Test and Tune with Indy Region SCCA

Event: Indianapolis Region SCCA Test and Tune

Location: Peru, IN

Results: no official timing, but improvement was made.

Best beer of the weekend: Tin Man Brewing Key Lime Gose (you've gotta check this place out!)

Primary Goal for the event: Get all the jitters out and remember how to drive!

Here's what I learned (or, was reminded of anyway):

• Look ahead!

My driving at this test and tune event suggested that it's been a long winter. First and foremost, I forgot to pick key cones to look at ahead of me at every element on course. I developed this trick a few years ago to help me focus further ahead (one of the oldest trucks in the book to bring a better driver). Not only did this oversight punish my line, but it also manifested in quick, sharp, aggressive steering movements, that the car did not appreciate.

• Focus on executing one, smooth, steady steering input.

I've also been fighting bouncy hands. I don't know why, or when it started, but somewhere along the way I picked up a bad habit of making a lot of unnecessary micro adjustments on the steering wheel, and I'm fully unaware of this habit until reviewing video of myself at the wheel. I'm still trying to figure out how to get over that, but Clint offered a great suggestion that I think might be the solution, at least for now. He asked me to focus on initiating steering wheel movement from my shoulders, rather than my wrists or elbows. It felt very weird to me, but it definitely worked! Until somebody gives me a better idea, I am adding this to my long list of things to remain conscious of while in the driver's seat-both on and off course.

• Be cognizant of your car size and placement through the slalom.

Even with the bouncy steering movements improved, I still never really felt like I got in the rhythm of the slalom. Other than not looking far enough ahead, and "getting behind" (turning in too late), I've always struggled with the boundaries of that car, typically turning in too soon and nailing the cones with my passenger side bumper. Like Clint always says, "Drive the car like it's wider" is as good advice on this as any, and usually pays off when I am concious of it (though sometimes I get a little carried away, and leave way too much space... like I'm in a big ol family sedan, or something... lol).

• "Trail braking" can help corner entry significantly.

Later in the day, I gave a ride along to the Indiana region novice chair (which I didn't know until after he rode) and he suggested I do more trail braking- which I suppose I should expect from a rear wheel drive regular. This is a technique to help carry the rear end of a car around a turn as you enter it. I realized on my next run, after focusing on it, that I had been driving the car like it was front wheel drive- braking early, turning (too) hard, and pushing out wide all the way through the turn. Add that to the problems I have been having with picking the proper braking zone, and my line turned into a complete disaster.

Anyway, my first run out after the ride along, I focused on braking a tiny bit later, and starting my turn input just as I was beginning to lift off the pedal. The weight transfer off the rear tires generated by this technique is what helps to bring the back end around, and is what I mean by trail braking. With the help of the wing that Clint designed and we were testing that day, using more of this technique allowed me to get the car pointed where I wanted it, carry more speed, and stay on my line through the corners. The rear end would carry nicely and remain stable, while recovering straight grip very quickly with the addition of throttle.

• Learn and know the braking limits of your car (and remember concrete is different than asphalt).

On the same vane as trail braking, braking zone selection is a primary goal of mine this year after reviewing accelerometer data between Clint and I anyway. He pulls much higher G forces than me in braking, proving the car is capable of much more. This weakness was especially confounded by the fact that I was on street tires (Bridgestone RE71r) which have much less grip than our racing compound tires (Hoosier A7). Getting on the brakes harder means I can get on the brakes later, and keep up my speed for longer.

This is accelerometer data averaged over a run back from 2015. Not recent, but still a really neat comparison of 3 different drivers in the same car. North=braking, South= acceleration, E/W= turning, and everywhere in between is transitional zones.

• Put your left foot on the dead pedal!

Let me preface this by saying neither Clint nor I use left foot braking. On one of my runs, Clint caught me hovering with my left foot at one point, and suspected I might be accidentally putting light pressure on the clutch pedal at times which lowers the car's rev limit. So I'll add "DEAD PEDAL!" (as Clint so gracefully put it) to my impossibly long list of things to remember while I'm driving too. Thankfully, I don't usually struggle with this one- just gotta remember to put my left foot on the floor next to the clutch (there's a metal plate there called the dead pedal).

• I love launch control.

The only other issue the car gave me consistently was launch control, or rather lack thereof. Not only was I really struggling to figure out the new clutch with a pickup point stupidly high in the range of travel, but the car must have remembered the last ProSolo I did two years ago, where I broke (one of the two) transfer cases that weekend. We haven't used launch control much since then, and it seemed to be protesting me now. Sitting at the line and putting the throttle to the floor, it was holding the revs at 5500rpm instead of 3500rpm, where Clint had it set. At least I noticed before I dropped the clutch (on the Hoosiers, nonetheless) and exploded some more transfer cases! We're still not sure of the circumstances which are causing this for me specifically, but I finally got it to behave and catch 3500rpm after giving a small bump to the throttle just before putting it to the ground.
And oh how I've missed launching this car...

• Bring more fuel to events than we think we need.

Overall, the car held up spectacularly for us, getting easily 50 runs on it over the course of the weekend (mostly on the RE71rs, because those Hoosiers are expensive and we're not made of money)! After running the snot out of the RE71rs, to work on this very extensive list of things I'm trying to improve, we were planning on doing three runs each on the Hoosiers at the end of the day Sunday, so our last memory of the car will be how it will behave next week at Spring Nationals in Lincoln Nebraska. Unfortunately, after we put the Hoosiers on and both had one run each, Clint started getting fuel pressure drops during his second run. We assumed this meant we were low on fuel, and we had already burned through the five gallons we brought, so we called it a day and packed up. (And in case you were thinking it, you should know that the gas gauge is purely cosmetic these days. #racecarproblems) 

• Know where to start your tire pressures, and monitor them as they build heat.

Other than getting a better feel for the car and testing the new wing, we managed to finish the weekend with some great data on tire temperatures and pressures over the course of a few runs. First, by watching the gradient of heat across the face of the tire during a run, we can see if the car needs changes in alignment (if either the inside or outside of the tire is hotter, it's telling us we need to change the camber- the tilt angle of the wheels relative to the car- and even out the contact patch of the tire on the road), and how often we're pushing the tires to their limit. You can literally see the whole width of the tire light up in the videos, when they're being fully utilized. It's really cool. Second, This will give us a better idea how to dial them early at the Championship tour events, where they need to be optimal on your first run out (before they are hot), since you only get three total.

Check out this tire temperature gradient thermographic video!

Recorded on the front left tire over the course of my run, and narrated by Clint. 

The three targets show temperature at the outside (right bottom corner), middle, and inside (left) of that tire.

You can watch tire temps respond to him yelling at me to push it harder!

Obviously, while a bit overwhelming, this was a very useful event for me. I feel much more prepared for the season, having faced all these bad habits right up front. Now, it's time to eliminate them, and get out there and drive! 

Primary Goals for the next event:

• Smooth steering arms

• Trail braking

• Later braking Zones

• Slaloms (always)

• Launches

Stay tuned to see how our first National event goes!

We'll be at Lincoln Spring Nationals next weekend.

Actually, I'm really behind on blog posts, so you might already know, but let's not spoil it for everyone else...