Rikrock@aol.com wrote:
> Amici,
>
> Curiousity has overcome my reluctance to ask what to many may seem a dumb
> question.
>
> What is the "proper" driving technique when the race car you are driving goes
> into a spin? Clutch in or out? Brakes locked or modulated? What else? If
> it depends, what does it depend on? I thought I had a clue, but............
>
> Don't be alarmed. I'm not coming to a track near you....yet;>) I'm a
> hillclimber, and hillclimb spins pretty much end right after they start.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Rich Rock
> Pottstown, PA
Oh, I should keep my mouth shut on this one but I just can't resist. Back in the
70's I had a car that handled so poorly that within two seasons I had spun off
of
every corner at Blackhawk at least once. It was truly evil. However, I got a lot
of experience in spinning.
The most interesting technique is one that was not original with me -- Mark
Donohue's book, maybe? Or maybe the MacDonald book on driving, the best one ever
written bar none.
This choice bit is this: While spinning, with foot in on brake and clutch, the
car is still travelling in some direction. if you watch the landscape going
around and you pop both feet off the pedals and floor the gas when you're
pointed
the right direction, the car will go the direction it is pointed. I've done this
a couple of times in a race (back when my body worked a little quicker) and
saved
my position in the race. Must have been pretty entertaining to those behind me.
The same is true for the car when, in the middle of a 360 spin, is going
backwards. If you are headed backwards towards both immovable objects and open
spaces, if you pop your feet off the pedals when the rear is pointed where you
want it to go, most of the time that's where the car will go. Of course you have
to steer intelligently while you're doing all this.
Do not try this at home.
--
uncle jack
Like I said, "Life isn't long enough for me to do another ground-up
restoration".
Well, thank goodness, it is.
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