new goals

[wannabe]

In my winter boredom I am trying to set new goals for this season. I've done work on my car to solve fuel starvation in corners, am changing set up and want to improve my skills. Books to read? Practice heel to toe? New tires as opposed to used? What can I do to improve my skills and lower my lap times and what goals to set for this year. Ran a 1:39 at rd atl. very dissapointed but only 3rd race. Do I just need to be patient?Just looking for sound advice.

[RussMcB]

When you get back to your first event, see if you can positively identify where you are not as fast as the fast guys. It may be everywhere, but if you can tell that someone is faster than you thru, say T1 at Rd Atl, that gives you a measurement and goal. Of course, then you need to figure out if it's the car or driver.

During practice/qual sessions, find someone who is a little faster than you and try to stick on their tail. That will tell you where they can pull away.

Do you have data acquisition? I remember picking up speed when I overlayed my data and a fast guy's and saw I was not going near as fast as the car was able in spots.

Got in-car video? Put a fast guy in your car for 4-5 laps. You'll have video to compare, and they might say, hey, your car isn't doing such and such very well.

Joe Garner might be a good guy to touch base with. He's been doing well in FM in SEDiv. Good guy, friendly, lots of experience.

Yeah, patience is a part of it. You will definitely gain speed with more miles.

Good luck!

[wannabe]

Thanks Russ...good sound advice. I think I would like someone good to drive my car to see if its the car or me as you suggested. I do have data acquisition but don't know how to use it very well. Thats something else I could work on this winter. I do also have on board video but just got it up and running. I think part of the problem is just the lack of having a place to run the car aside from the race track. I need to find an abandoned airport and do some experimenting. Any place near Marrietta? I have spoken indirectly to Joe about car setup. He's been very helpful.

[RussMcB]

I don't think any kind of parking lot testing will help you get faster. We've done it a few times but just to make sure a new drive train was working. My hunch is you are just not familiar enough, or confident enough, to really find the ultimate side grip the car offers. I think that's the thing that really shows up in lap times - being able to go fast in the fast corners (like Rd Atl T1).

Do you already have data from your previous outings? What kind of system do you have? Find a FM racer with the same DA system (AIM, Pi, etc.) and ask for a file. If you can get that and overlay each driver's fast laps, it will be obvious where you (or the car) is losing time. It will also be good practice for getting comfortable with your DA software. That is a tool you want to get comfortable with soon because it can help you get faster faster. :-).

Even better: the next time you can go to a test day (like before a race weekend), have a FM hot shoe hop in your car for a few laps. Then you'll have an apples to apples comparison (in data and video), as well as good feedback about how your car is working. I can think of several good choices: Joe Garner, Kevin or Keith Roberts, Sam Lockwood, Curt Harrelson. Those guys have a lot of miles and experience.

It's a pain (and expensive) that the only good place to get faster is at the race track itself, but that's the way it is.

[wannabe]

I've got a PI system but have not become familiar with its operation. These Alabama boys I race with don't have them in their cars and don't race open wheel. I'm trying to digest the PI manual but need to run the car to find out how it works. I really appreciate your input. It makes alot of sense. I've spoken with Sam at length and believe him to be a good source for advice and parts and set up. Just logistics in the way. My car was starving bad in the corners because of a fuel problem, but hope to have that rectified so any pi info is may be a bit inadequate at this time. At 52 may just be my reflexes....

[rickb99]

......Ran a 1:39 at rd atl. very dissapointed but only 3rd race. Do I just need to be patient?Just looking for sound advice.

ALL of the advice Russ is giving you is VERY valid.

But I'd add that yes, you need to be patient while looking for the lap times.

I'm don't know Rd. Atl. 1st hand but it looks like the FM lap record there was set by Franklin Futrelle in 2008 at 1:26.22 (no indication of what version FM he had).

If your car is a 'standard' FM, a better comparision is Keith Roberts CFC lap record at 1:30. To be 9 seconds slower then that in only your 3rd race is actually pretty good.

We went through the 'learing curve' on speed in 2008/09 with a complete rookie to road racing in an 89 Reynard FC. It takes a good (reasonably spaced) 4 to 6 races to get comfortable in the car and find the pace. There was a rookie FM driver going through the same process when we were. He was WAY back from Jeff through 2008 races. Then in 2009 he caught on and it's now 'close' to the classic FC/FM dual of cornering versus a slight pull on the straights.

Remember, at 52, you have more common sense then somebody in their 20's so give yourself a little extra time to find that speed, safely. Seek out advice and it will come.

If you're having FUN that's what really counts.

A fuel starvation problem is most certainly costing you a LOTTA time. Hope you have that fixed.

Do NOT expect every time you go to the track to be faster. Speed comes in intervals as you find the 'magic'. Tires will be different, ambient temperatures will be different, track surface will be different. Lap times are relevant to the current weekend only. And speed is not a linear learning curve.

[Matthew Inge]

Id be happy to be the fast guy testing your car.

[VSeaber]

Come up to the March Memories at VIR in Early March- I'd be more than happy to sit down with you and go over the data system, car set up etc-- there are a lot of straightforward bits of info that I could share to make sure you are set up well.

Victor Seaber

[ric baribeault]

seat time and good tires. the better the tires, the better the feedback. also consider karting as a cheap way to improve your skills. i don't know anyone who didn't go faster after they added karting to their hobby list. driving a shifter fast is much more difficult than almost any open wheel car. also, patience is important. there are many variables to going fast. there's the car and there's you. both require time. it's hard to drive any car fast that has a bad setup and it takes seat time to learn what the car can do and what you need to to it to get it there. shocks in any car are extremely important. joe stimola provides 2 excellent quick reads on car and shock setup and theory. also have matthew test your car would be a big bonus

[TimW]

Don't just 'drive the car around.' Often times its easy to hit a plateau where the car feels good and you're pedaling as fast as you think you can around a corner and then you follow someone faster than you and realize the car can do more there. Try to ensure you 'raise the heartbeat' a bit in every corner, to ensure there is a little bit of a thrill, especially the slow ones where you spend the most time. If its comfortable, its slow...

[Raceworks]

Futrelle got the record in a standard FM. My cars have run in the low 1:26's as well. In ideal conditions with the top national driver & a good set up pole time is usually going to be in the 1:26-1:27 range, and competitive National times should be at least 1:28.

Fast regional times are in the 1:29-1:31 range, but like Rick said 1:39 isn't horrible if it's only your 3rd time in the car.

Some of my ideas:

1) Just work at trying to get the most seat time you can right now. If you're going to spend money on the car, spend it on making it more reliabile. To that end check for any play in the steering hub, including the delrin block the colum passes through, and in the quick-release for the steering wheel. You may need to replace the hub to do this, although sometimes you can fix the probelm with o-rings. You may not think that tiny bit of play in the steering wheel is hurting you, but I've noticed when the toe is off 1/32".

2) A lot of drivers don't understand how important seating position & seat quality is. Put those harnesses on TIGHT. You should have absolutely no lateral wiggle room for your torso. There is no way you are going to drive an open wheel car properly if you're flopping around the seat during hard cornering & braking. You have to be absolutely immobile during hard cornering & braking. If you aren't, it's going to significantly affect the inputs you make and consistency will be impossible. If you're new to this type of car, it will take while to figure this out. Even experienced drivers missed it sometimes. Three years ago I wasted half a test day chasing a brake problem that was actually a slightly loose lap belt.

3) If you're not particularly comptuter-savvy, I wouldn't mess with the data too much. If you can get a trackside helper, use them. Otherwise, try & find a camera set-up that you can use & won't break the bank. A camera can provide some of the best information you can get, especially if you can get an experienced driver to watch it with you.

4) Tire management is pretty important. Two mistakes new FM drivers do is either buy tires too often or run them far too long. Just bolting on a set of new tires every session isn't going to help anyone but the tire vendor. With a good set-up there's only about 1-2 second difference from new tires vs. good tires with 3 or 4 heat cycles on them. I prefer to test & practice on older tires because they give you a better picture of what the car will do late race even with new tires. If you are going to stretch a set of tires, you need to pay attention to the wear bars. Rotate the tires frequently (left to right), and flip the rears. My rule of thumb is that as long a there's tread left, you tend to get the tires are at their best in the 2nd to 3rd heat cycles, good from heat cycles 4 through 6, decent up to cycle 8 or 9, and drive at your own risk beyond that. I put dots or tally marks on the sidewalls to keep track.

5) I'll second that "parking lot" tests are pretty much useless. Even going to a chassis dyno might not help with some driveability problems, because they can't simlulate cornering loads.

By the way, did we meet at the 2009 ARRC?

[wannabe]

Yes we did meet. I was in the 04 car and came down to your pit. You helped me a good bit and all of your suggestions I've taken to heart beginning with the fuel starvation problem. I'm fixing a clutch fluid leak now and will move to replace my one belt setup to two (as you suggested)since the rules changed. Next is setup. I'm going to try and make Kershaw and then would like to drop my car off to you on my way back, or at least before Roebling so you can go over it for me. Jim Coman has been and will continue to be a big help. While he has a lot of mazda mechanical and race experience open wheel is new to him, so we both are asking questions and listiening to those in the know.

I really appreciate all the input from all of you on this issue, many of the suggestions reinforcing my gut instinct and other things I haven't thought about. Getting out of my comfort zone in corners is a must. I'm finding that confidence seems to be a big factor and that just comes with seat time...like skiing. Kudos to this website and thanks again guys. this is just so much damn fun!!!!!