Co-drives: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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April 23, 2011 6:35 p.m. DaveEstey HalfDork

For the first time in a long time I am without a race car, which means I'll be grabbing co-drives for the entire season (no big deal since people seem to hand me their keys without me even asking).

With that said, our first AutoX of the season a gent offered a co-drive in his SMF Acura Integra with 415 horsepower at the front wheels. I provided a set of shaved Toyo R888's from my old CRX that I've technically sold but the owner loaned me for the race. Long story short, I won the class handily and was 2 seconds faster than the car's owner on a 45 second course. I had a big grin on my face and so did the car's owner.

I'm certain I could win the season points championship in this car (which comes with a $150 prize from a local shop). So I'm going to make a proposition with the owner about a season long co-drive.

What I'm offering is half the cost of a new set of slicks and assistance, money or labor, with maintaining the car throughout the season. In addition I would give whatever season-end prize I get to the owner.

We have a 10 race schedule, does my offer make sense?

Here's the car in question with me behind the wheel.
April 23, 2011 6:43 p.m. wbjones SuperDork

win-win for the car owner... as long as the owner doesn't let ego get in the way you'll both have a great yr
April 23, 2011 7:54 p.m. Maroon92 SuperDork

Yeah, seems like it would work for me. Some guys around here charge upwards of 150 per event to "rent their ride"... :(
April 23, 2011 8:17 p.m. Toyman01 SuperDork

There are several guys in SCR that do that. A couple of them are even doing some of the SCCA national tours. Even if the Co driver is faster, the car owner learns a lot over the season.
April 23, 2011 8:28 p.m. DaveEstey HalfDork

He was totally cool about me being faster.He was asking questions and I was trying to tell him where he could make up some time.

I was learning a lot that day myself since I had never driven the car before. Nothing happens until 4,500rpm and then the turbo spools and the world ends.
April 23, 2011 9:08 p.m. kazoospec Reader

Sounds fair to me, split the consumables, share the work and give him the prize money for the wear and tear on the car. Sounds like a win-win to me. I'd take that offer in a heartbeat. I'll really appreciate learning from a better driver than me too. Offer it up, the worst he can say is no.
April 24, 2011 7:44 a.m. White_and_Nerdy Reader

Yeah, great deal for both of you. If egos don't get in the way (and it sounds like they won't), this is an excellent opportunity for him to learn from you and improve as a driver. You're willing to show him how and why you're faster than him, and he's willing to learn from you.

At an HPDE a friend of mine, instructing that day, asked nicely if he could take my Miata out for one of the instructor sessions. I said yes, if I could go along for the ride. And what a ride it was. I learned more from him during that one track session, experiencing how he drove my car, than I did in the 3-4 previous track days with instructors in the right seat trying to explain how to drive my car. Not that the other instructors weren't helpful at all, but it worked so much better for him just to SHOW me how it's done. I went out my next session, tried to drive like he did but not quite as fast, and did so much better - all the way up until I cooked my brakes and took the car off-roading for the first time. I'd never pushed them hard enough for that to be a problem before.
April 24, 2011 2:30 p.m. friedgreencorrado SuperDork

In reply to White_and_Nerdy:

What he said. If somebody faster than me was going to teach me, and help pay for running the car, I'd jump on it.
April 24, 2011 3:51 p.m. Streetwiseguy Dork

It is a fudamental truth of autoslalom that the borrower will always beat the lender, simply because the lender is always trying to get that last tenth, which translates into overspeed corner entry, poor apexing and poor exit leading to poor entry on the next corner. The borrower will always be crreping up on the limits.

Truisms:

Slow in, Fast out.

Its always easier to gain speed in the middle of a corner than it is to get rid of it.