What we've learned on the track
 

Brucelee and I discussed this thread in another thread, so here goes......... :D
There are different techniques learned in and from racing that have translated into major safe driving skills. I have worked hard to pass what I have learned on the track, to my wife and two daughters.
I am hoping all of us who have and do drive competitively can pass some of those
life saving skills on to our good friends on this forum.
It can also be lots of fun for all of us.
We tried this on the RX8 forum and it somewhat turned into an ego/anti-ego thing, if you know what I mean, so I will try to head these attitudes off, from the beginning.
I am not trying to come off as some sort of expert, because I am surely not.
I've won my share of SCCA races and a couple of minor, amatuer championships, but all that fame and fortune......and $2.00, will get me a cup of coffee, anywhere except Starbucks! :cheers:
I certainly hope some of the other racers and track day guys will come on this thread and add their two cents worth, as almost all of my driving was in purpose built formula cars, so I have basically zero experience racing a street car.

In competitive driving, you either learn fairly rapidly, or you need a very big budget!
I had almost no budget when I first started, so I spent many, many hours devouring books by, among others, Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda - both excellent books on driving.
I then spent the time I had driving on the street to master quite a few of their lessons. Interestingly enough, being in the Air Force, at the time (I was NOT in the military :D ) they also sent out a monthly flyer on driver safety, and the two sources overlapped on a remarkable basis.
The first thing I learned from Jackie Stewart is to NOT use the standard technique taught for driving! That technique is to let your eyes wander around the scene out your windshield to "see everything." Nonsense. Your brain is much smarter than your eyes. His technique, that I have used ever since, is to focus your eyes as far down the road as you can see and watch that entire "scene" of your full vision picture with your brain. You do this by focusing your attention on different parts of that scene. You will also immediately pick up ANY movement within that scene. Movement you may miss for a critical split second if you are letting your eyes wander around the view out your windshield. You can hit an apex perfectly while looking as far down the track as you can see. That apex is right there in your vision scene. If you are autoXing, you will see entire sections of cones at once, not just the few close to your car or the next few you need to manuever through.
With some practice, you will aslo be able to watch your instruments without looking directly at them! Don't believe me? Try it. If you have ever seen a photo of the dash of a race car with the instruments all turned at strange angles, you've probably been confused at the lack of order. Not so, those instruments are all turned so that the needles are straight up at proper operating range. So the driver only needs to keep them in his awareness and a guage out of operating range sticks out like a sore thumb! HE will also shift when the tach needle becomes vertical. All you "Shift light" guys are so lazy............ :D and this is a lost art with the advent of full digital dashes.
As you sit low in a Porsche with the guages fairly high in your vision picture, it begins to make sense. Porsche has led the auto industry in ergonomics and placing your guages near the center of your sight picture is key. The farther away from the center of that vision scene you get, the harder it is to see something without moving your eyes to focus on it.
After learning to "see" your guages without actually looking at them, learn to be "aware" of your mirrors, at all times. Once you master it, ANY motion in your mirror scene will immediately draw your attention.
Mirrors on a Boxster are somewhat of a problem, as the roll bars are a huge blockage in your rearward view. The restricted view of your central rear view also bleeds over into restrictiong the width of your view in the two side mirrors.
Maybe someone can come on and talk about how to adjust all three mirrors to get the widest possible panoramic view.
In the meantime, practice the technique and see how well it works!

I totally agree about about looking as far down the track as possible. It is really a good habit!

I do not totally agree about the shift lights.... The Boxster (and 911) has a great tach layout perfect for racing. Try that with a late model 944. Redline is about 4 o'clock on the right. Difficult to see behind the wheel spokes if turned at all. There is however a small built in shift light at the top in the shape of an arrow.

Competitive driving is really a great thing for the whole family and I think helps street driving. Teaches better control and confidence, staying calm instead of panicking.

I bet the Boxster felt really heavy compared to the open-wheeler.

What I learned on the track was that you have to PAY ATTENTION. The biggest problem I see on the road are drivers who are utterly inattentive and not ready to respond to the situation. Beyond the obvious distractions of the cell phone, the kids, the nav system, the radio, etc., I see drivers whose posture and grip on the wheel tells me they're not really engaged. Leaning on the door, one hand on the wheel, open hand draped on the top of the wheel, so close to the wheel their elbow is at a 90 degree angle, etc.

Keep both hands on the wheel (I prefer 3 and 9), adjust your seat for proper distance to the wheel, make sure your mirrors are optimally adjusted (very impt in the Box with the top up), windows clean, and as quickurt said, eyes down the road. It's ok to have the radio on, but not so loud that it's keeping you from hearing what's goiing on around you. If you have nav, set it when stopped and if you're really confused, pull off and check it instead of trying to read the map - or have your passenger manage it and direct you.

You'll find that when you're fully engaged with driving, it's a better experience, anyway!

As it applies to street driving, "look far ahead" is one of the best accident avoidance techniques there is. Let's take it to the next level by saying, "to look far ahead" you need to avoid tailgating or even close following at all costs. You can't look ahead if you can only see the car infront of you. Most drivers do not follow the 2 second following distance rule and that is what causes many, mnay accidents.

Another race technique that we know about that applies to street driving is, "try to brake in a stright line" Sure, we all know about and use trail braking, but we also know that you cannot trail brake with tthe same force applied as straight line braking.

Finally, there is the, "release pressure to reduce understeer" If someone can be trained to recognize terminal understeer and to react unnaturally by unwinding the wheel they can save themselves from disaster.

Good idea for a thread,
Alan

Another technique I use is one I developed from years of training on the road as a racing cyclist, is to constantly be running "what if" scenarios in my head, in response to traffic situations. In each "what if", I try to plan a way out. Example - I'm approaching an intersection, and I see a car in the oncoming lane getting ready to turn left. "What if the light changes and the guy goes for it?" - by anticipating this, I plan to steer around him, instead of reactively slamming on the brakes.

Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous, but you get used to doing it after a while and it's nearly a subconcious process. It's saved my a$$ more than once in the car, and about a million times on the bike.

Excellent comments and additions!
I like the "running scenarios" description. Great way to describe the technique.
On the track you know in a short time where you can and can't go to avoid something, because you go around and round, lap after lap, and you've probably had an old hand at the track tell you about that particular track's "bad spots."
On the street, it's another story, unless it's your daily commute route.
So, I constantly watch for "can't go" areas: deep ditch swales next to the road, driveway culverts, walls, deep center medians, etc. In that way, if something does happen you must avoid, you are aware of directions that are off limits, which greatly shortens decision times for taking action. You will also learn to be aware of these danger spots in watching your "vision scene" and you will begin to find yourself glancing at them, to log all of the details of the hazard, and then returning to your "down the road" view.
Also, the street has other hazards the track does not. ANY TIME you break left, in an attempt to avoid a serious situation, you are putting yourself on a path to a possible head-on collision. You may be on a divided highway, but if there is no center wall or guardrail to stop your momentum, you have directed your car toward a head-on situation and you will then have to change directions again to avoid going into the oncoming lane.
Another rule to remember: ANY other type of collision is always better than a head-on collision.

As a bicyclist and 20+ year motorcycle rider, +1 on the escape route planning. Something else I do, with the proliferation of SUVs, is look through the car in front of me at the cars ahead of them-you can generally see the high mounted brake light of the vehicle up the road so you have time to anticipate the braking of the guy you're trailing.

There is a lot of truth to all that, the farther down you look the more your brain can take in. You can't take in what you can't see.

About the blind spot issue, I got two convex mirrors for my Box. They are for big trucks, I know. But the nice thing about convex mirrors is that you see everything around you, including a big chunk of your blind spot, and you dont need to look around the entire mirror to catch what you need to see.

Cost me about 4 dollars total for 2 convex mirrors.

Mirrors, mirrors, I want to really have time for this one, so I'll work on it in a word doc. and paste it in.
Your convex, or spot, mirrors reminded me of a mirror I wanted to make for the formula car. We had a choice of a flat mirror or a fully convex mirror. If you look at my avatar pic, you'll see how tiny the mirrors are, for aero reasons.
What I wanted are now made, I'll have to go see if I can find them. I remember they were a german company and I gasped at the price.
What I wanted are mirrors that are flat on the inner two thirds (inner being the part closest the car, on both sides) and the outer one third curving toward the front to make the outer part convex in only one direction. If you can visualize it from my poor description, the inner part would give you the standard rearward view, but the outer third would drastically increase the wide angle view, even if a bit distorted, so that you had a panoramic view up to the point your periferial (I must learn to spell that) vision takes over.
The more I think about it, I may have seen them on Suncoast's site.
Okay, they are called aspheric mirrors. I'm not sure I like the sound of that.........
in any case, they don't seem to be available in the us, but this link lists euro Porsche part numbers for the Boxster:
http://www.toolworks.com/bilofsky/boxster/mirrors.html

Lordblood,
Could you describe the parts you are using (and where they are available) and how you are mounting them?

I find the stock mirrors to be nearly worthless. If I am 90+% sure there is no one in my blind spot I usually rock my head left and right a few inches to scan more and less angle off the mirror. If I am not 90% sure the blind spot is open I actually turn around and look, which of course can cause an entirely different safety issue. Top down seems to be the only way to get a really good rear view.

And, just to keep this discussion on track...

On the track, you leave some amount of buffer to avoid hitting the wall. On the street you leave some buffer not to cross the center line or go off the shoulder. I can't even count how many times this has kept me out of trouble over the years. If you lose traction for an instant due to ice, water, oil, gravel, etc., you need a buffer to avoid going into the danger zone. The best way I've heard it put for public roads is:

When turning right, hug the right side of your lane. When turning left, hold the middle of the lane.

The rationale for the middle on the left turn is to give the car coming the other way some extra buffer too. Hopefully that driver is following the rule too (watch the other car's line), and you can then slide a little closer to center.

All Good Stuff guys ! :dance:

>The more I think about it, I may have seen them on Suncoast's site.
>Okay, they are called aspheric mirrors.

Yes, I've seen aspheric mirrors for sale in the US. I can't recall which website they're on, but they are available and I think an individual was even selling a set on this forum before. They're actually pretty cheap from one source if I recall right.


>Could you describe the parts you are using (and where they are available) and >how you are mounting them?

I've got blind spot mirrors on my daily driver and they're WONDERFUL. It really helps when you detect a little movement in them to tell if someone is sneaking up on your left on a highway. I got another set for my SUV. I bought them at NAPA for about $1 each. They stick on with double sided tape. Unfortunately the NAPA units didn't stay though and came off when washing the car. I plan on re-sticking them with some fresh tape. Easy install and well worth the $2 total.


>So, I constantly watch for "can't go" areas: deep ditch swales next to the road, >driveway culverts, walls, deep center medians, etc. In that way, if something >does happen you must avoid, you are aware of directions that are off limits,
>which greatly shortens decision times for taking action.

I do the same thing with other cars. I scan my mirrors and I want to know (when there are multiple lanes) exactly where all of the other cars are located around me. That way if I have to react very quickly to an impeding situation I KNOW whether the other lanes are clear to move into. Sometimes you just don't have time to look in your mirrors and clear your blind spot before making an extreme evasive maneuver. Knowing where the other cars are around you lets you know what your options are. You'd hate to swerve into another lane of traffic to avoid an accident just to hit a car that was sitting in your blind spot! Again, this is where the blind spot mirrors are a big help as you can scan them pretty quickly.

The Boxster has a HUGE blind spot when the top's up and you're merging onto a highway. I literally have to look behind me and lean over a bit to clear that blind spot, but no problem with the top down... Just something to always be aware of.

Kirk

Some things I've learned from the track.

1. Listen to your tires.
2. Brake early.
3. Don't overestimate how fast you can enter a turn.
4. Be on the throttle or on the brakes. Don't coast.
5. Be smooth with your throttle pedal.
6. Don't lift throttle in a committed turn.
7. When you go off, don't try to be a hero and fight momentum in an attempt to get back on track. You'll flip.
8. Don't drive on the street like you do on the track.

Umm... none of that is from personal experience, of course, oh no no no! :o

You hit on a major one eslai - smooth.
I always told driver's school students the five most important things to remember:
1-be smooth
2-be smoother
3-be really smooth
4-be smooth as silk
and most importantly,
5-concentrate on being smooth.
You are controlling a 3000 lb car (with a Boxster) that transfers weight with every input you give it. If those inputs are jerky, you throw weight from one tire to another, instead of easing that weight around. Tires do not like to have an extra 500 lb. of vertical weight and 1500 lb. of horizontal load "thrown" on them! They tend to lose traction in really spastic ways, as well as chewing chunks of really expensive rubber out of them.
A good example is the difference between a great launch from a stop as opposed to dropping the clutch.
You also said to listen to your tires - great advice. Also learn to "feel" your tires and the loads (pressure on the springs and tires), as they transfer to the outside tires going into a corner and transfer from front to rear on that side with increased and decreased throttle (while still in the corner).


Someone want to work on all the things ABS will do for you?

If you walk into any car store (Auto Zone, Checkers, etc) and walk up to the wall near the register, there are usually little things you can get under 5 dollars.

I found stick on convex mirrors, about 2 dollars a pop. They simply have an adhesive side on the back, which you stick on the ends of your regular rear view mirrors.

It increased visibility greatly, much more then the useless stock mirrors that come with.

#8 is the biggie for me, and it's why I try to encourage every sports car owner I know to take their car to the track for a NASA, PCA, or BMWCCA DE event. Once you've been to the track, you realize how ridiculous it is to try to drive your car at the limit on the road for more than about 5 seconds. It changes your perspective on street driving forever, and makes you a safer driver because you realize that there's only one place you can really find out what you and your car are capable of. I'm not saying you can't have fun on the street - but it's always got to be within tight limits, and your only competition should be yourself.

On a motorcycle, if you lose rear wheel traction, the best thing to do is throttle or stay on the throttle to recover.

This is not true in a car.

Until I am talented at recovering from understeer or oversteer, clutch and brake are a good response. Maintaining throttle was not.

Amen.
I go out and find nice country roads. There are great farm roads all over south and central Georgia, that are an acceptable distance for a Sunday fun session and basically flat land with good vision through and past the turns.
That does not mean, by ANY stretch of the imagination, that they are anything more than enjoyable. NEVER go out of my lane. NEVER come close to actual track speeds, just fun places to exceed the speed limit, but not the safety limit.
Blind corners? Back the hell off and be real. There's no telling what may be on the other side of that view. If you're really lucky, it would only be a cop. Dog? Deer? Cow?

KID........?? :mad:

Amen to what PBanders and Quickurt said about driving aggressively on the street. If you do you will eventually hurt yourself, your car, or someone else. At the least, you cement in the minds of the public that only remembers that there was another Porsche, BMW, etc. driving like a jackass. If you need the adreneline rush, get it on the track and use your newfound skill to be a safer driver.

On the subject of mirrors I'll take a stab as this is a pet peave of mine over 15 years of teaching for BMW, Porsche, Corvette and racing schools. I'll go out on a limb and say that there is very little if any "blind spot" in most cars, including Boxsters if you set your mirrors correctly. Primarily, the first principle is that if you can see the same object, car or motorcycle in more than one mirror, you've got them set up incorrectly. This set up is best done at rest, in a parking lot or stopped in traffic with cars around you and behind you in both lanes to each side.

1) The rear view mirror is the easy one to set up and I'll presume I don't have to say anything hear other than to center it for the lane behind you in your normal driving position. Look at the rear view mirror and take note of the last thing you can see at the very left and right sides.

2) Adjust the driver's door mirror so that the inside edge of the mirror picks up where your rear view mirror left off. If you can see just the right half the front of a car in the rear view mirror (a car behind and in the lane to the left of your car), you should see only the left half of the same vehicle in your driver's door mirror.

3) Now adjust the passenger's door mirror in the same fashion. If you can see the left front half of a car in the lane to the right and behind your car in your rear view mirror, adjust the passenger mirror to just see the right half of the same car.

Now in the big picture, with your head facing forward, your eyes can take in everything in front of you, scan to the rear view mirror for what is directly behind you and behind to the left and right. As a car is passing you on the left, it moves across to the left in your rearview mirror until it begins to appear in your driver's door mirror. As it continues to pass, it moves across the door mirror from right to left until it can be seen in your peripherial vision out your door window. Short cars, smart cars and motorcycles may not be quite long enough but if you are as observant of the traffic around you as you should be, you will already know this. A car passing on the right will move across your mirrors into your peripheral vision in a similar fashion. I hope this description makes sense as you read it.

If you don't already have your mirrors adjusted like this, it will seem very odd at first when you look into one of the door mirrors and see nothing but guard rail or the side of the road when nothing is there. Even uncomfortable but that's the point - that you don't see anything in these mirrors unless there is something beside you. But if you give yourself a couple weeks to get used to this and the extra "vision" it gives you, I guarantee you will not go back. Where it really shows it's value is in an emergency situation when you can quickly scan your mirrors for a way around an accident while keeping your head and eyes pointed forward. You can scan with your eyes much quicker than you can ever turn your head.

Walt Conley, HATS OFF!!! :cheers:

Excellent description.
I Will keep harping on this, until someone will start beating me to it!, but you now have your mirrors adjusted correctly and it's time to start working on keeping your brain "aware" of them in your vision scene. Once you perfect this, and believe me, it took a lot of time for me, but you will be amazed that no one wille ver again "sneak into your blindspot."

I think I pretty much agree with what’s been said. And reading this thread, I’ve definitely learned a few things that I didn’t know before. I do, however, admit that (generally speaking) I tend to be a one-hand driver, always have been. For one thing, driving a manual transmission requires this much of the time. Secondly, I am more relaxed one-handed, and (as was stated in another thread recently) a relaxed driver responds more quickly and in a more appropriate manner to a sudden change of circumstances. As I say that, I admit I have never tracked the Boxster (or any other vehicle). Under those circumstances I am sure I’d have both paws on the wheel whenever possible. That applies equally to street driving when something out of the ordinary is happening (or can reasonably be expected to happen momentarily). But I just find it tiresome having both hands at 9:00 and 3:00 (or anywhere else) on the wheel all the time. For me, it's too much like being on High Alert continuously---it would just wear me out and make me less ready to react than I would otherwise be.

I’ve driven like this since the early ‘70s and this is a technique that has worked well for me. And believe me, in 36 years behind the wheel I have had m a n y circumstances where I’ve had to react quickly.

Maybe subconsciously I fashion my driving on Harrison Ford in American Graffiti. A distinct possibility…

AND…I DON’T need to be reminded that HE was the one who crashed his car! (His problem there: He was showin’ off for the babe.)

Which brings up another interesting, semi-related topic: I find that I am not as good a driver when my wife (who, unfortunately, is not a huge fan of riding in the Boxster) is riding shotgun. It’s weird, because I actually slow down and drive more conservatively when she’s in the car. I think it has to do with the fact that she drives a Toyota Sienna and seems to think (maybe subconsciously?) that it’s dangerous to push any vehicle beyond the level that she pushes the minivan (which ain’t much). So I find myself driving the Boxster more like a miniature school bus when she’s in the car, and that’s TOTALLY unnatural. A maneuver that is in the least spirited or aggressive (I sort of hate to use that word, since I don’t inconvenience---let alone endanger---other drivers in the process of doing what I am talking about) gets her into the hyperventilation mode, sometimes even making those scary noises that passengers sometimes make when there’s real, honest-to-goodness close-call taking place. And THAT makes things even worse, because for that millisecond I’m under the terrifying impression I’m about to be blindsided by some vehicle I hadn’t yet seen (because, as it turns out, it doesn’t exist!). It's just exhausting driving the Box when she's a passenger. Fortunately (for both of us) that doesn't happen all that often!

Anyone else a victim of this phenomenon??

Maybe not to the extreme you described.... :D , but yes, my wife can sometimes do the same. She likes to "nap" if we're out on a trip (like, she's asleep before we get out of the driveway...) and then if she awakes with a start, for some reason like hitting a reflector when changing lanes, she jumps nearly out of her seat and screams "what's wrong!!!??" After getting my skin stretched back over my body and my heart back down out of my throat, I fight off the urge to back-hand her. :D
I do try to not hit reflectors on lane changes, just as an old game from my father. It does help to keep you alert on those long stretches behind the wheel.
The one hand/two hand argument is like arguing over abortion - there is no answer that will satisfy both sides. I drive, while cruising with my left hand on the wheel, relaxed, in the 9:00 position and my right hand laying in my lap, or, maybe scratching...... :D just under the wheel. My right hand is in a position that's miliseconds from the 3:00 position. Well, okay, miliseconds when I was young. If spirited driving, both hands where they belong.
I had a hard time at the Brumos school and had an interesting talk with Hurley about it, but I'm used to not moving my hands on the steering wheel. A formula car, which is how I relate to high performance driving, has a very high ratio steering system. Believe me, if you have your hands crossed up in a formula car, you should've locked the tires about two seconds ago, because you're screwed. So, I was therefore not used to turning the steering wheel more than 90 degrees, and have never had to shuffle the wheel around in my hands. I'm afraid I did not get used to it at the school, and got yelled at several times.
Getting yelled at by an old friend, who is a multiple winner of Lemans, Daytona and Sebring, all in Porsches, is NOT good for a racer's ego! :o (no matter how old he now is)
I have practiced it incessantly, since, and have become quite proficient at the skill.

Oh, oh, speaking of wives in the car with you.......my wifey has this threshold for putting up with my driving: as long as there is no tire squealing, she doesn't say anything. Okay, so I haven't explained the Pilot Sports to her......... :D
So we go to Barber Motorsports Park over Labor Day weekend with an old Formula Ford buddy. Alabama 25, coming into Leeds, AL from the south is GREAT! It would fit right into the TOD. Up one side of a pretty good mountain, over the top and back down the other side. Almost no traffic and I only get about two warnings from wifey about who else is in the car with me and one warning about breakfast coming loose on my leather seat.
We get to the track and talking with Steve and Mona when wifey brings up the neat road and says, "well as long as he didn't make the tires squeal, I didn't yell at him." You guessed it. My buddy takes one look at the Pilot Sports on the Box and says, "I don't think you can make those squeal, can you?"
Some friend. :D

There are big discrepancies about shuffle steering. PCASDR teaches shuffle steering and to NEVER cross your arms. This is of course assuming a stock car in auto-x and DE. Some schools such as Skip Barber (I believe) teaches crossing arms and to never shuffle steer. I believe you hit the point that it depends on the car, but also the track.

On really small track you have to turn A LOT. On larger tracks such as Watkins Glen, I got smacked for shuffling. In a 944 race car the steering was quick enough for such a large track that I was smoother by not shuffling.

All good stuff so far.

In addition to knowing where the cars are around you, pay attention to who is around you. Whether on the street or track I want to know if there are consistent, attentive drivers around me or are they driving erratically, talking on the phone, weaving, inconsistent speeds, eating a Philly cheese-steak sandwich etc. Create some space between you and erratic or potentially dangerous drivers.

The scuttlebutt in the pits often goes " Give some room to that triple black Box S in yellow group. He moves pretty well through sector one but overcooks turn 6 and is often out of control."

On the street we all know to look out for drunks but someone munching on a Big Mac or falling asleep can be just as dangerous.

Speaking of 1 handed driving...
 

The funny thing about technique is that there is no one right way to do anything. Its all really opinion, style and a lot of copy-catting the fast guys. Do what is comfortable to you but listen to what others have to say, you may learn something.

I know two professional tin-top race drivers that have always driven one handed. Jeff Altenberg and Neal Sapp. They grew up near eachother and developed their techniques together while autocrossing. The left hand is at the top center of the wheel. The right hand is free to shift or to help brace the body.

I saw coverage of a Speed Channel Touring Car race at Road Atlanta that had in car camera footage of Neal Sapp's BMW. When they went in car he had one hand on the wheel and the commentator (Calvin Fish I think) said, "ouhhh oh, Sapp must be having a problem, he only has one hand on the wheel." I yelled at the TV screen, "no, that's the way he drives." While I don't think Calvin heard me, after several laps of Sapp's one-handed driving on camera Fish admitted that the car seemed fine.

Regards,
Alan

Everyone's got a different view on the one hand vs. two hands on the wheel thing. I base my view on what I've seen and experienced in sudden emergency situations. Here in AZ, because of the high heat and high freeway speeds (75 mph limit), blowouts are fairly common. While I don't expect a blowout to happen on my Boxster, it could, and on our Toyota Sienna, fully loaded on a 115 F day, it's probably a higher possibility. I'm pretty sure I don't want to try to keep our van under control if it had a blowout with just one hand on the wheel.

Another situation that's common here is having a driver turn in front of you at an intersection (lots of surface streets substituting for freeways). Again, I want both hands on the wheel.

If others feel comfortable with one hand in these situations, then go with what works for you.

We teach keeping hands at 9 and 3 and personally I don't do it because I think they will forever drive that way. I don't. I vary between one hand, 9 and 3 or 8 and 4 just to stay comfortable. However, if I'm in traffic or on a "demanding/fun" road I always have two hands on the wheel - I may need that fraction of a second. For the majority of drivers, having the hands at 9 and 3 will result in better, more accurate and quicker control inputs. What we teach is sometimes a new way of driving for some and a sense of discipline and repetition for all. As an aside, I never leave my hand on the stick because in my M3, the weight and constant push on the transmission selector "can" result in premature transmission wear. I don't know if the same problem exists for my Boxster but it's easy enough to avoid. From a practical standpoint, using the one hand technique can provide an indirect hazard if you do hit something and the airbag deploys. If your hand is over the top of the wheel, you will likely get a fist in the face. If it's at 6:00 with the fingers on the inside of the rim, you may end up with a broken wrist. YMMV...

Personally, after vision, I think one of the best things we learn from the track, or simply taking a car control clinic, is potential. Many people have an accident simply because they don't know their car will stop, or drive around an accident. To quote a friend of mine, "If a meteor hits your car, that's an accident. Everything else is driver error!" Once a driver becomes aware of the potential handling qualities of their car, and a confidence in themselves to extract and make use of it, they can often save themselves considerable expense if not outright pain of an accident.

We need a clapping hands emoticon!!
It got on my nerves, because I already knew what ABS will do for you, but every exercise and every time through at the BrumosU school was a box (square of cones) you had to get stopped in. Every student was admonished to at least "touch" ABS each and every time in the box. The second exercise ended in a sharp left turn with the stopping box just at the end of the corner, so you had to brake hard through the corner and get it stopped before you got back straight. Each of the students came back in line with some very big pie plates for eyes!! :D
I thought it was the best exercise of the event, as it really taught just how hard you could brake while continuing to control the car. I'm quite certain it will save at least one Porsche trip to a body shop.
I know it's a chance of getting an a**hole cop, but I heavily suggest every one of you go to a large vacant parking lot and run up to top of second gear, stand on the brakes as hard as you can and maneuver the car while standing on them. Just remember to push in the clutch as you are coming to a stop.
I really think it is imperative that every driver of a modern car, with the phenominal ABS brakes most have, understand just how hard you can be stopping the car, while avoiding an accident. You owe this to yourself and anyone who may be riding with you. The jerk who put you in the position of needing the skill will also appreciate it. Do it again when raining.
Hell, print this out and show it to the cop, if one happens to see you and gives you a hard time. Where else are you going to learn the most valuable skill you need?

How many have attended a "defensive driving school" like Bob Bondurant or Skip Barber and what did you learn there?

bump-a-rama!! :D

QK - I live in Birmingham so I drive 25 frequently. There's a great section just south of Leeds well before you go up over the mountain. The hairpin on the top of the mountain is pretty fun and the flats south of the mountain are not bad either.

I don't know if you stopped at 29 Dreams but it's a motorcycle resort at the bottom of the mountain on the south side. Interesting place and worth a drop in if you're cruising through.


To keep this on topic, there are some great tips here. I did the BMW one day M-school and learned quite a bit in one day. Amazing how much more there is to learn. The looking ahead thing is one of the most valuable things I learned - that and proper braking. Now if I could get the heel/toe thing down... :confused:

The heel/toe thing is VERY dependent on your pedal set up. The Box pedals seem perfect for either method, depending on the size of your feet. Smaller feet are usually attached to smaller legs, so, use the ball of your foot on the brake, pivot your leg to put your heel on the throttle and practice the amount of throttle needed to bring the rpm up to make downshifts silky smooth. You should be able to release the clutch as fast as you do upshifting without jerking the car around because of miss-matched engine speed.
For those with feet the size of mine (they go with my bear paw hands, but I didn't get the matching pleasure that sometimes accompanies these two :( ) use the ball of your foot on the brake pedal and the right side of the bottom of your "wide foot" on the throttle.

I'd get permission from the parking lot owner (like go to your church and get permission from the pastor) and keep their phone number on hand. A member of my local club was recently practicing some driving in an empty parking lot and got into a TON of trouble - wreckless driving and ended up cuffed in the back of the squad car with their car almost towed to impound. He claims his ticket was $3,000!


"this morning at 12:30 am, i got pulled over by the medford pd. i had been sliding around in the mall parking lot, enjoying the wet ground. the parking lot was COMPLETELY EMPTY! i was pulled over as i was leaving the parking lot. the officer came to my door, opened it, grabbed my wrist, pulled me out, cuffed me, and threw me in the back of the cop car. after ridiculing me, calling my friend and i names like idiot, retard, and stupid, accusing me of not being able to spell my own name, and telling me not to cry (even though i wasn't), he let me go with a ticket. he was going to haul me off to jail and tow my car, but after pleading with him to let me go with a ticket, he gave me the choice of a ticket or jail. i chose the ticket.

he charged me with reckless driving and almost gave me a reckless endangerment ticket, saying i could have killed myself and my friend. in an EMPTY PARKING LOT! he uncuffed me and told me to go straight home. so i did."

I don't know about where you live, but here, unless the parking lot owner calls and complains, the local PD have NO JURISDICTION in a parking lot. They can not wait outside the lot and then arrest you for something you did in the lot. The new Home Depot center near us, has marked off roadways with real official stop signs, etc., yet an officer friend from the shooting range told me he has zero jurisdictioon in that lot unless one of the store operators calls and asks for someone to be stopped. There is also no blanket jurisdiction that Home Depot or other owners of parking lots can issue to the police. As long as it is a vehicular infringement, not criminal, this is so in Florida. I guess some level of reckless driving or endangerment goes into criminal behavior, but until then, it's just a traffic ticket, which is civil, not criminal.
Sliding around and having a good old time is also a bit different from justifiably learning how to use safety devices in/on your car.
I made the original comment because my father taught me many, many things in the same way, especially in the rain. We were "apprehended" one time and when my dad got done telling the cop what we were doing and why, the officer hung around and gave us some other pointers.
In full disclosure, I am older than dirt, so when I was being instructed by dear old dad, shopping centers were all closed on Sunday and we also were not doing things in a shiny new Porsche.

I just did my second track event over the weekend (my first was two weeks ago). Here's a couple of things I learned.

In traffic, never slam on your brakes to slow for something going on ahead of you if you don't have to. On the track, this comes up when the checkered flies or the officials red flag the session. On the street, if you see something going on ahead of you - and after reading this thread you will be looking well out in front - that you are not in imminent danger of being involved in, brake quickly, not safely. The car (truck or SUV) behind you probably cannot stop as quickly as you can.

Be courteous to other drivers. If somebody is going to pass you because they are obviously going faster, let them. Again, situational awareness is the key here. If somebody is coming up on you very quickly and you don't notice it until the last second, don't try to get out of the way then. If you are paying attention and see somebody closing on your quickly, find a safe place to let them pass, and make your intentions known.

Trust your tires and brakes. This goes along with what others have said about learning the limits of your brakes. Don't forget practice not only in dry and wet conditions, but with snow on the ground too. When I met my wife, she was terrified of driving in the snow. We spent a lot of time in parking lots with me showing her how to handle a car in the snow. She is pretty damn good at it now.

After doing these two DE events, I really think that everybody (especially Porsche owners) should go to a DE event. You need to know how your vehicle handles being driven at the limit and how to control it in that situation. When there is an emergency situation, and you are trying to avoid hitting something (or somebody), knowing what to do and what not to could make the difference. As I type this, I am thinking about the OnStar commercial where the car swerves around the deer and plows into the tree.

I try to always get "out of line" in a situation where the brake lights are all hammering on ahead of you. With each subsequent car in line, the margin of error is decreased. If you can jump out of that line you not only give yourself a much higher chance of not being rear ended, you also give the cars behind you an increase in their margins of error.
This also fits into some of the above posts about being vigilantly aware of your surroundings, knowing ahead of the emergency happening, where you can and can't go to avoid the crowd and danger.

Quote:


"I know it's a chance of getting an a**hole cop, but I heavily suggest every one of you go to a large vacant parking lot and run up to top of second gear, stand on the brakes as hard as you can and maneuver the car while standing on them."

Originally Posted by Quickurt

My local PCA sets this up at the beginning of autocross season, along with other maneuvers. Maybe other PCAs also do this or would if it were suggested.

wow, i've just read through the whole thread and have learned a lot!

I have a question, I know a lot of the information posted pertains to manual boxes, but what about auto's?

Are the breaking/accelerating techniques any different?

I ask this because I have been forever scarred by my sister's first car.. an old Volvo 540 (thing was a tank).. but it would hydroplane ALL THE TIME!. there was one instance coming out of a mall exit where we 180'ed and were facing oncoming traffic.. i was scared to death...

now, to this day, whenever performing an "aggressive" turn or not slowing down ridiculously slow for a turn, i feel like im gonna fish tail out or hydroplane....

another thing that scares me is the breaking thing... other day I had a car slam on their brakes in front of me, so without anywhere to go I started applying mine. now ive always thought myself to be a decent breaker (no necks jarring, no uneven pressure applied), but once i feel that pedal vibrate (dut dut dut), I feel like im going to crash.. i panic... what is the best thing to do in that situation where you feel the car "skipping"?

a few notes. some of what you're discussing has to do with the driver; some of it could be the car. braking / accelerating techniques are similar with either auto or manual cars. the goal is to be smooth & not abruptly manipulate either pedal. give the chassis time to react.

in a car with ABS, you will always get your best stopping distances WITHOUT engaging the ABS. the instant the ABS pulses, you have lost a little stopping distance. the best way to learn to feel this moment, regardless of rain or shine, is to PRACTICE. when there is no traffic around, practice panic stops. pick a point ahead of you and 'guess' when you need to apply full braking to stop by that point. the car has much more traction than you think! in certain driving schools, they have a 'box' painted on the asphalt; the goal is to get the car in the box from a high rate of speed under threshold braking without engaging the ABS or over/undershooting the box. it takes time! factor in uphill / downill elevation changes and it gets even MORE tricky. again, the goal is practice. practice in the wet, practice in the dry!

now with regard to the car, there are a lot of factors that will make it unstable in wet weather. in no particular order, those things are: tire / tire tread pattern, tire pressure, wheel alignment. if your tires are balding or if the tread pattern is not very good, the car will hydroplane very easily. if your tire pressures are too LOW, the car will hydroplane very easily. FYI, a car travelling through water that is deeper than the tread grooves will hydroplane at 9 times the square root of the tire pressure. this means that if you're at 36psi, you will hydroplane in deep water at 54mph. drop your tire pressure to 25psi and you'll hydroplane at 40mph. alignment plays a tremendous role in wet weather handling. excessive toe in or toe out will cause you to 'drag' a tire in the wet; the tires will break loose simply because they're not pointed straight. excessive toe out is VERY scary in the rain. above all, notice that in addition to tire pressure, SPEED plays a role in hydroplaning. it is not possible to hydroplane if you are going SLOWER than the speed at which your car will plane out. finally, if your car feels unstable in the rain, IT IS. if you see other cars blowing by you like you're standing still and you cannot FATHOM how they're driving so fast in the rain because your car feels nervous, it's because your car IS nervous! generally this is indicative of a problem with tires, tire pressures, or alignment. check all three!

finally, throttle. obviously with a powerful rear wheel drive car in the rain, one needs to go easy on the throttle in tight corners. too much throttle will break the rear tires loose and the car could spin. what may NOT be obvious is what to do in a higher speed corner if the rear end starts to come loose. there are two types of situations where this can occur in the wet: deep water or just wet pavement. in either situation, if you feel the rear end start to come out, do NOT abruptly lift! if you are in deep water and the problem is hydroplaning, maintain throttle, gently steer the car straight, and gently dial out some throttle. this will let the car slow down below the hydroplane velocity threshold and the tires will settle back down onto the road. if the water is NOT deep and you've simply lost traction, we need to transfer some weight onto the rear tires. gently ADD a little throttle and gently countersteer a bit until grip is restored. then, slow down a bit!

hope this helps. if you can find one, i highly recommend looking for a skidpad in your area & trying wet / dry car control. you will learn a lot.