How do you improve your lap times?

[Magpie]

I was thinking about this question after reading some of the posts on the forum as well as chatting with Danny at MX5 Plus today.

I use a combination of video, lap analysis software and data collection. The data ranges from tyre temps/pressures, g forces, engine data, alignment settings etc. One of the best tools so far was letting a person who knows what they are doing drive the car to see what it is capable of. Whilst on public roads I constantly heel and toe as well as practice left foot braking (when it is are to do so). Motorbike skills of looking ahead and scanning for options also helps, but I have found experimenting with suspension settings matched with understanding what happens if you do X or Y has paid dividends.

One problem though is getting time off work to get some practice time, however work pays for this hobby so I guess work should come first...

[Apu]

I think seat time is the biggest factor...as well as ability.

We can tune our cars till we go broke, but I've seen up and coming pro drivers jump into the crappiest car and well...lay the crap on some big mouth in his modded out car.

That driver happened to be Fariqe Hairuman who now races for Team Petronas in the Super Taikyu Series in Japan. His "weapon" of choice in those days was a Proton Saga. If you don't know...that was the predecessor of the Wira. OOOOOOLLLD Mitsubishi...built worse.

[davekmoore]

Seat time is number one, closely followed by tuition.

[evil_weevil]

X11ty seat time BUT throw in a few days where qualified instructors are there (ie track school)

You might have seat time but doing it wrong! Or you think you are doing it right until a pro takes you out and gives you instruction. I dropped 2 seconds at Wakefield by going to a track school day years ago

[deviant]

Seat time and instruction followed by having a certain amount of in built ability.

If you can't get seat time then get fat slick tyres and a turbo to flatter yourself and turn in fast times.

Be super super smooth.

Relax in the car.

Have a few brain fades and big spins to learn from.

Observation and anticipation...that counts for looking what is coming up behind you to.

I am a firm believer that a bit of theory work needs to be put in to be good.
If you know how a car works you will be more mechanically sympathetic and will have a better knowledge of how to combine go fast parts and how to set the car up. Have an understanding of car physics and how weight moves around and how this affects grip, learn how control inputs affect this balance.

[Trackphotos]

Without having much real life experience myself, I think sim racing can teach you techniques and a certain amount about how cars behave under race conditions. Some people here may know Callum Whatmore, who races a Nissan sileighty at Lakeside and QR. Callum credits his speed to sim practice. He has managed a lakeside Pb of 55.66sec, with 290rwhp on full slicks.

Depending on which sim you play and which sim gear you use, you can learn the basics of things like racing lines, trail braking, heel toe shifting etc without ever jumping in a real car. You will never learn how to feel a cars limits without real life forces acting on you though.

[MattR]

For me, seat time and tuition helps the most. Get out onto the track at every opportunity in pretty much anything you can drive. A bit of talent helps, but practice makes best.

Data analysis is good also, but don't overthink things.

The other thing that helps in setting up a car is not to make too many changes to the car at one time when getting the car set up. If you go faster or slower you won't know why. Also consistency helps, you need to be able to bang out consistent lap times, within a couple of tenths, to know what affect set up changes have made.

[plohl]

Practice.

Consistent set up.

Knowing the car.

When I was racing in the dirt sprints last year I would rarely adjust anything. The track condition varied enough month to month and even through the day to make sure that you had to adjust your driving. Getting a day of practice laps in made my times much more consistent with the help of some instructors.

I think data can be helpful to troubleshoot, but in terms of improving times, the driver is still the biggest variable.

More practice....

[Magpie]

Thanks all, looks like seat time with more proper instruction is on the cards. I guess I have a tendency to over think however the more information you have a the time the more choices you can have.

[sailaholic]

Go race on dirt..... :-). Are you around the weekend of the 21st, 22nd of this month?

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[plohl]

Go race on dirt..... :-). Are you around the weekend of the 21st, 22nd of this month?

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That's a brilliant idea! Magpie - check out iwmac.org.au

If you have any questions about it send me a pm. Your son's mx5 is driving right?

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[Magpie]

No as per normal I'm away. Plan is Morgan Park on 26/10 and test out the new engine and see if somebody from SDT wants to set a benchmark for me.

[plohl]

No as per normal I'm away. Plan is Morgan Park on 26/10 and test out the new engine and see if somebody from SDT wants to set a benchmark for me.

Damn.

A mate has been telling me about these sdt things. They sound alright.

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[manga_blue]

All good ideas above. Information sharing pays big dividends in the MX5 community. Get someone to drive your car with you in it or at least with the logger turned on. Ride with them in their car. Swap log files with other drivers (doesn't have to be similar cars, just drivers who are competitive in their class) and compare lines, Vmins, exit speeds, Vmaxes, shift points, braking points and rates of accel/decel. You may have the occasional epiphany when you find a driver doing slower times than you is consistently 5 or 10k quicker than you through a particular section.

[Lokiel]

X11ty seat time BUT throw in a few days where qualified instructors are there (ie track school)

You might have seat time but doing it wrong! Or you think you are doing it right until a pro takes you out and gives you instruction. I dropped 2 seconds at Wakefield by going to a track school day years ago

+1 on this

My first 3 ski trips I had NO professional instruction at all and fell into some bad habits that were extremely hard to break so that after 3 days of skiing, my knees were completely stuffed. I regret to this day not getting professional ski lessons from day 1 since I doubt I would have developed these bad habits and enjoyed skiing more after the first day.

It's natural that we fall into habits based on what we're comfortable with and what we know. Professional tuition will iron out your bad habits and educate you as to what your car is actually capable of and what YOU should be doing - you really "don't know what you don't know".


I've found reviewing my track video where I overlay throttle position, tacho and speedo data useful too. The throttle position really shows where I lift off unnecessarily (mostly due to momentary "cahoona crisis").

Watching good driver's track video is very educational too when they have similar cars/mods, especially when they take a different line to the one you've been using.