THSCC Forums

I have been thinking of ways to keep the classroom material fresh and have an idea I would like to bounce off folks. Feel free to weigh in regardless of your experience level.

Would folks be interested in a session, for the green and yellow groups, going over a car highlighting what should be looked at before going on track and then again after a session?

This would not just be a chalk talk but I'd use a car for demonstration (my car or some unsuspecting souls!). Pull a wheel to talk about brakes, pop the hood to point out how and where to check fluids, torque wheel nuts using a torque wrench.

Yes, I know to those that have experience this is all standard boring stuff but I certainly didn't know all what to do when I first started.

In any event, that is my idea. Please do let me know what you think or even pass along ideas on what you would like to see that I don' presently cover.

Thanks and see you all at RR!

Ron

I think that would be a good idea Ron. Having only done 2 HPDEs I know there are things that I should look for that I am not. Maybe you could include a "check list" also that would include everything you should look at BEFORE you get in the car. Kind of like a aircraft check list.

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Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

Ron

I'd even suggest a variation of that for the Intermediate/Advanced students. Something to the effect of reading wear patterns on tires and brake pads, talk about tire pressures/tire temperatures, effects of camber/caster/toe. All of these would be effective teaching tools with added bonus of a real live car as a visual aid.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

A good start for the less experienced among us could take place before the event. A comprehensive track packing check list might be nice to get a couple of weeks prior to the event. Maybe even a prefered advanced reading list.
Having just changed computers, I seem to have temporarily misplaced my track check list. I did a quick search using "track checklist + torque wrench" (to get rid of all those pesky runners and cyclist). I found that the regular track Tech-check list which we require is good, but the more detailed lists include personal needs and recommended spares. I almost always forget lawn chairs (sometimes there just isn't room) so expect me to come round visiting if you have a spare chair.
Charlie Guthrie

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

got extras charlie, just let me know at patriot (my next thscc). and ron that is a great idea. i have helped arrange a for a lot of 1st time focus drivers to do track days. their amount of angst pre event is evident.

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they misunderestimated me.

I think even talking abou the effects of tire pressure variations and the effects would be good for the advance students.

There is definitely some good reading on Coco's page:
http://www.trackschedule.com/wisdom3.html
http://www.trackschedule.com/wisdom10.html

I forwarded a list Mike Whitney put together (some his some from a BMW page) to Mark Vitacco and I'm told it is now on or linked to from the TT page.

Ron it's been years since I've been able to sit in on an entire classroom that you do, so here's some random thoughts. For all I know you might be doing some of this already.

- Damage Control on track. What I mean is, let's say you round South Bend and there's a pylon, or someone's muffler, in the middle of the track. What do you do?

- What to do if you and your in-car instructor don't hit it off so well.

- Where to throw money at the car (I'd say safety and brakes first personally)

- Practicing on the street. No, of course I don't mean driving at 10 10ths on your way to IBM. I mean looking ahead, practising your heel-toe, being aware of your surroundings.

- Driving a track without using the cones as landmarks. Try and find stuff to use as landmarks that doesn't get moved every weekend, or mowed down by errant Integras on their way into the grass.

- What you do with your hands and thinking ahead. Best way I can think of to describe it by example. Had a student at VIR who just couldn't get Oak Tree right. You know, the whole turn in, brake, downshift to 2nd gear thing does get kinda busy. Well I noticed the problem was his hands. So well before turn-in, I had him put his left hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. That way when he made the downshift to 2nd gear basically at turn-in, his left hand was there to initiate the turn and normal shuffle steering ensued. Completely fixed his problems in Oak Tree. I use that one a lot actually.

Most of the other pearls I've got in my pocket are in-car tricks that I don't think would work in a classroom. Come to think of it, I think I'll start a parallel thread looking for suggestions for in-car instructors. I did this many moons ago on honda-tech and got some good feedback:

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=154839

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)