try an early lift of the throttle instead of a later push of the brake. This is less upsetting to the car, is easier to do and thus more consistent, allowing for more precise placement entering the manuerver (remeber No. 1).

5. Its easier to add speed in a turn than to get rid of it. If you are under limit, a slight push of the right foot will get you more speed with no additional side effects. On the other hand, if youre too fast and the tires have begun slipping, you can only reduce throttle and wait until the tires turn enough of that excess energy into smoke and heat. Dont use your tires as brakes!

6. Use your right foot to modulate car position in constant radius turns, not the steering wheel. In a steady state turn, once you have established the correct steering input to maintain that arc, lifting the throttle slightlywill let the car tuckcloser to the inside cones. Conversleyslightly increasing slightly will push the car out a bit further to miss the inside cones. It is much easier to make small corrections in position with slight variations in the tires' slip angle (thats what you are doing with the throttle) than with the steering wheel.

7. Unwind the wheel and then add power. If the car is using all of the tires tractive capacity to corner, there is none left for additional acceleration. If you do not unwind the wheel when you start to accelerate the tire will start to slide and the car will push out (see No. 6)

8. Attack the back. For slaloms (also applicable to most offsets) getting close to the cones is critical for quick times (see no.1) To get close, we must move the car less, which means bigger arcs. Because the car doesnt start changing direction until the wheels cross the center and because reaction time is time is involved, your brain must make the decision to begin turning the wheel back the other way just before you go by the previous cone! Since this is a mental issue, a good visualization technique is to think about tryingto run overthe back side of each slalom cone with the inside rear tire. (and not the front), the car must be arcingwell before the cone and the arc must be shallow. Attack the back!

9. Hands follow the eyes, car follows the hands. Nuf said.

10. Scan ahead dont stare. Keep the eyes moving -looking aheaddoes not mean staring ahead. Your eyes must be constantly moving forward. (and sometimes to the left and right). Glance forward, glance back. Your brain can onlycan only operate on the information you give it.

[nebreitling]

nice tips -- i like the emphasis on position over speed.

[Grantsfo]

I know somone who would benefit from number 3

[nebreitling]

hahahaha i think i may know him too!

[juanbenae]

Originally posted by nebreitling
nice tips -- i like the emphasis on position over speed.

that's what she said ! sorry could not resist.

if i was to pin that above my sun visor and read it before each run i'd still forget most all of it. i try to take an instructor every few events and get ONE point from them in a real world situation. i learn more that way.

example- i had an instructor along in a course with a long slalom. i was on and off the gas at each cone trying to pick up speed that i would try to lose before the next. he stated that a better approach was to keep a constant speed through the thing instead of unsettling the car with the on & off the throttle action. him yelling that at me is burned into my mind. i don't care much for the guy as an instructor, but his info was sound.

come to think of it my pops had to yell at me to get things to "set" in my mind.

[Grantsfo]

Originally posted by k911sc
that's what she said ! sorry could not resist.

if i was to pin that above my sun visor and read it before each run i'd still forget most all of it. i try to take an instructor every few events and get ONE point from them in a real world situation. i learn more that way.

example- i had an instructor along in a course with a long slalom. i was on and off the gas at each cone trying to pick up speed that i would try to lose before the next. he stated that a better approach was to keep a constant speed through the thing instead of unsettling the car with the on & off the throttle action. him yelling that at me is burned into my mind. i don't care much for the guy as an instructor, but his info was sound.

come to think of it my pops had to yell at me to get things to "set" in my mind.

Yeah I should try an instructor one of these days - havent had one since I started to AX. Probably would learn how to be a smarter technical driver.