How do you improve your lap times?

[mazmad]

Yeah I am not a big one for practicing driving technique on the road, for a couple of reasons. It may be unsafe, and it isn't (or shouldn't be) the same level of intensity. Not good left foot braking in traffic for instance if you haven't mastered the sensitivity needed with your left foot. Just my view....

[NitroDann]

I wouldn't do it in traffic, my daily commute happens when the roads are empty

Dann

[deviant]

Yeah I am not a big one for practicing driving technique on the road, for a couple of reasons. It may be unsafe, and it isn't (or shouldn't be) the same level of intensity. Not good left foot braking in traffic for instance if you haven't mastered the sensitivity needed with your left foot. Just my view....

It doesn't have to be at circuit speeds to instill some discipline and to pick up the delicacy Dann speaks of. If you can gently heel n toe on the road with putting more pressure on the brakes that control will transfer to the track. Picking your way through traffic and avoiding something everyone else seems to drive in to will transfer to the track. Changing gear without upsetting the car and being in the right gear as you arrive at a corner all transfer to the track.

In my auto daily driver I almost exclusively left foot brake. In the MX5 I transfer to right foot braking without thinking about it, occasionally I have brushed the brake with my left foot on track but don't have a great deal of use for it.

[Trackphotos]

Qstarz and Vbox are 10hz (Vbox has an option for 20hz http://www.vboxaustralia.com.au/VBOX%20Sport.html).

I use a Qstarz 818XT at 5hz with DGPS, since DGPS isn't an option on 10hz. As far as I can tell it's extremely accurate, the problem is that google maps images aren't exactly perpendicular to the ground so when they warp them to fit, it's not accurate down to the metre. Still accurate enough to see where your lines are different to each other, if not really accurate enough to tell your exact track position. Can't imagine it's anywhere near as useful as the gadgetry you use though :p

2013-09-12 16.49.09.png

In my auto daily driver I almost exclusively left foot brake...

Hope you're not one of the nitwits I regularly see on the motorway, overtaking with their brake lights on because they don't know they're dragging their feet :p

[manga_blue]

x2 Dann, every drive.

[MattR]

Driving my auto daily, I left and right foot brake depending on the circumstances, but mainly left foot brake for planned braking.

In the MX, occasional left foot braking as I am teaching myself this for the track, in the past I haven't worried about it as the brakes in the old car were either working or not... and every down change is a double de clutch with heel and toe braking where required as it's the habit I got into learning to drive in a G60 Patrol with no synchros on 1st and dubious synchros on the other gears. I could also drive work Hiluxes around without the clutch unless moving away from a stop, but if the clutch was buggered, well then it was 2nd gear and use the starter

Another tip for steering, hands at quarter to three with airbag wheels, and thumbs on the rim not inside the wheel, easiest way to break them if you hit something on the track, or even drive through one of the many potholes that plaques our roads.

[mazmad]

And I heel and toe always too fellas in my daily on my way to and from work, or anywhere for that matter. But you don't want to be trying it for the first time, and definitely not left foot braking for the first time, in peak hour traffic.

[mazmad]

Yeah Matt I posted a vid of Danica Patricks big crash in NASCAR a while back, showing her coolly putting her hands to her helmet at the last minute before impact to avoid breaking hands or wrist. Impressive and the lack of hea movement with Hans. Google it.

[Magpie]

[zoomzoom]

In response to the original question I would suggest that some tuition would go far, along with much more seat time. Time behind the wheel to get a feel for the car and to gain confidence is priceless. Like others have suggested I think driving on dirt is a great way to learn some car control, this allows you to push beyond the limit in a safer manner, which I believe is crucial to your learning.

I have never had any professional tuition nor did I grow up driving karts like some, in my later teens I did however do a few motorkhanas on bitumen and dirt, which I think helped me immensely. Apart from that I think seat time coupled with a little skill go towards achieving half decent lap times. I don't use any fancy sensors or logging etc though I wouldn't mind trying some, but I think you need to get past a certain point in your driving development before these are at all useful.

Oh and I am crap at driving simulators too I just feel too disconnected from the "car".

Good luck with your development Mark, it can be a frustrating road to travel down which has absolutely no end, trying to get faster lap times, but there is a lot of fun to be had along the way!

Cheers,

Tim

[mazmad]

Yeah Magpie the incident is the bottom one, a different perspective from an in car camera shows her hand movements really clearly. Very impressive.

[MINX]

Another vote for seat time.

I have now been doing Track days for 5 years.
Havent missed a club day, and also done Wakefield Park, Morgan Park SDT day, half a dozen motokhana days, skid pans, and a few Mt Cotton Hill Climbs.
Before that, no track driving experience.
So after 30+ or so track days, i think i have reached my limit.
That is the limit combination of Skill, car performance and risk value for reward.

In last 12 months I have had SDT coaching, plus refresher coaching from Doug at LS and QR and even 10 laps with coach in the Lotus.
But my times havent dropped noticeably since last year.
I just watched CallumW video doing 55s at Lakeside ( http://youtu.be/8iEvat8bZIA )
I mean really, how fast do you want to go in a road car.
I think my 63s are about my limit in this car.
Sure i could put semis on and gain a little more.
But really, drop the sparco and harness out and my missus drives it to work no worries.
It is just a fun roadster anyone can drive, reliable and easy. It is not a race car.

More seat time will make me safer, and more consistent, and i will enjoy it, but i dont expect to drop much more time.
In the first two years a drop of a few seconds each track day was expected.
Now i am chasing hundredths.
And i really dont think a couple of hundredths is worth putting myself into a wall at LS
To be honest , the trophy isnt worth it.
Maybe I will get Jamie Wincupp to drive Minxy one day and show me what she can really do.

[deviant]

I just watched CallumW video doing 55s at Lakeside ( http://youtu.be/8iEvat8bZIA )

That is a great example of being super smooth and looking after the car. He doesnt smash through the gears and his heel n toe is very neat.

[Trackphotos]

I just watched CallumW video doing 55s at Lakeside ( http://youtu.be/8iEvat8bZIA )

That is a great example of being super smooth and looking after the car. He doesnt smash through the gears and his heel n toe is very neat.

He knows the concept of mechanical sympathy very well. Largely because he drives a Sileighty with an SR20 in it; if you're not gentle, they blow up :p Unfortunately his blows up every other round anyway

[little decks]

In all seriousness though, the only thing that will make you go close to the limit is being able to feel the limits of grip in the car you are in at that point in time... some people can just do it, some people take some time to hone the skill, and others just can't do it.

There are a few things that a lot of people get caught up in trying to go fast... the main misconception is that going fast on a circuit is all about jumping on the go pedal, this is why when at track days and club race meetings you see every second guy who looks to be having a go having an armful of opposite lock as they power oversteer on corner exit... this is SLOW, oversteer into a corner (e.g. flicking the car) can be fast, but mainly when you have a car that is fairly light in the rear. The other thing that really kills lap time without you realising is coming into the corner way too fast, this is something you need to learn to feel in the front and if you come in too fast you will more than likely go through the middle of the corner much slower with the car under rotating, which again induces oversteer on exit as you are trying to still turn the car where you should ideally be getting a good straight exit.