A few tips on basic performance driving should make the experience a little less stressful. Please realize that you have four patches of tire not much bigger than the flat surface of your palm and fingers holding 3,000 pounds to the road’s surface. Your tire contact patches are all that separate you from disaster. Maybe now tires are a little higher priority for you.
Transferring energy by accelerating, braking, and cornering determine how well the tires will retain traction. Accelerating a rear-wheel drive car makes the car squat and provides more traction at the rear. Braking and lifting off the accelerator makes the car dive transferring weight and energy forward. Adding weight and energy is referred to as loading. Removing weight and energy is unloading the tires. This determines the pressure pushing the contact area to the pavement.
The force pushing the tires down plus the amount of adhesion the pavement provides equals your ability to maintain control. Poor tires that are not being pushed to the pavement on a slippery surface spell disaster.
Driving challenging roads, one quickly learns that driving uphill in curves is much easier than driving downhill in curves. The difference is your right foot. Going uphill your foot is on the accelerator which puts down force on the rear wheels. What you are doing is giving the rear a better grip. By keeping your foot on the accelerator, you’re keeping the rear-end planted where it belongs.
Don’t be shy, you need to increase engine speed (RPM) to finesse your sports car through the turns. This will not harm your baby. In fact, both you and your car will enjoy the heightened state of awareness. Drive in a gear or even two lower than what you normally do. This will make the whole exercise feel much better.
Unfortunately, when you sense that you’re going a little too fast in a curve, your natural reaction is to lift off the accelerator or even brake. These are both sure fire methods of bringing the rear-end around to lead instead of follow. This is called over-steer. Challenging roads are not the place to learn about this.
The safest way to negotiate a turn is “in slow, out fast”. It’s much easier and safer to add speed in a curve than to get rid of speed in a turn. By braking before a turn, even just a light tap of the brake will transfer traction to the front tires to giving you a little better turn in. Then by gently going to the accelerator, you are planting the rear of your car and will create a much more confident feel going through the turn.
The slower (smoother) you are with the brake, the steering wheel, and the accelerator, the faster the car can go. Jerking the car around upsets the balance and makes it much harder to control. You should practice being slow and smooth. This becomes easier when looking ahead and not permitting a surprise.
Keep your head up. Look at where you want to end up, not at the pavement directly in front of you or at the tail of the car in front of you. By looking further down the road, you can plan your next move and be smoother with the car. Instead of several slight adjustments to the steering wheel, you can turn the wheel the proper amount to end up precisely where you want to be.
Speed will increase your radius. Turning your wheel in (aiming at the point inside where you want to be), then squeezing the accelerator, will push your sports car into a wider arch. I’m always available to discuss driving techniques as are other experienced participants. Don’t be shy. This really is fun and a team effort.
To sum up, tap the brake before the turn and look at where you want to end up. If you can’t see that far, prepare for the worst (a decreasing radius) and lightly accelerate through the turn. You should feel more confident and in control. Let the driving come to you (never feel like you must keep up or that you’re being pushed).
You’ll feel a lot better and so will your passenger… bruised egos are much easier and cheaper to fix than cars! You can always blame me for slowing you down…
Finally, the other drivers in your group are just as nervous and concerned about keeping up as you are. Get on your two-way radios to determine who wants to go faster or slower. By communicating and accommodating, everyone will be safer and happier.
The lead car needs to read a map and make sure the following cars are safe and comfortable. The second car should be your least experienced driver who can feed off the first car’s actions.
The fastest driver should go last not first— If the fastest car goes first, the other two will never see that car again. The fast car should drop back, play catch up, and drop back again permitting faster speeds than the lead cars. The fast car also has two radios ahead reading the road. Being caught from behind is highly unlikely.
All of this will be discussed and explained in simple terms at the safety meeting on the first night. Keep in mind, everyone there started with no experience.