A quick update to our post below about apparent driver smoothness.
Thanks to reader "Flange Paffet" over at JustGoFaster (one of the best sites on the planet) again from the 2006 24hour race at Spa, here are the qualifying laps of Luca Moro and Wolfgang Kaufmann, both in Porsche 996 GT3 RSR.
In the first clip you can see that Moro is a much smoother, cleaner driver although it is clear that the 996RSR needs a lot of attention.
Kaufmann, here in an extended version of the clip in the older post, is flailing away, he is missing gears (well, more like selecting the wrong gear on the sequential). He does not get Eau Rouge right until the last pass in the video... but in the end he is a MASSIVE 5 seconds faster than Moro.
enjoy
Ok, after several discussions with BadBadm about this subject, I have to agree that there is a difference between DE smooth and Race smooth. That is one of the BIG WOW's that struck me when I started racing.. There is NO LINE when you are racing! All you do is manage grip. Now this does require a lot more steering correction than a standard DE line. I have seen some folks do a lot of steering corrections while driving in a straight line. Not sure if this is such a good idea. Every steering input that you make slows down the vehicle. So while I agree that feeling for traction, and making micro adjustments to the car is what is required while driving at high limits in cars that are stiffly sprung and react very quickly, I do think that some folks take this to an extreme, and it becomes a determent to speed....
ReplyDeleteMo
It might be worth noting that what needs to be smooth is the contact patch... no matter what flailing is going on in the cockpit, if the tires do not know about it then its a job well done.
ReplyDeleteIn some cars (the 996 GT3 comes to mind) that means moving the wheel fast and working the pedals to KEEP the tires smoothly attached to the road. My M3, on the other hand, is a graceful slider that does not like much abruptness on any input and can produce dramatic results from just a little too much of any one.
So the absolute answer... is to refill my drink and read the next post.