[QUOTE=sfphinkterMC,Dec 21 2004, 10:09 AM]immediately add countersteer

 

In the past I've just let go of the wheel and closed my eyes but this thread has really enlightened me. I'm gonna try some of this stuff next time

 

Thank you all for your inputs.

I guess the bottom line is that as a newcomer to tracking, I should stick to braking in a straight line before turning. The reality of it, however, is that it is very difficulty for me to increase my speed incrementally at each turn. I don't look at the speedometer before each turn (well, maybe I should), and I can't really sense how fast I'm travelling, especially when I trying to increase my speed by only a few MPH faster. Therefore, it is easy for me to approach a turn too fast or brake too late so that I'm forced to trailbrake or go off track or make it into an early apex turn. How do you advanced drivers know consistently how fast you can go around a turn? It is especially difficult at a track like SOWS where there are so many turns to keep track of, at least for me. bill

 

I rarely look at the spedometer either, and when I do it's usually out of curiosity to see how much speed I'm carrying through a long sweeper or at the end of a long straight. I'm usually too busy with other inputs to worry about speed. I use engine RPM (mainly by sound), and braking and turn-in points to guide myself around the track and to guage improvement.

As was mentioned by payneinthe, approach increased performance from below rather than from above. Once you become comfortable with a turn, then and only then can you start trying for increased speed. Do that by moving up the brake point or playing with the turn-in point. Be certain to only change one parameter at a time and do so only in very small increments. That way you will know if your change was successful without putting yourself and others on the track in danger of an out of control vehicle.

 

Bill, your eyes are your most important sense on the track. By looking through the turn to the track-out point, your body will subconsciously judge how much speed you can carry through the turn. Everything else (speedo, RPMs, braking markers) are just temporary crutches to help your eyes build up a repertoire of recognized turns.

 

That is what I do. Usually works unless you completely borked your entry.

 

...but it's your brain not you body that will do all the calculations.

 

The Speed Secrets books have some excercises to build 'speed sensing' skills.

 

It's almost impossible to spin while on the brakes. If your entry speed is too high on turn-in while on brakes, the car will understeer. Very likely, the spin initiates at the moment you lift off the brakes. Lifting off the brakes too abruptly mid-turn will spin you in almost the same way as lifting off the throttle mid-turn. If you're too slow to transition from off-brake to on-throttle, you will spin. You should at least be able to apply maintenance throttle to balance the car. If your entry speed is too high, the worst result should be that you slide wide of the apex. If your entry speed is so high that you can't transition to at least maintenance throttle after leaving the brakes, you're on your way to dropping wheels.

 

Wrong!!! With a large amount of weight transferred to the front wheels, there could easily be very little traction left on the rear.