My true love & my 1st "driving-in-wet" experie

[Anonymous]

Also, learn to heel and toe as this also stops the rear of the car becoming unsettled under braking.

Im going to be learning this on this training day im doing... but i aint got a clue what it is!   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  

Whats it all about then?

not if your on about north weald you won't.

I thought it was one of the things on the confirmation email... i may be mistaken then.... still want to know what it is!   s:D s:D

<edit> never mind, had it answered by another member  (thanks mate)   s:D s:D  </edit>

[markiii]

I beleive heel/toeing and dancing the pedals is part of day 2 that Martin has done.

[juansolo]

Also, learn to heel and toe as this also stops the rear of the car becoming unsettled under braking.

Im going to be learning this on this training day im doing... but i aint got a clue what it is!   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  

Whats it all about then?

Heel and toeing.

As you are approaching a corner under braking you should be going down through the gears.  If you are braking hard that weight shift to the front is once again causing problems at the back.  Simply slotting a lower gear and lifting the throttle will cause the rear wheels to brake as the torque from the engine comes in hard as the revs rise to match the speed the car is travelling.

The lighter the car and the bigger/torquier the engine, the more exagerated the effect.  For example, do this in my Westie and it's like applying the handbrake momentarily on every down change.  The effect in the Mr2 is less so but under heavy braking it's there all the same.

To combat this, as you are braking and changing down, you blip the throttle to bring the revs up to match the speed in the gear you are going to, then release the clutch.  This should make the change reletively smooth.  But it does mean you need to use all three pedals at the same time.

Now this only comes with practise.  It's best to just practise rev matching on down changes as you drive around every day.  This will get you used to blipping the throttle the right amount.  Then as you gain in confidence introduce braking.  This is not really something to learn at track speeds and is easier if you just do it until it becomes second nature.

Now the technique:

Firstly, always get your braking done in a straight line (until you get very handy at least).  By the time you arrive at a corner you should be at the right entry speed, balancing the throttle with the car settled.

On the brakes with the toes of your foot, turn your foot so the side of your heel can actuate the throttle, press the clutch in with your left foot, change down and blip the throttle with your right as you are releasing the clutch.  All the time maintaining a constant braking pressure with you toes.

It's harder than you think as initially you'll brake too hard as you're used to braking with  your heel on the floor.  Again, it takes practise.

You'll also find that your footware helps also.  Some trainers with a nice thin sole like Hi-Tec Squash or plimsoles.  Something that you have plenty of feel through.

It's a ball ache and takes ages to master (I'm still a bit rough in the Mr2, ok in the Westie though as it's much easier to do in that) but oh so rewarding when you get it right.  It's frightening how much smoother and therefore faster it'll make you.

[Slacey]

Nicely said, Solo.
Personally I find it really difficult in the '2 being so tall, and having big feet   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[filcee]

Yes, beautifully explained.

Of course, the coward's way out is to pay out the extra 500 squid and get an SMT.   (Hey, if it's good enough in the F1 paddock, amongst other places, then it's good enough for me).

A bit of learning required to get smooth changes, but no 'pedal ballet'  s:) s:)

[juansolo]

Pictures say a 1000 words...  Here is Hyla Breese, BTCC driver, Lotus Autobel Challenge driver and regular instructor for BaT (amongst other things) piloting a standard Elise.  Amazing footage with Picture in Picture showing what his feet are doing.  Bit big mind

http://www.bookatrack.com/-PFjsl197815941?jsl&1978&15941&video/x-msvideo

Also I've re-encoded my fottage at Anglesey as MPEG-4.  You'll probably need the latest version of Quicktime or MediaPlayer or the like, but they're much higher quality and frame rate and if anything, a slightly smaller filesize.  Still not very modem friendly though I'm afraid   s:( s:(

[Anonymous]

Another person making it look a doddle.

[Anonymous]

great -couldnt view it!   s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  

  s:cry: :cry: s:cry:    s:cry: :cry: s:cry:    s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

[mph]

Also, learn to heel and toe as this also stops the rear of the car becoming unsettled under braking.

Im going to be learning this on this training day im doing... but i aint got a clue what it is!   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  

Whats it all about then?

not if your on about north weald you won't.

I thought it was one of the things on the confirmation email... i may be mistaken then.... still want to know what it is!   s:D s:D

<edit> never mind, had it answered by another member  (thanks mate)   s:D s:D  </edit>

I guess you're talking about this quote:

You will learn techniques such as the use of the controls, smooth acceleration, modulated braking, rotational steering, cornering, balancing the car on the throttle, the use of trail braking, trail lifting, understeer, oversteer, lift off oversteer, gear changing, heal and toe, skid control, spin avoidance and control techniques.

Not that I want to worry you, but if you learn one thing out of that list in a day you'll have had a good day. You'll begin on many of those topics on the first day but you won't be very good at them. It's both very depressing and very rewarding, first realising how bad a driver you really are, and then how much you can learn in a day (and after, realising how much *more* there is to learn after that).

[Tem]

This is usually followed by the panic lift on the throttle which causes the weight of the car to move forward over the front wheels, which in turn causes them to grip and the rear to lighten.  Hello snap oversteer as the rear trys to overtake the front.

What's snap oversteer anyway?

If I come too fast to a corner (usually on purpose) and lift the throttle, the rear will get lose, but it's far from snapping. You just need a lil counter steering to slide through the corner. I feel safe doing it on 2-lane roads (obviously only on corners that I can see fully) and never had a feeling it would snap anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Solo, Hyla Breese is the geezer who took me round the Hethel track when I went to Lotus a few months back. A really nice guy. Austrailian isn't he? He was laughing a joking with me and very encouraging and said I did really really well and by the time I had got things going, wasn't THAT far off as fast as he was going........(although I did think he might have said that a LITTLE tongue in cheek, although I did think I was going quite fast..........). A top bloke, a top instructor and a top driver. Shame he couldn't get any more sponsorship for the BTCC.

[juansolo]

Yup, that's the guy.  Shame the engines in his BTCC car proved less than reliable  s:( s:(

[juansolo]

Anyone that can't play the Hyla vid that has a Mac, I have a MOV frontend (about 1MB) that if you run that with the AVI in the same directory, it'll run fine.  Otherwise all I can recommend is that you have the latest versions of you favorite player.  I'm a Mac type so can't really help out with what to use on the PC.  FWIW MPlayer on the Mac works standalone with AVI's.  But it runs perfectly with Quicktime 6.4, download the 3IVX plugin (small) and run the .mov that I can mail to you.

It is worth it.

[juansolo]

This is usually followed by the panic lift on the throttle which causes the weight of the car to move forward over the front wheels, which in turn causes them to grip and the rear to lighten.  Hello snap oversteer as the rear trys to overtake the front.

What's snap oversteer anyway?

If I come too fast to a corner (usually on purpose) and lift the throttle, the rear will get lose, but it's far from snapping. You just need a lil counter steering to slide through the corner. I feel safe doing it on 2-lane roads (obviously only on corners that I can see fully) and never had a feeling it would snap anywhere.

That is lift off oversteer.   Snap oversteer (which I've probably just made up) is a more violent, unplanned, version that is more difficult to catch.  I suppose it's like 'over correcting'.  There is no such expression as that either, basically it's 'running out of talent' as you put too much lock on when trying to correct a slide causing it to whip back the other way.  See: tankslapper.  Which is actually a biker expression for something entirely different (see when a biker gets out of shape and all becomes clear) though is used in car circles to mean when you slide one way, run out of talent, then the other, then the other usually getting more and more out of shape as you go along.  As soon as it's gone more than twice it's best to stamp on the brake and clutch and bring yourself to a halt as quickly as possible rather than end up in a tirewall or, if on the road, an oncoming truck.

Confusing ain't it.

There were good examples of this talent loss in that spin reel that I did.  Unfortunately I couldn't be arsed to re-edit them all together to re-encode them as .mp4's...

[Anonymous]

Heel and toeing.

As you are approaching a corner under braking you should be going down through the gears....

Excellent advice Juan, I've tried this method (safely) but the driving position doesnt cater well for tall-ish people with wide feet   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  .

It was ages ago, but one owner from SC had a few home movies of him heel-toeing with the left half of his foot on the brake and blipping the throttle with the right half (same foot)   s:D s:D

[Anonymous]

Just had a look at that vid from Solo. That is the guy!!! he is bloody brilliant. And a nice guy with it!!! God, he made that look easy. But what a car too...................  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[juansolo]

but one owner from SC had a few home movies of him heel-toeing with the left half of his foot on the brake and blipping the throttle with the right half (same foot)   s:D s:D

I have to do it like that in the Westfield as the pedals are too close together.  Have to drive it in pixie boots as well.  It really wasn't designed for someone who's 5'11" and 16st!