The primary objective here is to become a faster autocross driver. I’m hoping these notes will help.
You can slalom more aggresively than you realize.
Don't DNF because you got lost. You must pay close attention to the course and continue to visualize it in your head even after you think you've nailed it.
Check your times after every run. If you DNF'd, review your video to understand why.
Having redundant video/data recording systems will allow you to capture the run even if one system fails.
The automatic start/stop feature of Harry's Laptimer failed me. I'm 99% confident that I set the start and stop markers correctly but Laptimer terminated the run early for every single run. I should first try using the manual start/stop mode and if that fails I should try a different app.
I was on Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2 tires. Those are Max Performance Summer tires (with a 320 treadwear rating). Two of the tires had the same date code and the other two didn't have date codes at all. The two with date codes both indicate the 5th week of 2023. I expect the tires were close to the spec pressure but I did not measure them. Wear patterns suggest that I needed to lower the pressures. 245/40/ZR19 all the way around.
The morning session (runs 1-3) was cold (40s or 50s) but the afternoon session (runs 4-6) was warmer (60s or 70s).
I need to keep both hands on the wheel. I spent too much time with my right hand on the shifter.
I was attempting to negotiate a hairpin turn and the car was understeering really bad and I'm not sure why. I was turning hard and flooring it but I was at low RPM in 2nd gear so the car wasn't accelerating very much. I'd like to better understand this understeer and prevent it from happening again.
I feel like the car has a throttle response problem at low RPM. I was frequently flat out but the car seemed like it was barely responding.
You must backside the slalom cones.
Take a wide entry for hairpins.
Mount your GoPro at the top center of the windshield, outside the car.
When walking the course, count the cones in the slaloms. Determine if they are equidistant, increasing-distance, or decreasing distance. For optional slaloms, determine which entrance direction will allow you to skip the last slalom cone.
Keep it tight, always.
Playback video at half speed or slower to make analysis easier.
Even-cone slalom you enter and exit on opposite sides. odd-cone slalom you enter and exit on the same side.
The course walk is necessary but not sufficient. The information you gain from your first run will be even more important because it is data that was gathered at speed.
Look ahead at the next element or two or three. This can set you up for the next element and prevent DNFs.
Draw a map of the course. Print out a Google Maps capture of the area and bring it with you.
Chalk your tires to determine the correct pressure.
Be early with your inputs. Don't be late.
Break sweepers down into entry, middle, and exit.
Every autocross course is different but they're typically made up of the same elements: slaloms, Chicago boxes, lane changes, sweepers, hairpins, offset cones, chutes, gates, eyebrows, clamshells, six packs.
When you're in line waiting for your turn, you can be looking ahead to the first two or three elements of the course.
Hitting a cone is not that big a deal, especially if you're a novice. Leaving several feet of space between the car and the cone is worse than hitting a cone you were trying to backside.
Pace off slalom cones during your course walks by counting the number of steps between cones. Also pace off Chicago boxes, lane changes, offset cones, etc.
You are going to have to make some mistakes in order to become a better driver. Hit some cones. Try new lines. Enter the slalom from the other side. Accelerate too much and DNF. I believe these things will help you learn how to find the limit.
Your job as a novice autocross driver is to not get lost on course.
Position over speed.
Let your tires talk to you. let the squealing help you find the grip limit.
If you make more power than you can put down, the excess power is wasted. AWD is the most effective way to put power down. An AWD car with big power potential would make a fantastic autocross car. Bonus points if it's lightweight and has double wishbone suspension. This makes the Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX / Eagle Talon TSi basically the perfect autocross car. Other exciting choices include: EVO, AWD CTR, NC1 NSX, Audis maybe?, Golf R, Huracán, 911 Turbo, Carrera4?, GTR, Tesla 3 Performance
First step in suspension tuning should be to measure and model the current suspension. Adam should do this on the G35. Put a big plastic sheet under the car and use a laser plumb bob to project suspension points on to the floor (assumes a level floor).
Also corner weight the car.
Also weigh the unsprung masses.
Also buy a spring rate tester.
Also buy torrington bearings to sit between the springs and the spring perch.
First, model the suspension, including corner weighting the car and weighing the unsprung mass.
Second, choose springs to achieve a 2.2 Hz natural frequency in the front and a 2.5 Hz NF in the rear.
Third, set damping to 65% critical in the 0-0.3 in/s range.
- This doesn't specify if 65% critical should be set for bound or rebound. I'll need to figure that out. Probably bound though.
Fourth, set static negative camber based on the camber curves from the suspension model. Target a vertical tire at peak roll angle.
Even though we don't often think of it this way, massive understeer equals losing control of the car.
Use a safety tether for externally mounted cameras in case the primary mount fails.
Driving at the limit is more important that being on the ideal line.
Practice awareness.
Keep a notebook in the car and take notes after every run.
Come up with objectives prior to each run. After each run compare your performance to your objectives.
A driver needs more of a plan than “I’m going to drive the slalom faster.”
That’s the difference between mental imagery and visualization; mental imagery involves more than just your visual sense, and visualization doesn’t.
Practice mental imagery. Before a run and even when at home.
Focus on positive thoughts, not negative thoughts. Reframe negative thoughts as positive thoughts.
Don't dwell on mistakes. View them as learning opportunities.
Don't focus on mistakes, focus on their solutions.
Breathe. Relax.
Practice good autocrossing habits on the street. Grip the wheel correctly. Look ahead. Smooth on the pedals. Identify turn-in, apex, and track out.
If you see someone go off track (or if all you can see is the cloud of dust they kick up), don't just speed by them. Slow down to a safe speed, because it's likely that they will end up back on track and out of control.
Watch videos of crashes from your local racetrack to learn what areas to watch out for.
Break vehicle responsiveness into two categories: power-on and power-off.
https://forums.nicoclub.com/f-a-q-read-here-first-t132642.html
ANDY'S TOP TEN AUTOX DRIVING TIPSBy Andy Hollis(Andy is a multiple National Solo Champion and an instructor for the Evolution Solo School)
Originally posted on Miata.Net
[Just got back from a weekend of teaching Evolution schools and thought I'd share some stuff that I must have said a thousand times.]
1] Position 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 MPH in speed. Same with sweepers (tight line). Same with 90-degree turns (use all of the track). Also, position is a prerequisite for speed. If you are not in the correct place, you will not be able go faster. Or at least not for very long!
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 anchor at precisely the correct place so that the desired entry speed is reached exactly as you come to the turn-in point is quite difficult to execute consistently. Especially when you consider that you get no practice runs on the course, and the surface changes on every run, and you aren't likely to be in exactly the same position with the same approach speed on every run, etc. Better to start braking a little earlier to give some margin of error. And by braking less you can either add or subtract braking effort as you close in on the turn-in point. This will make you consistent and smooth.
4] Lift early instead of braking later. Continuing with the philosophy of #3, 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, and allows for more precise placement entering the maneuver (remember #1 above).
5] Easier to add speed in a turn than to get rid of it. If you are under the limit, a slight push of the right foot will get you more speed with no additional side effects. On the other hand, if you are 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. Don't 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 slightly will let the car tuck in closer to the inside cones. Conversely, slightly increasing the throttle will push the car out a bit farther to avoid inside cones. It is much easier to make small corrections in position with slight variations in the tires' slip angle (that's what you are doing with the throttle) than with the steering wheel.
7] Unwind the wheel, then add power. If the car is using all of the tire's tractive capacity to corner, there is none left for additional acceleration. At corner exit, as you unwind the wheel, you make some available. If you do not unwind the wheel, the tire will start to slide and the car will push out (see #6 above).
8] Attack the back. For slaloms (also applicable to most offsets), getting close to the cones is critical for quick times (see #1). To get close, we must move the car less, which means bigger arcs. Bigger arcs come from less steering and require earlier turning (see #2). Now for the fun part... When you go by a slalom cone and start turning the steering wheel back the other way, when does the car start to actually change direction? Answer: When the wheel crosses the center point (Not when you first start turning back!) How long does that take? If you are smooth, it takes .25 - .5 seconds. Now, how long is a typical person's reaction time? Answer: about .5 seconds. Finally, how long does it take to go between slalom cones? Answer: Typically on the order of 1 second. Given all of that, your brain must make the decision to begin turning the steering wheel back the other way just before you go by the previous cone!!
Since this is a mental issue, a good visualization technique to get used to this is to think about trying to run over the back side of each slalom cone with the inside rear tire of the car. To hit it with the rear tire (and not the front), the car must be arcing well 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, don't stare. Keep the eyes moving. Looking ahead does not mean staring ahead. Your eyes must be constantly moving forward and back, and sometimes left and right. Glance forward, glance back. Your brain can only operate on the information you give it.
Bonus Tip: Don't forget the stuff in between the marked maneuvers! Too often we think of a course as series of discrete maneuvers. There is typically more to be gained or lost in the areas that are in between. Pay special attention to the places where there are no cones
- Use your theoretical best lap as an analysis tool to help improve your driving.
- If you split a lap/run into sectors, the theoretcal best lap is a hypothetical lap composed of the fastest sector time for each sector.
- The closer a given lap time is to the theoretical best lap, the faster you were driving and the closer you are to reaching the max of your current potential.
- The more laps you have that are close to your theoretical max, the more consistent a driver you are.
- Question though: how do I define "close"? i.e. what constitutes being close to the theoretical fastest lap?
Don't forget to have fun.
There are two driving paradigms that one might adopt: use the grippiest tires available to achieve the fastest time; or, use the least grippy tires available to lower the speed of the traction limit to help you learn. When employing the learning paradigm, don't compare your times to other people's times. Only compare them to your own times.
Do I need to switch to wider front tires to mitigate understeer? Update: Eek! The tires are already in a square setup! 245/40/ZR19 all the way around!
BMWCCA, PCA, NASA, and Summit Racing host autocross events too. Consider joining their events to get more runs in. Check MotorsportReg.com and ClubRegistration.net.
Fast out is more important than fast in.
The Apex Pro app wouldn't let me import data that was recorded by a different app.
Work on improving your balance by doing things like Yoga.
Work on improving your dexterity by attempting simple tasks with your off-hand.