kraff

I'm kind of looking for other people's off track experiences with this post, so I don't feel as stupid as I currently do. Plus a bit of advice at the end.

Hmmm.. Where to begin. Yesterday, I decided to play hooky and go play at Big Willow. I've only been there once and have only been on the track a few times. I hooked up with So Cal Reb and he was kind enough to offer to ride with me and show me his line. Well, I gave him a ride. :yesnod:

On our third lap, coming out of the #2, I let the car drift a bit. I had brand new tires and they were a little squirrely. Truth is (and the first lesson of the day) I didn't have my head in the track very well. We'd had a long time wait due to oil on the track and I didn't really prepare myself very well mentally. Anyway, I come out wide and what do you know, I start to run out of track.

Well, newbie says "don't make newbie mistake #1, don't lift, don't lift" and I don't. Instead, the inevitable next thing occurs, we go two off. Despite my heroic effort not to lift however, I make newbie mistake #2. Two off and my reptile size brain says "must get back on track". This of course leads to exciting spin and a run through the desert using the side of my mag red beauty as a brake. I do remember newbie thing #3 "in a spin two feet in" but that wasn't much consolation.

After the dust settles (most of which is now in my car), we safely re-enter track and head to the pits. There I discover the good news and the bad news. Good news is tires are not beaded and there is no mechanical damage. Bad news is that rocks chip paint. I knew getting into this that stuff happens, but this sort of stinks. I never wanted a garage queen, but I also wasn't looking for a track horse either.

The damage is all chips and scratches and behind the front wheel looks like it has been sand blasted. It is not so bad that as you walk up you go OMG, but it bad enough I could probably get the insurance company to fork over some loot. I'm kinda starting to like this crazy road course stuff (the rest of the day was actually a blast :cheers: ), but this is my daily driver, I still have a note on it, and would like to keep it in decent shape. However, I'd still like to have a run at the track from time to time.

Thoughts, experiences and advice are greatly appreciated. I wouldn't post this in any other forum as I'm pretty sure they wouldn't understand like I hope you folks do.

PS - Thanks So Cal Reb, you're not bad for a Viper guy :cool:

no cure

it happens.
no personal damage and very minimal car damage. I know plenty o folks that don't count paint as car damage.

so take a Big Lesson from this and move on.

1. Gradually add speed. can not emphasis this enough. if on your 3rd lap you came out too wide on T2 and that caused you to go off, you were going too fast.

2, leave lots of headroom til you have a bunch of seat time. it's drivers ed, not racing. smooth smooth smooth. can't say this enough. after getting feel for smooth, Especially one's first time at a track, then start adding speed. work on car placement and consistancy. put her where you want lap after lap, then worry bout 'how fast you're going'.

apexes, track out, shift points, braking zones, technical competence before speed. I hate when my students want to "go fast" in a new 02 Z06 and have never been on track before in their lives. I'm too old to be scared anymore.

shiny side up
David

you can learn for thousands of laps, but it only takes one bad move wreck your car/life. take it seriously. the mental part is the whole game.

ACAR

When I take one of the street cars out to the track, I try really hard to stay on the asphalt, which means 8 1/2 to 9 10ths for me. When I am in a dedicated track car I will push it a lot harder and get closer to the edge, and sometimes (rarely) that means going over the edge. But in my six years of taking my street cars to the track I have only been four wheels off once, and that time was almost inevitable. I was at Sebring and my instructor and I were trying to see just how fast we could get through turn 16, which leads onto the very long back straight. We had been running the the course together for two days and he also had a 99 hardtop so we were pretty comfortable with each other. Each lap I would brake a little later and a little lighter going into turn 16 raising the exit speed by 1 or 2 mph each lap. He would watch the speedo, and talk me through it. In my car, on those tires, on that day, with me driving, 93 mph was the magic number. The front and the rear both were pushing out at the same rate that said there was no way we were going to make it, so I locked em up so that we would go out, instead of trying to save it and go into the inside wall, like so many others have before on that turn. We filled the inside of the car with fine Florida dirt/sand and when I finally came to a stop the instructor looked over at me and said "well, you didn't scare me".

rbeckham

kraff - welcome to the club, and it is certainly a large one. I don't know how anyone can expect to learn how to drive fast without having to learn a little of the consequences of (not necessarily driving too fast) but not driving a line you can live with. If you race, you can't always drive the line. If you always drive the line, you can't race. If you screw up badly, you might have a really bad day but sounds like you actually had a pretty good day. Keep it up!

ghoffman

Since you lived and you did not destroy the car (I have been there, done that), I would say you had a good day. The biggest advise I can give you is to try to be smooth and consistant, then the speed will come. None of us are M. Schmucher, so get plenty of seat time and progress at a safe rate. Have fun, be safe, and spend money on gas, tires, brakes and learn this at YOUR rate, leave your ego at home.


[Modified by ghoffman, 11:06 PM 8/3/2002]

VegasJen

:lol: i've never done that! :rolleyes:
i suppose it would be different if my car was as new (and nice) as yours. for me, i haven't found the limit until i've put a wheel or two in the dirt. last speedventures event at SMMP, i went off at every corner i could except turn 1. a couple places two or three times :lol:
if you really think that you may enjoy doing this stuff, then just get a cheapy to run at the track. even a 'cheapy' sounds expensive but i have friends who have cobbled together little honda civics with a roll cage and some yoks for about $1000. not much to look at but if you spin/flip/crash/catch it on fire, who cares? you wad it up, you throw it away. no big deal. certainly not as much a deal as a 'vette.
when i drove my vette to and from events, i also drove it at 9/10ths. now that i have a trailer it's ***** to the wall. or as pete would say,"gas until you see god, then brake".
you might do like i see others doing and put masking tape on the fenders to protect the paint for just such events. sometimes it looks stupid, but if it protects the paint then that's good enough.

Mike Schriber

It happens to everyone. Look on the bright side... last time I was at Big Willow, a guy in an Integra went off hard on turn one, slide across the desert and into a small gully, tearing off his left rear wheel. Ouch.

When I'm just getting started for the day, or I'm at a new track, I always back way off and learn the line and the track conditions. It's a good idea for just about anyone. I can't tell you how many people I see go off the track on the yellow warm up lap, or the first lap of green.

Another thing to consider is to put Active Handling into Competition Mode instead of turning it off, if you're car is so equiped. It's a great safety net when you're getting started (heck, even later too).

I've got so many rock chips on my car I don't even bother looking anymore!

Mike :flag

01C5fan

I have seen guys put shelf paper on the nose and down each side of the car to help prevent stone chips. The stuff Home Depot carries comes off easily and doesn't bother the finish. Just a pita to put on. I was at a PCA event this spring and met a guy who uses liquid latex. He just paints it on areas he wants to protect. He said it takes a little work to get off, but it protects the car really well.

SoCal Rebell

Grassopper, I thought you did very well. You followed the line well, hit your brake zones and for the most part hit your apexs. Kerry went off coming out of turn 2, I don't think it was so much you going too fast because you weren't I think it was like you said you head wasn't 100% in it. It was the 1st session and coming out of turn 2 is blind, you just apexed too early and came into the straight too steep, you went 2 off and instead of easing it back to the track you snapped it and once the other two tire hits the track we were sideways going off the other way. You did GREAT the rest of the day, I was watching, but these things happen. I hope the car is OK, with more seat time this will not happen again, you'll just ride it out back onto the track. I hope the ride I gave you in my car showed you a little of how to drive the track.

Rebelskum

You know...I did this same exact thing a while ago. I didn't spin, but that was LUCK.

The whole day I was "***** to the wall", been on this track a few times before. End of the day, last session, hot, tired, etc....what happend? MENTAL LAPSE! I was telling myself, be smooth, be smooth before but....Car pushed out too much and I got two off and my brain said, "must get back on track"...made it back on, and I'm sure there were a few people taking bets on just how thick a layer of dirt and dust I'd have in my car after that one....

I don't think I can stress this one enough, be MENTALLY ready. *especially* towards the end of the day when you're pretty tired.

:seeya



[Modified by Rebelskum, 4:32 PM 8/5/2002]