Since I began going to the track in Oct 2010, a number of guys from this board have been really helpful with equipment and driving advice and it's really increased by enjoyment of the whole experience.

So I thought I'd post some video/data I had taken (by Skyline HD) this past weekend at NJMP Lightning. White/Black run group, Metro PCA HPDE, low 50s ambient temps.

 

very nice footage!

The Lightning course was my first DE experience. I will be at the Pocono DE/Autocross event in June.

Are you going?

 

Nice videos and nice driving. I noticed your brakes squealing a bit. What pads are you using?

 

KK,

I watched the first video several times. Then watched mine. We have similar braking spots but you are really good at powering out of the turns.

To pick up some time we both need to try to not get off the gas on turn 6. We both get off throttle as we near that turn. Instead we need to get turns 5 to 7 to be more of a straight.

Also, we both brake at the tower. I've been trying to brake a little after the tower, I count 1001 at the and then brake. My entry speed into 1 has gone up about 3-5 mph. I think you can carry more speed there.

Your 2,3,4 is very good as is your transition from 4 to 5 to get over to the curbing. I have issues getting over in time. To be set up near the 5 curbing.

Really good driving.

 

kouzman - i won't be at that event but would love to get to pocono later this season. i need to broaden my course experience. so far i've only tracked the NJMP's at monticello.

scooter - good ear, they are pagid yellows (rs29). on their first day of use they were really loud but now just sqeak/squeal a bit here and there and more than ok on the street too. (i will switch back to street pads after the season). overall the pads have been a huge upgrade -- give me so much more confidence in their power and consistency to go into the corners hard.

mike - thx v much, those are all great observations. i do have somewhere around 60-70 hp over you so i should be coming out of corners noticeably harder. i've never tracked a 2wd car but from street driving a 997 carrera s, i think the 4 let's you get on the power a bit earlier and harder, which helps.

i think curbing well on turn 5 is important to posting a good time since it has potential to cause trouble given the steep camber, and bc there is such a long sweeper after it to gain time. i think the braking at the tower (and anywhere in the video) is a little deceptive. as u know, the 997 ecu applies slight braking whenever you get off the gas in a hard acceleration. in reality, i'm just laying off the gas at the tower for a second before i go to the brake. also i have a much heavier car than yours so i like the extra braking room. but all that said, you are right that's a spot i could gain some time. anyway, great hanging out with you at the event.



best

 

KK are you driving a tip?

 

yes it's a tip which i drive in manual mode. i let the ecu upshift on its own but i downshift as needed.

 

looking at your throttle at gear change time hints to that. really good driving! I went to lighting 5 times last summer... love that track

 

KK,
Nice driving! I was going to inquire about the tip as well. I've never driven one so I don't know how much absolute control you have but it seems that there are a number of turns when you are down on the power, <4K rpm, as you come out of them. If you can get/keep the r's up, it's possible to modulate the throttle and hence the motor's torque thru the entire turn instead of it being like an on/off switch. This will afford you a considerable amount of additional control, keep the car more planted in the particularly dynamic portions of turns and make it possible to get to max power on exit sooner. It would also fix that one turn where I think the tip downshifts for you, promptly spins up to redline and then upshifts all in about a second. I would think that could be a little disconcerting.

What tires are you running? Do they talk to you in the turns? I couldn't hear anything but that could just be the recording. It looks like you are very solid with your line and whatnot but if you're not getting some slip or rear end rotation in the slow corners particularly you're not getting everything the tires and car have to offer. Do you run with PSM on or off?

Finally, I think if you watch the throttle and brake meters in the recording you will realize you spend a fair amount of time either at partial throttle, partial brake or coasting along. This is a good way to keep from upsetting the car and learning how to be smooth but it isn't necessarily the fastest way around the track. Unless the brake meter isn't well-calibrated to your actual inputs, you should be able to go way deeper into most corners and then put those pagids to good use. Your pucker factor will rise proportionally as well.......an instructor once told me it should feel like "controlled mayhem" which is probably overstating it but just by a little, I suppose.

Nice job though, really! You are obviously one of the faster cars in the group and are doing a lot of things very well. Have a great season!

 

Steamboat,

I love when you talk track.

thanks

 

Steam,

Can you comment some more on this thought... especially about the added control. Its kinda counter intuitive to what we think should be done but it is a key in getting faster.

thanks

 

Well, let's start with the axiom, "Horsepower sells cars; Torque wins races"
and a little explanatory help from Wikipedia,

"Understanding the relationship between torque, power and engine speed is vital in automotive engineering, concerned as it is with transmitting power from the engine through the drive train to the wheels. Power is a function of torque and engine speed. The gearing of the drive train must be chosen appropriately to make the most of the motor's torque characteristics."

Now think of a typical torque band - there's probably one in your owners manual. I'm just making this up for an example but it probably starts out just above idle where torque very low, rises to a peak around 5,000 rpm and then tapers off to red line. The (horse) power curve probably starts a bit later, say 2,000 rpm, peaks later, say 6,000 rpm and then tapers to red line. Ideally, given what Wiki has told us, the driver wants to keep the motor in the "meat" of the torque band so adequate power is on tap for whatever circumstance dictates. That means revving the motor above where the torque peaks when upshifting and downshifting early enough (high enough revs) to keep in the the power from falling off.

When your power falls off, say below 3,500 rpm for track purposes, there is insufficient torque to produce adequate power on demand. So let's say you entered the corner a little too slowly, hit the apex and now you're looking for your trackout point when you realize, "Damm, I could be going faster"....So you step on the throttle and not much happens, oh, sigh. Had you been in a lower gear, where plenty of torque was available, you would have enough power to meet your acceleration needs.

Now consider this alternative. You're at a 100 mph coming into a 50 mph, decreasing radius 150 degree turn so you make a nice pair of rev-matched downshifts into 3rd and then 2nd and duck for the apex in quick fashion. Yee-Haw this is what it's about! Unfortunately, because the turn tightens your rear-motored, PSM disabled car thinks you have just given the ***-end permission to lead the parade at this point which is called oversteer in polite circles. But the solution is easy (in theory at least). Since you have kept the revs up and have adequate torque to make adequate power and since you remember that really good instructor who kept pounding you with, "The throttle is your friend, so use it" you feed in a little throttle which immediately shifts the balance towards the rear and restores traction to the rear tires as you motor happily on your way. Had you been in 3rd gear, however, it's quite possible there would not have been enough power to transfer the weight in an appropriate time frame and around you would have gone. Same outcome if you missed that important lesson from that instructor and applied the brakes instead!

So I guess the key takeaway is that not only does the throttle provide the car with its giddy-up but it also is a significant tool to balance the car whether you're going right, left, up a hill, down a hill, through a chicane, whatever. To be fast, you need to be smooth, and to be smooth, you need to be balanced and that means keeping the throttle in play by keeping your revs up. Hope this is of some use. Best,

 

can you post more info on the telemetry package? I couldnt fine a website.

 

You're welcome. Just the rantings of a deranged old track rat......

 

there's no better kind...

thanks for the balancing info.

KK and I both run Super Sports street tires.

I do feel the car slide slightly (especially since i now have the seats) in several of the corners and i getting to the throttle, does help settle the car.

Need to do better in getting close to that controlled mayhem.