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| | | Supreme Being
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Last Login: 5/15/2008 1:40:19 PM
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| I saw you miss a couple of apexes by a foot. I saw a fairly sudden turn-in to 1 on, I think, the 2nd lap with no traffic. I was admiring your earlier apex on 6 which allows you to enter faster and use the whole trackout. I was also admiring your complete trackout in 10. I don't always trackout all the way in 10 because I don't track there unless I need to and I can't seem to slide sideways over that seam in the pavement consistently enough to always need the trackout. Something for me to work on.
What warts do you see?
I have a recent video from nhis. If I'm lucky I'll get motivated, stick it on my computer, find a couple of reasonable laps and upload.
BTW: Apropos of almost nothing, I noticed something interesting from a line into 1 that I was trying for a while. I'd been experimenting with the short, angled-in line, but turning into that line hard and late, still before braking. Then brake in a straight line. What I eventually realized is that the sharp turn just before braking causes my car to bounce from side to side. If I'm braking while my car is bouncing from side to side, the car isn't very stable. The grip is moving from left to right. Not only is this unstable, it's considerably less sticky, so I don't slow down all that fast. I think this is an issue coming into Big Bend at lime rock as well. If my springs and shocks were a whole lot stiffer, this wouldn't be an issue. As it is, with my streetable springs, If I want to turn in early, it has to be early enough or gentle enough that my car stops bouncing around before I brake.
It was interesting to me anyway. Took me forever to figure out what was going on.
john |
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| | | Supreme Being
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| | Thanks for the (undeserved) kind words. I'm certainly not gods gift to track driving. I didn't tape or pick the laps -- I would have picked prettier laps, I suppose. I was watching a video of supposedly some other M-Coupe and realized that it was me (confirmed with the videoographer). I was wide of the apex on 2, a chronic probmem for me. I am probably carrying a touch too much speed through 1b, which prevents me from getting the car set up for the left-hander T2. I can see other instructors motoring away from me on the back straight, and this is certainly why. I have to get the power down sooner and stop worring about that pesky wall. I was also wide of the left side of the track after 1a, although I'm not sure how important this is. (It looked like I had a bit of oversteer, but with the low resolution, it's hard to tell.) I rode a lap with Mike Morris who hammered it though 1a, ending up on the right side of the track. He had to brake for 1b, but he saved so much time that it might be worth it. I'm sure that's the racing line, because if you drove the DE line there, half the field would be inside you into 1b. If they ever fix my Data Acq, I might triy it both ways and compare. Bruce Allen taught me to turn in earlier for T6 -- if you're full on the throttle before the apex, you're too late. I still think there is a lot more speed that I can carry through there, and it sure would help getting up that big hill. The track-out at T6 has such a big hole, that I'm a bit of a scardy cat there. Two wheel off would be very, very bad. In my car, I squeeze on power through 10 as soon as I can and only moderate it if I really think I won't make the track-out. Eric Heimrich suggested a touch of left foot brake, which would be worth trying. I don't LFB, so it would be a good skill to learn. It's a big "S" between 10 and 11, and with my diff, I have to up-shift between the right and the left. There is usually a bit of sliding going on, but I'm usually full throttle (in my S52) until I straighten out and brake. I would love to get someone really fast to drive my car and capture the data. I got Mike to drive it, but I didn't get good data because my data acq was in early onset dementia. Even though NHMS is "boring", there is so much for me to learn there and to improve. I just wish there weren't so many walls everywhere.  One of the best things that I learned at the instructor seminar was to not focus on the line so much. Ross said that it is better to drive the line you're on at 10/10th than to find the ideal line but drive it only 9/10ths. Getting comfortable with reasonable slip angles is important at some point, and I have lots to learn in this regard. It would be fun for others to post up their laps for comparison. |
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| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34lOldRgAM8
About 1 lap after dan passes me, and then another clean lap.
I'm still working on camera placement. The mini has not much windshield and a whole lot of rearview mirror.
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| | | Supreme Being
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Last Login: Yesterday @ 9:11:57 PM
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| | The camera placement is good in that you can see your right hand and the wheel. As for the rear view mirror, I bought an adapter (no longer made) which allowed me to use some domestic mirror that can be positioned much higher than the stock M Coupe mirror. Something similar might be available for the Mini. The adapter was called "Gary's Adapter" and was purchased through Roadfly's Z3 forum. The stock M Coupe mirror is very much in the way of both seeing (as in you have to duck to see some apexes) and video. Since Joe Marko is Mr. Mini (and now Mr. Smart, although I don't think that little thing is going to see the track  ), it would be fun to follow him around and/or have him drive your Mini. As I said elsewhere, I had Mike Morris drive my M Coupe, which seemed fair since he sold me and installed the suspenion. I learned a lot sitting in the right seat. So much, in fact, that I want to repeat it sometime with my Data Acq working. Something from Ross Bentley: "If it feels like you're riding on rails, you're not going fast enough." (Advanced driving only, of course). Mike demonstrated that to me. April's WMC event was a really fun day. I'm looking forward to Boston's May event. My mysterious loss of power / misfire / Check Engine Light has not recurred. I looked at the offending spark plugs, and they looked fine (no oil, nice light gray dry color). I'm hoping it was a little water in the fuel or a cosmic ray or something. |
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| DanChadwick (4/27/2008)
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My mysterious loss of power / misfire / Check Engine Light has not recurred. I looked at the offending spark plugs, and they looked fine (no oil, nice light gray dry color). I'm hoping it was a little water in the fuel or a cosmic ray or something.
This happened to my X5 once on the street. No power. Check engine light. Went away after 20 minutes. Hasn't come back after 10,000 miles. I assume I just ran some water through the engine, but no way to know. |
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| | | Supreme Being
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Last Login: Yesterday @ 9:11:57 PM
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| | The thing that I learned is that the ECU (at least my ECU) turns off the fuel and spark for that cylinder after it detects a misfire. So just turning the engine off and restarting it can fix the problem. File under "Just in case". |
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