5500

Try to get into the habit of keeping both hands on the wheel. I find that steering by pulling down on the wheel from the inside rather than pushing up from the outside helps keep inputs smooth.
Are you looking far enough ahead? If not, you'll be slower.
Understanding the physics of motion and directional changes may help you conceptualize what it is you're trying to make the car do (Going Faster covers this nicely). Keep in mind the limiting factor is the traction available with the tires you're running. A lot of newbies make the mistake of overdriving their tires, which just pushes you off line and forces you to cover more distance (which takes time). Tires are asked to accelerate, decelerate and change direction. They only have so much grip. If you ask them to do 2 things at once, you're going to compromise both. Get your braking done in a straight line, get your car turned, then accelerate. It has to happen quickly, but smoothly as street tires don't like abrupt inputs.
When I'm having a difficult time on a course, I stop trying to drive fast and think about what is the shortest distance to cover the course. This helps me to refocus.
Don't be too hard on yourself. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!
Best advice I've ever received: "go fast in the fast places, slow in the slow places, and turn at the turns".
It sounds silly but its that simple. The key is knowing where all those places are and that comes with seat time.
Your driving looks pretty good, just need a little practice.

User 52121

Ok I watched the first of the two more recent videos you posted. I don't see a lot of the more common (IMO) newbie mistakes (of just completely over driving the car).

You look smooth and calm - and that's a great starting point IMO. 99% of the time, the new folks I see are TOO aggressive. I think you're at a great starting point.

Overall, I see a lot of coasting, and not enough aggression. (Feels strange to coach "not enough aggression" because I'm usually coaching "TOO MUCH AGGRESSION!!!")

Here's my thoughts on your run. Keep in mind that GoPro uses a wide angle lens so sometimes the perspective is off and what looks wider, is really fairly tight. Take my thoughts with a slight grain of salt....

Your launch - launch harder and run 1st gear out. Make the most of the hard acceleration your car can put down in 1st!

It looks like you coasted between braking, and turning in, for the first right. No coasting! Dive in deeper and harder. Are you feeling the ABS kick in when you're on the brakes? If not - brake harder!

The next section (between 0:09 and 0:21)... the sweeping zig-zags? My bet is that the fast guys were flat out through there (or damn near flat out!) Foot to the floor. Maybe even 3rd gear by the end? Always look ahead. Focus on the NEXT gate - not the one immediately in front of you. Based on the timing of you passing the gate, and your steering inputs, I'd say you need to look 1 gate further down. You're mostly passing through the gate, THEN steering for the next one. If you focus 1 gate further, you'd have connected that whole string into a series of smooth arcs instead of a bunch of sharp jolting turns. Let your peripheral vision guide you through the current approaching gate and use your focus on the NEXT gate. EYES UP! The two gates at 0:14 and 0:15 should have been part of a continuous arc. And once through the gate at 0:15, start setting yourself up for the gate at 0:19. It should have been a left-handed arc from 0:15 to 0:21.

Get tighter to the pivot cones at 0:32

Bigger continuous arcs from 0:34-40. Overall more speed and flow through the whole thing. Sharp moves and inputs can upset the car.

0:40-0:45 - POWER through the whole thing! From the right, through the little "tunnel" up to that first cone in the slalom. Connect all 3 sections into 1 smooth chunk. This is the sort of thing where "looking ahead" will help you. Don't attack one section at a time - string them together.

The last cone in that slalom - through the end... it's one big giant S curve. Look ahead, eyes up!



You're way ahead of a lot of the newbies I see. Just keep at it!

User 52121

Oh and PS - while a short course, that one looks like it's a ton of fun.

PhilD

Thanks for input OmniGLH, really appreciated. By my last run I definitely started seeing that two or three gates were actually just one curve and could be driven that way, but it took me a while to get there, and of course it was too late by then.

Totally agree on the lack of aggression. At the time I "thought" I was driving pretty hard, but the video really shows me that I was nowhere near driving hard enough. I try to look ahead, but I know I was not doing it enough as I had messed up and missed gates, so was still worried about doing that. I learned a lot from that mistake.

Thanks again.

PhilD

I've been consciously trying to do that since Saturday while driving on the street, to help build better habits.

Good advice and would have helped me if I thought that way.

Thanks!

User 52121

You'll get there.

Being able to drive fast is only part of the equation when it comes to autocross.

The other part is being able to not only learn the course (where it goes right and left) but to also be able to identify where the fast sections are. Eventually you start to "see" the course in sections, not just individual gates.

It just takes more seat time. The more you do, the more you start to recognize that most courses are the same complexes just rearranged in different order.

chuck911

I just found this thread and I like it! Having watched the videos and read through everything its clear you're on the right track but lacking essential knowledge, which you are now learning is typical of pretty much everyone driving a car in the USA today. Nobody ever taught what you really need to know. Now you're learning and if you persevere will be a MUCH better and safer driver for it.

Watching the video, the first one is great because while you can't see the course you can see your body and hands. They are all over the place! Slide your seat forward until you can press the clutch to the floor with your heel and still have a bend in the knee. (I'm eyeballing you a good 2" too far back.) Next tilt the seat forward until you're able to extend both arms forward placing both wrists on the top of the steering wheel while keeping both shoulders comfortably pressed into the seat back. Watch the video your shoulders are all over the place. Watch a good driver, their upper body is dead still. A lot of car feedback comes from the seat, but you can't get it unless you're actually in the seat, and right now you're not. Now watch again how your hands are all over the steering wheel. There are some who prefer moving around like that but the majority of advanced drivers will have their hands in the same position, thumbs resting on the spokes, at all times unless hand over hand is needed for tight turns. Watch the video, there's maybe two times you need to go hand over hand but dozens of times your hands are shuffling around. Every shuffle you lose contact with the car and your sense of where its going. Unless and until your hands cross up and you must go hand over hand, keep your hands on the same 9 and 3 on the wheel.

This will all feel very, very strange, especially sitting so close. But notice how much more control you have. Watch any video of professionals driving a 991 and look- exact same body and hand position I just described.

You mentioned about scrubbing off speed and how trying to accelerate in the turn the front end would lose traction, and a couple other things that all have to do with the most important thing they never teach you- controlling weight transfer. Tires only have so much traction available for acceleration, braking and cornering. When you brake real hard you are using all their traction for braking. So if you then turn the wheel while still braking hard, well you learned what happens didn't you? Same thing as when you are cornering hard and try to accelerate at the same time.

There's a system to it. Brake hard in a straight line. Braking transfers weight forward. More weight on the front tires equals more traction for braking. So don't stab, squeeze. You can brake really hard in a straight line. But try and turn, immediately your inside front wheel will lock up. ABS will save the worst but you'll still lose time. Why does this happen? Soon as you turn the wheel even a little bit weight transfers off the inside wheel to the outside causing the inside to lose traction and skid. So brake hard in a straight line and never try and turn until you are coming off the brakes.

Cornering, same thing. Under hard cornering weight transfers to the outside wheels giving them lots of traction. Traction ultimately depends on how much weight is on the tire contact patch. So what happens if you try and accelerate while cornering hard? Weight transfers off the front wheels to the rear, the fronts lose traction and you lose steering. Its called understeer, the car not turning as much as you want. Or, if you go into the corner very fast and lift off or touch the brakes then weight transfers to the front, the rear is light, and you get oversteer- the car turns more than you want. Do it bad enough and you spin out.

So obviously for hard cornering you want the cars weight evenly distributed front to rear, which means neutral throttle.

Putting it all together- brake hard in a straight line, coming off the brakes at precisely the point you need to begin turning-in, use throttle together with steering to balance the car through the turn. The challenge is it all happens very fast in autocross.

These things all sounded and felt very strange at first for me too. My experience was similar, right down to doing worse the second time than the first. I knew I needed an instructor, went and grabbed one. Not just any one, it turned out. I got Greg Fordahl. Seriously. Google him. Five time SCCA National Autocross Champion. Hops in the car just before the start first thing he says "what's the first turn?" Lesson learned: memorize the course!

The videos show you reacting to cones. Don't react to cones- drive the course. You already made a comment that tells me you have an inkling of this. You noticed a few that could be driven as one turn. In fact usually quite a lot of them can be driven that way. The trick is to see the course not as a bunch of cones but as a road course that happens to have some cones along the way. Some you want to come as close to them as possible, others it will actually make you slower to go closer.

But no matter what, keep looking ahead. Even your slow novice speed is way too fast for you to watch a cone go by and then look up and try and find the next one. Never watch a cone go by! Always be looking ahead.

They give you a course map, right? Study it! Memorize it. Carry it with you as you walk the course. Note any sections that seem tighter or more wide open than on the map. Try and walk the line you will drive. Pay attention to everyone doing this. There will be groups of people chatting and joking, real friendly. They are distracting! Avoid them like the plague! Look for guys, solo or in small groups, who are studying, pausing, looking back and forth, the serious ones. Be respectful, ask very few but direct questions and pay close attention to these guys. See if you can find one to mentor you, or recommend one of the better instructors. Then if there's time go walk the course again. And again. (Watch movie, 'Rush', notice bit where newcomer Nikki Lauda has been out walking the course since dawn…)

I'm taking time to explain all this because you've been paying attention and are now getting set for a 3rd event. Lots of guys never get this far. They think its a waste spending a whole day for 5 min of seat time. What they are missing is its a whole day of mental concentration, with those 5 min being way more intense than any other 5 min anywhere. It can be frustrating at first but keep at it and you will be amazed where you'll be by the end of the year.

PhilD

Thank you very much, it really is appreciated.

I read through it a few times to take it all in. Some of it I kind of knew, but haven't been putting theory in to practice.

I just adjusted the seat 2" forward and quite a bit more upright. What a difference! I would never have thought it would make so much difference to how I feel in the car. At first it felt a little odd, kind of like I was driving like a kid, in some ways reminded of driving a kart. However, I did feel much more in touch with the car and more "at one" with it. It definitely makes me feel more in control and part of the car, rather than just a distant driver. The only drawback is that it did make me want to drive faster!

I'm really trying to build good habits with the hands as I drive around during the day. I catch myself sometimes still doing it wrong, but figure if I drive all the time trying to do it right, then it will be second nature when at a autocross.

Thanks again!

sjfehr

I used to like sitting way back, arms extended... until I started autocrossing and found out I was sitting all wrong. I hated it at first, felt like I was on top of the wheel, but now it feels uncomfortable any other way.

chuck911

Its huge. And congratulations for actually doing this. A lot of guys have so much accumulated habit or believe so much in nonsense they've seen in movies they refuse to even try- or try once and go right back. But it is huge.

Virtually all your connection with the car comes through the seat and steering wheel. This is your anchor and frame of reference. You've taken the first step now let's build on it a little more.

Experiment with seat height and tilt. By seat I mean just the part you sit on. To the extent you're able to tilt this back it will help your weight to push your lower back into the seat back, and also help stabilize your body during braking. But too much tilt can interfere with leg movement clutching and braking. I don't know any guidelines for this you just have to experiment for yourself. Remember after tweaking this to recheck that your seat back has you fairly upright and close to the wheel as before.

Now you might want to put your camera back where it was in the first video, where you're able to watch your body and hands. What you want to see, what the good drivers will demonstrate, is a near motionless upper body and shoulders, head straight up only turning side to side never tilting, hands glued to 9 and 3. These rules are there and the good drivers follow them for the very simple reasons they put you in the best position to control the car, receive feedback from the car, and maintain positional awareness of the car.

That's it for now. Last time I started writing, lost track of time, was shocked how long I went on. But oh well these things are near and dear to me: Porsches, and driving!

Rich Sandor

Phil, +1 to everything written above.

My only advice to add is get MORE seat time in as many different cars as you can, as passenger or driver.. don't be ashamed to ask to ride along. Be a seat *****.

You have a really f'kn fast car. Watch how some of the more experienced drivers manage amazing times in MUCH less powerful vehicles. Sit with THEM. Learn!!!

The most joy I've gotten out of running the autox program for my region for the last decade, was actually the social aspect and all the friends I've made and co-rides I've shared.

chuck911

Rich is right. Rides during competition will (ought to) result in DQ. (Whole idea is everyone gets the same few runs.) But you'll never be less competitive than now so go for it while you can. Or at least do as many as you can during fun runs.

The social aspect is another great thing. Because everyone works, with half the time standing around turn working or whatever, that's a lot of time for learning. Not just pure autocross either. I learned tons about different Porsche models, suspension terminology and a million other things visiting while turn working.

My one caution would be that when it comes to doing anything at all to your car to be very, very cautious and conservative. Even with something as simple as changing tire pressure I would be certain to first have a very good handle on how what I have right now is working. That means checking right before each run to be sure I'm starting each run with the same pressure. Then once I have become familiar with this baseline, only then would I think about experimenting with different pressure- and even then I would only change pressure at one end, and only by a small amount say 2psi. You get the idea. If I'm that conservative with tire pressure then imagine my attitude towards changing shocks, springs, tires. Yet a lot of guys leap to all these things before ever getting a handle on what they had to begin with.

Earlydays

SCCA allows rides in competition....

sjfehr

Not during national competition, though. Most SCCA regions have relaxed passenger rules for local events, but you need to be careful, as some clubs restrict competitors from riding as passengers before their competition runs, as it's perceived as an unfair advantage to see the course at speed.

My SCCA region has always maintained a policy against experienced drivers riding as passengers, but relaxed this for novices, who we want to have as much of an advantage as they can because we WANT them to learn, and WANT them to get faster, but most of all, we want them to be able to find the course. We also encourage experienced drivers to run along as navigator/instructors, understanding that experienced drivers aren't really going to get any competitive advantage from riding along with a novice.

chuck911

Thanks! I haven't done many SCCA events, even then it was years ago. But that's pretty much the way I remember it. Especially the part about wanting them to be able to find the course! LOL! But hey, it happens to just about everyone. My experience was just like the OP, seemingly going well then suddenly one run looking up at a sea of cones, crikey! where'd the course go?! So everyone's been there, we're all happy to help and everything...come for a ride? sure! ... until you start to get good....a little too good... LOL!