I've identified that one area that I really need to work on at autocross is my steering, mostly my handwork on the wheel. I'm a visual learner though and would like to see a video of what you guys think is good steering or a tutorial that you know about. I mainly have trouble with the tighter courses and u-turns. Any links and advice are greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

I will direct you to this guy who i know personally and is consistently quick in our provincial slalom. Check out many of his posts on youtube- cockyracingguy is his posting name.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhfkRL0HdGk

yes, its a miata.

Here is jvf1 at our slalom event this past summer. Watch his hands- traditionally the quickest s2000 at our events both local and provincial in STR. He too is a personal friend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ0iiN2nnaM

yes, its a CR.

hope this helps.

darcy

 

1 turn = 1 turning input.

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AjCxl9nRnWE

 

Thanks for the responses! Those are excellent videos showing how to steer under normal conditions, but they aren't quite what I am looking for. I suppose I should've specified in my op. I'm trying to find videos of how to steer on extremely tight courses that require more than 1 full turn of the wheel. I just processed my video from my last autocross and put it up on youtube so here it is. I'm not a fan of how the local PCA chapter has been setting up their courses lately, but I'd rather adapt than wait till March or April for another autocross I still need to work on my normal steering, but with tight turns, in the famous words of Ricky Bobby, "I don't know what to do with my hands."
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WMoZaGnz7o&feature=c4-overview&list=UUEOyRZUp7ByzDBtP8CZwnmA[/media]

 

Basically stop shuffling so much.

 

I consider myself alright at steering and here is me on a tighter track that requires hand movements... ignore the stall after the burnout at the start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBg9D87bUCw

 

Why is that bad?

 

I think this topic is a very broad/general topic that there's no easy answer to. The saying is always the same, "smooth steering," but it definitely depends on your car/setup/tires/etc. In a perfect world little to no steering change would be necessary mid turn, but I think reality is often times a different thing. Irregular road surfaces, debris, undulations, improper throttle application all play a factor towards steering input and what's "correct."

So much is lost in videos that it's really hard to say exactly where a problem might lie. Certain things like tires can make a huge difference in terms of how you drive because some tires are MUCH more consistent and forgiving at the limit of grip where it's easier to hit the tire's max slip angle, and some tires are closer to an on/off switch at the limit. The more on/off tire may require a lot more countersteering to catch the rear end.

Often times at the limit there's a fine line between "overdriving" the car and being a fast/good driver. This is just my opinion and what I've learned after my first year at the track.

 

I'm not the greatest authority on the matter but constantly taking hands off the wheel seems like a bit of a bad idea, doesn't it?