Performance Driving
Learning. The most fun you can have and not get arrested. There are less then a
couple dozen road race tracks in the nation similar to Roebling
Road, 30min outside of Savannah. There's a number of ways to
inexpensively participate in a "Driver's Education" (DE) type event at
a track. There are a large number of driving enthusiast clubs that hold
DE's, to include the National AutoSports
Association, Porsche Club of America and
the BMW Club of America. There's also
numerous private DE organizations ranging from austere to high end. One
place to look for events is
MotorsportsReg.com.
Driver's Education events are relatively safe and sane. You control how
close you approach other cars, and you control others passing you. Some tracks,
by their very nature and challenging and unforgiving. Other tracks, like
Savannah's hold Roebling Road, have few walls and are therefore more forgiving.
It's incredibly difficult to be "fast" at Roebling because you have to find
advantage that others can't seem to find. But if you screw up and slide off the
track, there isn't much to hit.
A DE is a pretty controlled environment. Novices well get a blend of
classroom time and track time. They are
assigned instructors for the day or weekend, and can only pass in designated
stretches of the track. There are
several ability groups so Novices aren't on the track at the same time as more
skilled drivers. Passing is controlled for all but the most advanced ability groups. That
is to say that the guy in front has to stick his arm out of his window and point
over his roof to indicate that the faster guy that has come up from behind has
permission. Therefore there is no contention for position going into
turns that could cause a collision.
Aggressive "race-like" driving is not tolerated in DE events. The driver's meeting that starts the day will emphasize
that the event is "training", not racing. An average session
might have 20
cars on the track for 20min. Some tracks are very safe and sane, some less
so. If your track has lots of walls, it's worth reading the fine print in your car insurance policy before
attending. Most, but not all, car insurance contracts contain language
that say if you're on a track you're not covered. If you've a high end car on an
unforgiving track, buying "track day" insurance isn't a crazy idea.
You don't need a high performance sports car to participate. Anything
short of the average truck or SUV will likely do, altho there are high
performance variants of each that one will occasionally see at a track event.
It's not about horsepower, it's
about driver skills. Roebling, for example, is a 2.2mi track with a 1/2mi straight-away. A decent lap time,
depending on the car, might be <1:30. Of that you won't spend 10sec
accelerating on the straight-away before you have to stand on the brakes to
enter turn 1. Fast laps is about fast turns. Sure, a 500hp Dodge Viper is going to pull away from you on the front stretch, but a
skilled driver in a 115hp Mazda Miata might catch all the way back up to the
Viper by the time they get around to the front stretch the next time. It's not about fast cars,
it's about fast drivers.
If you are a red-blooded American with an ounce of testosterone, this hobby will be about the most fun you will ever have in your lifetime.
Tales of Thrills, Agony, Adventure and more Agony. Pick any story and it will be the most fun you've had all week.
How to Drive Fast
Quick primer on Performance Driving
Performance Driving Terms (Scott Barton)
Driver's School Manual.
More in depth than above. Give the pdf a moment to open.
Performance analysis. If you are going to have a hobby, you might as well obsess over it. And one way to do that is to collect data during track sessions. You can easily collect telemetry on speed, location and g forces. If you are highly motivated you could include precise info on steering inputs, suspension travel, car pitch and yaw. And then you can analyze exactly what the car was doing, what you were doing and exactly where you were doing it.
Racing. As you gain skills and experience the bar of what you perceive as "challenging" inevitably keeps getting reset higher. Some participants start instructing for driver's education organizations, some take their car to Time Trial, and others decide to race.
How to choose a race class. You don't race a car, you race people.
Competition School Guide. Everything I wished was emphasized in the Comp Schools that I went to.
Competition School Guide, NASA-SE SpecE30 Addendum. Uniqueisms that the newby NASA-SE SpecE30 type should know.
Competition School Drills. On track drills for NASA-SE Comp School
Towing and Trailers. Things to think about.
DIY's and other articles of interest to BMW types.
E30 Service Manual. Email me and ask for it. I'll put it on a cloud site for you to download.
Leakdown Test DIY. For testing the condition of your valves, rings and cylinder bores.
BMW E30 & E36 Brake Caliper Boot Installation. Impossible to do until you figure out the trick. And it's not in any manuals.
M20 motor oil path. Let PDF open. Cliffnotes: The oil has 3 channels. If any are worn and therefore has enlarged routes for the oil, oil pressure drops. 1) To crank and rod bearings. 2) To intermediate bearing (oil pump shaft). 3) To head (cam journals and sprayer bar).
Oiling system improvements, May09
The Great Oil Debate
Installing an Ishihara-Johnson
crankscraper
Installing a timing belt on an M20
Understeer and Oversteer Flowcharts. How to adjust handling.