IAM skills day at Silverstone Stowe circuit

[ant man]

Hi,

I'm an IAM driver and recently went on one of their circuit based skills days. Fantastically well run. Pls see full review here: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=599...

[Steve Rance]

Sounds fun. Do you feel that your Advanced driving skills were enhanced by the experience and if so why?

[ant man]

Good question. The biggest thing I learnt was the effect of weight transfer on the balance and grip of the car. Also the importance of performing braking, gear changing, steering and throttle in the right order at the right time and in the right place in relation to one's position to a corner / bend. For example, turning in when still hard on the breaks causes the unloaded tyre to lock up, i.e. left front and rear on a left hander. Always best to brake in a straight line. Also the importance of being smooth was easier on the tyres, gave me more time, felt slower but was actually faster around the circuit.

Of course the speed travelled on the track through corners is far higher than is safe to do so on the road but the principle is the same but due to the lower speed, the effects of weight transfer are less felt on the road compared to the track.

Above all, I learnt how capable the M3 really is and being able to use it's full performance was a lot of fun.

[MC Bodge]

ant man said:

The biggest thing I learnt was the effect of weight transfer on the balance and grip of the car. Also the importance of performing braking, gear changing, steering and throttle in the right order at the right time and in the right place in relation to one's position to a corner / bend.

With respect(and I'm not suggesting that I'm an expert at all, as I'm definitely not), and the track day sounds good, but I'm a little surprised that an M3 owner with an interest in driving would not be aware of those things beforehand. -For track/brisk driving there can be more overlapping of the IPSGA phases than usually taught by IAM.

ant man said:

For example, turning in when still hard on the breaks causes the unloaded tyre to lock up, i.e. left front and rear on a left hander.

Again, wouldn't that be something that you would learn (possibly the hard way, ahem) early on in your driving 'career'?

It may always be best to brake in a straight line, but it is not always possible, especially downhill. Then there are trail- and left-foot- braking... and down-shifting during braking..


Anyway, I initially learned much of this stuff by, erm, trial and error... and was lucky enough to have a track experience (XR3i and Formula Ford) at 18, which although didn't teach me much driving technique, did make me think that I possibly wasn't actually the natural successor to Nigel Mansell

Edited by MC Bodge on Tuesday 22 November 15:55

[ant man]

MC Bodge said:

ant man said:

The biggest thing I learnt was the effect of weight transfer on the balance and grip of the car. Also the importance of performing braking, gear changing, steering and throttle in the right order at the right time and in the right place in relation to one's position to a corner / bend.

With respect(and I'm not suggesting that I'm an expert at all, as I'm definitely not), and the track day sounds good, but I'm a little surprised that an M3 owner with an interest in driving would not be aware of those things beforehand. -For track/brisk driving there can be more overlapping of the IPSGA phases than usually taught by IAM.

ant man said:

For example, turning in when still hard on the breaks causes the unloaded tyre to lock up, i.e. left front and rear on a left hander.

Again, wouldn't that be something that you would learn (possibly the hard way, ahem) early on in your driving 'career'? It may always be best to brake in a straight line, but it is not always possible, especially downhill. Then there are trail- and left-foot- braking... and down-shifting during braking..

Anyway, I initially learned much of this stuff by, erm, trial and error... and was lucky enough to have a track experience (XR3i and Formula Ford) at 18, which although didn't teach me much driving technique, did make me think that I possibly wasn't actually the natural successor to Nigel Mansell

Edited by MC Bodge on Tuesday 22 November 15:55

Responces to your excellent points above.

The joys of written text. I was well aware of weight tranfer before but due to the massive speed increase and dynamics involved in track driving compared to road driving, the effects are exaggerated. I didn't appreciate the extent of the difference of weight transfer.

Yes, again my response would be to the context as in my reply above. I could have possibly articulated the finer points in my original post

One can usually straighten the braking sequence on a track. For road driving it doesn't matter so much as the speed is much lower.

Edited by ant man on Thursday 24th November 13:24

[Steve Rance]

You may need to brake hard and turn to avoid an accident on the road. How you apply the brake to threashold, turn whilst balancing the car on it's limit and bleed off again may save your - and maybe someone else's life. Driving to threashold is an Essential skill in my opinion and better learned on the track than the road.

Glad you got something from your day

[MC Bodge]

ant man said:

The joys of written text. I was well aware of weight tranfer before but due to the massive speed increase and dynamics involved in track driving compared to road driving, the effects are exaggerated. I didn't appreciate the extent of the difference of weight transfer.

That's fair enough. I suppose that we do all have different experiences. One of my early 'experiences' demonstrated oversteer on a wet surface that took me by surprise, quickly followed by lift-off oversteer, very quickly followed by ...CRUNCH. I was then lighter in the wallet and fully aware of the effects of weight transfer, poor obs and poor car control. I would not, however, recommend this method of learning and I am very much a reformed character .


Driving on dirt, gravel and wet grass is another good opportunity for learning, without having to go too fast.

I do think it is important to be able to know how to brake whilst turning.

In fact, do a lot of motorbiking and mountain biking (loose and technical), they're both great and you'll learn a lot.

Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 25th November 12:15

[Steve H]

You'd be surprised how many drivers, even regular trackdayers, don't have a proper grasp on weight transfer and how to use it to their advantage.

[Steve Rance]

You'd be surprised how many racing drivers can't do it either!

[Steve H]

I wouldn't, but I know what you are saying

[MC Bodge]

Steve H said:

You'd be surprised how many drivers, even regular trackdayers, don't have a proper grasp on weight transfer and how to use it to their advantage.

It's something I have to do on the motorbike (and whilst mountain biking) and I try to work on it whilst driving to help with smooth progress at road speeds. If I ever venture back on track it would hopefully stand me in good stead.