Autocross to Track Day Transition "Dive bombing a tire wall"

[Rickapl]

Moved to Off topic

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...06#post1846806

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l-Y7ZObmbc"]Nelson Ledges Off Track Excursion - YouTube[/ame]

[HunterGreene]

Wasn't the Nelson's Ledges course shut down? Or are you just relating a story? Sorry, not trying to be critical, just clearing up some confusion for myself.

A great word to the wise, however.

[7thgear]

a wet track day is a bad first track day


even on a rainy autocross you still have more grip


a wet track is all sorts of surprises

[renfield90]

Autocross skills translate phenomenally well to the track. I think the mistake here is largely trusting the car to hook up in a situation where it won't (wet track).

The best explanation I've seen for driving in the rain is to purposely induce a tiny little bit of oversteer. The biggest problem is unpredictability, you don't know where in the corner you're going to start a slide. By removing the unpredictability of it you can maintain control through the whole corner with confidence.

I'm not responsible if you try the above and bake it though.

[jvincent]

At my very first track day the first two sessions were dry and then it started to rain for the next session and a half.

The instructors were all "Cool, it's raining!" and those of us in the beginner run group were "Shit, it's raining!".

When we went out my instructor just said take it easy for the first lap or two to get a feel for the car in the wet and gradually increase your speed. I didn't have any scary moments myself but it was interesting to see how different the car behaved.

I should note that I kept traction control on just in case.

[haison]

some times you gotta make the most of a rainy day. . . . got a little scared at this moment when I lost some grip. Just don't panic.

[ame="http://youtu.be/tJ4x_ne6_mA?t=5m20s"]http://youtu.be/tJ4x_ne6_mA?t=5m20s[/ame]

[Andrew025]

Originally Posted by jvincent

At my very first track day the first two sessions were dry and then it started to rain for the next session and a half.

The instructors were all "Cool, it's raining!" and those of us in the beginner run group were "Shit, it's raining!".

When we went out my instructor just said take it easy for the first lap or two to get a feel for the car in the wet and gradually increase your speed. I didn't have any scary moments myself but it was interesting to see how different the car behaved.

I should note that I kept traction control on just in case.

Opposite on my first track day, rain first then dry.
I felt like I learned a lot in the wet. Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

[wparsons]

^^ 100% agreed. Unless you're trying to run flat out, a wet track is a GREAT first experience. The speeds are much slower and you can feel the car move around at safer speeds. Too much grip makes it hard to feel a car out and can hide driving mistakes.

[DarkSunrise]

You definitely learn a lot about high speed car behavior at the track, where even the slowest corners are still about 40+ mph.

I would imagine a FWD car setup to rotate in autocross would be a handful on the track, esp wet.

[SeanRTR]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Wasn't the Nelson's Ledges course shut down?

It was, but it's re-opened....with subpar fixes. There's still stories of giant chunks of asphalt flying out of the racing line, as cars pass through (at a race, at speed).

We recently had a few drivers come all the way up from Cleveland area to run at our local track.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by renfield90

Autocross skills translate phenomenally well to the track. I think the mistake here is largely trusting the car to hook up in a situation where it won't (wet track).

The best explanation I've seen for driving in the rain is to purposely induce a tiny little bit of oversteer. The biggest problem is unpredictability, you don't know where in the corner you're going to start a slide. By removing the unpredictability of it you can maintain control through the whole corner with confidence.

I'm not responsible if you try the above and bake it though.

Rain driving requires you to drive differently in general. The wet driving line is very different from the dry line. My first dose of "too much power" was in my personal car. I've never actually done sideways in a straightline before until a heavy rain day, but VTEC seems to do that to cars with shorter wheel bases...even if it was tuned to have a linear powerband.

I do recommend anyone to at least go out there to drive. Whether the track or autocross, it's important to learn safe performance driving habits and techniques.

Originally Posted by jvincent

At my very first track day the first two sessions were dry and then it started to rain for the next session and a half.

The instructors were all "Cool, it's raining!" and those of us in the beginner run group were "Shit, it's raining!".

When we went out my instructor just said take it easy for the first lap or two to get a feel for the car in the wet and gradually increase your speed. I didn't have any scary moments myself but it was interesting to see how different the car behaved.

I should note that I kept traction control on just in case.

Rain is the best. The joy of feeling the car dancing between hydroplaning and grip is amazing. You can't avoid hydroplaning if you're driving quickly, but you can avoid flying off track if you know what you're doing.

Bone dry California lacks rain in general. Anytime it rains, all the S2000s and Miatas show up to the track (I hope BRZ/FRS too in the coming months). What's funny is all the AWD and FWD elitist seem to stray away from those days... BRZ/FRS owners have no excuse to go out those days. They are incredibly forgiving and easy to drive. Rain just helps you develop your driving skills faster!

[BRZZZZZZZZZZ]

I have yet to experience either my BRZ or my Miata in the rain on the track, but I suspect both would be very controllable and fun to play with in a good way. The BRZ having monster 255 Z11s and no power mods and the Miata having 205 wide Z1s and a supercharger with very linear power curve, would be great to get a feel for them.

[forwallblakmail]

Corner 1 at Nelson Ledges can rotate you pretty good even in dry conditions if you lift at all.

[Element Tuning]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...54543916499181

How about lining up to grid, it starts raining and you are on slicks and don't have wipers? It's like this. LOL!

The "wet" line is usually the inside or the outside of the track where there's no rubber down from the traditional line. If you're serious about going fast disconnect the sway bars and I like to induce front push on entry and then feed power to drift out. Going into the turn loose is really hard to control. The key is to not break traction on the way in because once your suspension unloads it's really hard for it to regain grip.

Downforce helps a ton!