Actually Pat, its just the opposite. You have to know the course so well so
you don't have to guess where the course goes next or hope that looking
ahead will be enough. Things happen so fast and with the line of vision
being limited in a shifter kart, that if you are relying on "just" looking
ahead, you'll be very behind,or lost. ;-)
You are correct about one thing though, the perspective is very different
from the seat. Thus for critical or unclear sections that are a sea of
cones, its best to sit down on one's derrihre and memorize the view from a
more correct viewpoint.
Pete
>From: "Pat Kelly" <lollipop487@attbi.com>
>To: Darren Madams <darren@madams.com>, Joe Ciarcia <veloimpreza@yahoo.com>
>CC: ba-autox@autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: The hardest autox skill?
>Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 17:17:36 -0800
>
>Walking the course if you're driving a kart might even be a waste of time
>cept to let you know approximately where the course goes. The point of view
>at walking height is a totally different perspective than sitting in a
>kart.
>What was clear at walking height just might disappear from the kart seat.
>:)
>--Pat K
>
>----------
> >From: "Darren Madams" <darren@madams.com>
> >To: Joe Ciarcia <veloimpreza@yahoo.com>
> >Cc: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> >Subject: Re: The hardest autox skill?
> >Date: Tue, Dec 10, 2002, 5:19 PM
> >
>
> > An excellent question. I'll answer it in two (possibly more) ways.
> >
> > The "hardest" autox skill to learn is without a doubt left foot braking.
> > It just requires hours of practice, and development of muscles and
> > dexterity that you have no use for outside of racing (and even then it's
> > debatable how useful it is). Rob Luis left foot broke my Integra at my
> > first autocross school... I've been a believer ever since. Learn
>driving
> > an automatic on the street, then progress to a three pedal machine, then
> > try it autocrossing. I'm still not great at it, but damn did it work
>well
> > at the first SFR rallycross!!!
> >
> > The skill that takes the longest time to perfect, yet gives the most
> > reward? Maximazing (or exceeding in a manner that improves time) the
> > traction of the car in all directions. Read that again. This mainly
> > applies in my case to getting the most forward direction out of the
> > tires... in my understeering Integra that meant not overpowering the
>front
> > wheels when they were trying to turn as well (power-on understeer), and
>on
> > my kart it means not overpowering the rear tires when coming out of a
>slow
> > tight corner. However, it also means getting the most out of the
>lateral
> > capabilities in long sweepers... that's taking the right line, and being
> > smooth. It also means getting the most out of the traction under
>braking.
> > As Kevin talks about, weight transfer is a key ingredient to consider
>here
> > as well. ABS or not, there is a limit your tires can do (independent of
> > available braking force) that you need to get as close to as possible.
> >
> > As for your braking problems, at the school two years ago they did a
> > braking square exercise... that's the best way to learn. Braking in a
> > straight line teaches you nothing about loading the outside front tire
>(or
> > unloading the inside rear). It also teaches you nothing about trail
>braking.
> >
> > I'll put in the obligatory plug for Geez here. It will quickly give you
> > numbers about just how hard you are braking. You can do a baseline
> > straight stop to find your maximum possible braking g's, then try to
> > approach that in a competition environment.
> >
> > --Darren
> >
> > p.s. Katie's comment about looking ahead is also a good one! I was in a
> > rut big time and not walking the course for two events drastically
>improved
> > my driving.
> >
> > Joe Ciarcia <veloimpreza@yahoo.com> wrote ..
> >> I'm sure this thread title will attract some colorful
> >> responses from this oh so serious crowd <hehe>.
> >> Seriously though, what do you think is the hardest
> >> skill to master in autox?
> >>
> >> After reading a post on the i-club board I realized
> >> that the thing I have the most difficulty with is
> >> braking. When I think about it, just about every
> >> mistake that I've been making is related to braking. I
> >> think I'm choosing okay lines, at least I'm not making
> >> any HUGE mistakes about the line I'd ***LIKE*** to
> >> take. Proper braking seems to be an elusive skill for
> >> me though.
> >>
> >> How does one practice braking? Seems like a silly
> >> question but seriously, how do I get better at it? I
> >> seem to be in a rut. It would seem as if most people
> >> brake to late, or brake to early however I don't seem
> >> to discriminate between the two (maybe I lean a little
> >> be towards braking too early which probably makes some
> >> sense for my experience level). This past event I
> >> experienced "HOLY CRAP, I didn't know my car could
> >> stop that fast" and... "ummm... yeah, I'm off course
> >> because I really wanted to do a donut, yeah that's
> >> it".
> >>
> >> Cheers Joe
> >>
> >> =====
> >> Silly little Yahoo advert follows...
> >>
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