In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Yes! I work with those guys as an instructor part time, I haven't made it down there as much as I'd like this year though. I'm in DFW (if not evidenced by the tracks and autocross locations), so it's not so simple to get to Austin all the time.
TXratti I'm a former motorcycle road racer and I frequently recommend "Twist Of The Wrist" to students as it has some of the best eye exercises for track work that I know of. I was indeed referring to that dollar bill / 100 pennies of attention.
TXratti said:In the Keith Code motorcycle racing books (I used to ride), he describes it as a dollar bill, and things which require attention are "spending" money, and if you spend more than you have then you're likely to crash because you've overloaded yourself. With experience the amount you spend to do certain things decreases and allows you to focus on other, more advanced things and go faster.
First, great thread! 
Code's discussion of "mental budget" and how "survival reactions" affect us is a really good analysis/technique. It relates to just about any hand/eye coordinated skill, and I've stolen it instructing in several other disciplines. Code's books helped me a lot when I was racing bikes, and a significant percentage of what he teaches translates to four wheels. BTW if you ride, and you haven't read his books, you need to. Taking a Superbike School course will also provide a huge ROI.
In reply to Rodan :
Thanks! Everyone has been a great help so far and I appreciate all the advice.
I have read both of the Keith Code books but I don't ride anymore. I never got to the track, but living in a giant city, it just wasn't worth it (feel old saying that but it just wasn't fun dodging soccer moms looking at their phones). They were an amazing resource and helped a lot, understanding risks and how a vehicle attached to the road via rubber reacts. I hope to pick up some Speed Secrets books soon and read the wisdom of Mr. Bentley.
One of the sessions from my day at Cresson with Apex, later in the day (intermediate session). Looks like my camera died at one point but you get the idea. In that car, I didn't have a good place to put the camera to see driver inputs (no sunroof), so if I use this car again I'll have to come up with something.
You can hear me talking about the soft(ish) brake pedal with my instructor part way through. Also I'm surprised at the amount I was able to talk during the session.. Some prompted by my instructor, but some instigated by me. I learn by talking through things and visualizing, so this didn't bother me (or distract me too much)
And here's the raw data from that sesson if anyone was interested (I need to overlay with the video or look in the app to better visualize but numbers are always good): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QKoHY7yCG-Yoo9BByz9I9v3yooowkgaHemhkR5HieaU/edit?usp=sharing
The position on the GPS trace seemed off a bit, and I may look into getting a better way to mount the antenna with a better veiw of the sky (it was shoved in the cupholder so I could keep it charged).
Heading to COTA today to crew for a WRL team this weekend. Best way to absorb information while I am at the track? Questions to ask the drivers, data to look at if I can?
I can't help specifically, but I'd be watching as much video of runs on COTA in cars similar to what they're running for WRL.
Make sure you know which turn is which, because they're going to be taking about strategies to deal with turn 3 (for example), and you don't want to be pulling out a map to figure out which one is 3.
Being fast in w2w is a totally different animal than being fast in time attack/hpde. "The line" is often made up on the spot because you're going two wide into a turn and the car on the inside will understeer..
WonkoTheSane said:Make sure you know which turn is which, because they're going to be taking about strategies to deal with turn 3 (for example), and you don't want to be pulling out a map to figure out which one is 3.
Yep! I'm fairly familiar with the COTA layout thankfully, following F1 and having flagged there for WEC/IMSA/World Challenge, and crewing for this team last year.
W2W is definitely different, and down the road I'd love to partake (Chump/WRL most likely, but SCCA/NASA in region as well).
Well, thankfully, I've done a lot more driving this year than I had initially anticipated! Some of my focus has shifted, as have my tools.
I bought and sold a Miata (2001 LS), which I used for autocross and then figured out that I was too tall to take to the track. After the Miata, I purchased a Scion FR-S, which has been a great tool to continue learning with.
First outing was an autocross, where I serially underdrove the car, and then a track day at Eagles Canyon Raceway. Unfortunately with no instruction, but the new track was great! Here's a video from my fastest session (though it was earlier in the day, I felt more comfortable and probably had faster "lines" later in the day but tires and brakes were hot or greasy/caught more traffic). The data is a little delayed relative to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FPzkY-kVM0 Please let me know if you see anything that pops out to you. I know that I fairly regularly underdrive the entry, get to throttle too early, and pinch the exits (because I over-slow, car isn't asking to be let out to the exit curb).
There have been a smattering of Autocross' in either my FRS or co-driving a friend's ES Miata, which are totally different experiences!
Yes, you under drive some of the corners and that's OK since this is a road car and not a race car.
Your steering is excellent and the lines in general are pretty good; most of what I saw that I'll comment on is nitpicky stuff but it will get you to the next level.
It appears you're still coming to terms with the fine art of of trail braking (hence under driving the corner entry), some places your brake release is smooth and others it's a hair choppy. From the video it looks like you try to steer the car into the corners rather than rotating it, especially the higher speed corners. It takes time to pick this up and that's OK too.
On the subject of higher speed corners; the left hander onto the back straight (turn 11?) you missed the apex two or three times, slow down just a hair / rotate the car so you can nail the apex.
Your rhythm is good but you seem to lose it just a touch in traffic........that's OK as you're not hammering away trying to get it back, I like the measured approach. Try looking through the cars in front of you.
Your steering is excellent and the lines in general are pretty good.
You appear to be on the cusp of taking it to the next level; there are a lot of places where you're are simple steering from marker to marker rather than rotating the car into the apex and then letting your momentum carry you from the apex to the exit kerbing. You really rotate the car well in a couple of the double apex sections.......try to repeat that in the other sections.
Overall it's just a matter of seat time and you building confidence.
Finally.................man those are some hard tires (note I'm on Hoosiers).
Tom1200 said:Yes, you under drive some of the corners and that's OK since this is a road car and not a race car.
Your steering is excellent and the lines in general are pretty good; most of what I saw that I'll comment on is nitpicky stuff but it will get you to the next level.
It appears you're still coming to terms with the fine art of of trail braking (hence under driving the corner entry), some places your brake release is smooth and others it's a hair choppy. From the video it looks like you try to steer the car into the corners rather than rotating it, especially the higher speed corners. It takes time to pick this up and that's OK too.
On the subject of higher speed corners; the left hander onto the back straight (turn 11?) you missed the apex two or three times, slow down just a hair / rotate the car so you can nail the apex.
Your rhythm is good but you seem to lose it just a touch in traffic........that's OK as you're not hammering away trying to get it back, I like the measured approach. Try looking through the cars in front of you.
Your steering is excellent and the lines in general are pretty good.
You appear to be on the cusp of taking it to the next level; there are a lot of places where you're are simple steering from marker to marker rather than rotating the car into the apex and then letting your momentum carry you from the apex to the exit kerbing. You really rotate the car well in a couple of the double apex sections.......try to repeat that in the other sections.
Overall it's just a matter of seat time and you building confidence.
Finally.................man those are some hard tires (note I'm on Hoosiers).
First of all, thank you for the kind words on the steering, I've really tried hard to have smooth and non-jerky movements, not shuffling my hands around, no double-inputs, etc.
I definitely am working to use trail braking better, and I think sometimes my mind is elsewhere and I 'jump' off the pedal, and when I remember it seems to work ok. I feel like with a bit MORE speed into the slower corners, and extending the braking further to the apex would help the car rotate more than it is now.
With regards to the lines/ apex etc. First session on this track, and first time in THIS car on track at all. I'll have to look at my video from the later sessions to see if I was getting down to that apex better.
On the tires: Truely, some hard tires; they were a set of basically dead (on the wear bars, likely heat-cyled out) Falken 615K+. The car is setup as an SCCA SSC autocross car, of which the 615k+ was the spec tire, and the RT660 is now the spec tire. I have a set of 660s ready to get mounted as soon as I have some time after work (I'm cheap so I'm mounting them myself on a friend's tire machine).
Downshifting a bit earlier would probably help too. Seems like the times the trail braking goes most wrong is when you're also either shifting or releasing the clutch while turning in. Can you set up the car to be a little looser on throttle? (might not actually be possible with what you're working with) It seems like you're getting some on throttle understeer and while you're good on steering inputs you're sometimes having to check up on the throttle out of corners. If not then a touch more patience on throttle application. I ran into the same issue at my last track day and am working on fixing it (both the car and myself) as well.
TXratti said:Well, thankfully, I've done a lot more driving this year than I had initially anticipated! Some of my focus has shifted, as have my tools.
I bought and sold a Miata (2001 LS), which I used for autocross and then figured out that I was too tall to take to the track. After the Miata, I purchased a Scion FR-S, which has been a great tool to continue learning with.
First outing was an autocross, where I serially underdrove the car, and then a track day at Eagles Canyon Raceway. Unfortunately with no instruction, but the new track was great! Here's a video from my fastest session (though it was earlier in the day, I felt more comfortable and probably had faster "lines" later in the day but tires and brakes were hot or greasy/caught more traffic). The data is a little delayed relative to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FPzkY-kVM0 Please let me know if you see anything that pops out to you. I know that I fairly regularly underdrive the entry, get to throttle too early, and pinch the exits (because I over-slow, car isn't asking to be let out to the exit curb).
There have been a smattering of Autocross' in either my FRS or co-driving a friend's ES Miata, which are totally different experiences!
Just one observation from this video- you seem to spend a lot of time coasting, or somewhere at mid throttle. Your fastest lap times are going to come when you're at full throttle or threshold brake as often as possible. I especially notice it with the braking- you need to be very deliberate in getting on the brake pedal and slowing the car as fast as possible without losing traction.
In reply to dps214 :
Yeah, it does tend to push on-throttle. Mostly that's me just going to throttle too early. Stock FRS doesn't have enough power to get the rear to add slip angle at the back to get the rotation.
I probably *could* change it. The car is currently on a street alignment (as purchased, ~1 deg of camber or so), but I have the ability to dial in as much as 3 deg on both the front and rear, which I'll do when I get the new tires on, but I think, in this case that it's more driver error.
I've only been autocrossing since 2018, with maybe 50 events, so take that into consideration.
That said, I have progressed well during that time, with occasional trophy finishes in ES here in central Florida. We often have 8-12 in the class, so finishing near the top is tough.
One thing that I've never seen suggested, but works for me is to have a specific goal for each event or group of events. Looking ahead is always a priority, but right now my major focus is working on smoothing out my pedal inputs.
I think that if you're trying to fix everything, you won't be able to progress as quickly as you would if you pick one or two specific skills to concentrate on each time out.
Goes back to the earlier remarks about how to spend your mental budget.
My 2¢.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Agreed about setting goals, and I was trying to do this last weekend.
The first thing should be SLEEP! I was exhausted from some travel Fri-Sat and it showed in my performance yesterday (5th out of 13 in ES).
Video from fastest run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMl8JhO_7Tk
Double inputs on the steering, totally forgetting about the offset after the sweeper in the back (DNFed two runs there), and definitely too slow in some areas while attempting to not spin out in the sweeper (big bump, there were a number of high-speed spins there, including the owner/codriver of this car which corded a tire).
Also open to critique here, I KNEW things I was doing wrong, but STILL continued to make the same errors run to run, which frustrated me. I had identified three points which were important on the course walk, the tight pin-turn, the offset after the sweeper, and the offset over the crest before the finish. Still made errors, and wasn't able to apply what I wanted to do with the car. Mental /physical fatigue is definitely a part of that.
Sleep is a big deal. I'm finally getting where I am able to manage the excitement so I can sleep the night before an event.
I've also started using a performance enhancing drug, one I stopped using in vet school back in the mid 90s since it interfered with my sleeping, and made me jittery.
It's called caffeine. 
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Ha yeah. I was probably a little over-caffienated and jittery between runs. 16hrs in the car after a flight to Chicago to help another GRM-er tag team the drive back to TX. Plus just being exhausted in general.
Lack of sleep = controlled flight into terrain.
I'm not sure if I've found another level, or just really enjoying the new tires on the FRS?
Non-SCCA autocross this weekend and did REALLY WELL compared to how I've done in the past. Usually I finish in top 20-25% of PAX (my best finish prior to this being 2 weeks ago, finishing top 20% on raw time at a BMW autocross). Today, I finished 7th/99 cars in PAX (not sure on raw time), and my friend codriving the car finished 3rd!
No videos yet, but I was on track to match his best time (that he coned away) and I spun... Bad. Full tank slapper into what would have been an high side motorcycle crash and had to go two feet in because it was beyond saving. I came in WAY hot and transitioned hard and on the brakes, over a crest.. not my shining moment.
I'm extremely happy with 7th in PAX, and hope I can keep that up. All the good drivers being in Houston for the Champ Tour didn't hurt things either, though.
Results: https://axwaresystems.com/axorm/files/EquipeRapide/equipe%20rapide%20challenge%20cup%209%20audit_pax.htm
What you need is lots and lots of seat time.
Sim racing is the cheapest way.
With sim racing you can practice all the techniques, but the best one is practicing where to look.
It's not the same as on-track, but you can spend half an hour whenever you have time practicing a specific thing.
Lots of stuff here for beginners, but geared mostly for budget endurance racing: https://yousuckatracing.wordpress.com/
In reply to Honsch :
Oh absolutely agree. I'm on team seat time. Not that autocross is particularly efficient from a driving standpoint, but this is the third event in as many weekends, and I'm always looking looking to drive more.
I'll take a look at the link, as I do plan on doing some low-buck endurance racing sooner rather than later.
I've been focusing a lot on tightening the loose nut behind the wheel over the last couple years, mainly through track days rather than autox. A few random thoughts:
I'll +1 on the seat time suggestion, although personally I have never been able to make sim racing work. I think I spent too much time driving cars on track before trying it, and now I can't really get over the lack of gee-force butt-dyno feedback.
Not that this helps on the budget front, but I will also suggest that having better data is super useful for making the most out of that seat time. IMHO phone based systems are too slow and laggy, I would recommend an AiM system. There's a ton of reasons why data is great, but one particular example that I've encountered recently is the value of a brake pressure sensor. Braking technique is easy to read about -- hard on the brakes for initial application, hold the peak for a bit, then reducing pressure as turning in. I *thought* I was doing it correctly, but the data showed that my brain was lying to me and I was all over the place. With the datalogger mercilessly recording everything I could go back afterwards and compare and really make improvements.
Getting your best time at a track day early in the morning is a good sign, IMHO. It shows that you're getting more consistent and coming up to speed faster.
Personally I'm not a big fan of low-buck endurance events for driver improvement seat time. One Lemons race I did had WAY too many cars on track (200+ at Sears Point), I was spending all of my attention on dodging slow cars and staying out of the way of faster ones and I had very little left for actually paying attention to how I was driving. I would also rather have 5 or 6 20 minute sessions in a day than a single 2 hour one, fatigue hurts my ability to focus and having those gaps gives me time to look at the data and reflect on what happened.
For me the most productive events are track days with a smaller amount of traffic, ideally where there are people just a little bit faster than me, enough to push me a bit to keep up.
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks for the reply. I do have a sim setup but the computer I was using left the building, about to get another. There are definitely limitations (especially on a budget setup), but it has definitely taught me some techniques regarding not being on the gas when the wheel is turned (the rookie MX-5 Cup cars are really twitchy), and carrying a bit more speed into the entry. I may buy a better brake pedal setup, to make it *slightly* more realistic, but I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a high dollar setup and try do use it so much. I barely have enough time to do everything I want to do anyway, so it'll be good but I won't be able to be on it all the time.
I have found the RaceChrono +10Hz antenna to work really well. The data in the last video is more of an offset than a lag, and can "be fixed in post" if I really made the effort. Theoretically the OBDII scanner should be able to get throttle and brake data, which would definitely level-up the analysis capability from this setup. Eventually I'll get a "real" data system, but for what I am doing right now, the Phone + 10Hz antenna works well.
If things are over-crowded then yeah, it doesn't really help. Lemons isn't high on my list, I'm thinking more Champ Car (formerly Chump Car), Lucky Dog, WRL, AER, etc. Even folks like Randy Pobst and Ross Bentley laud these series because of the amount of passing/ being passed you'll do in a race. My National-level stage rally co-driving commitments (on track to win a national championship for our class) and busy day job are making it hard to do any of those events this year, but hopefully I'll have more time in the future.
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