Driving Feedback Thread

These days especially it's hard to get any in car instruction, and I've seen a few people post videos asking for feedback, so I thought it might be useful to have one place where folks can ask for help or weigh in.

This video is from Sonoma last weekend, which was my 4th ever track day. This was my 3rd session, so I was starting to feel like I knew where the track went at least and could make changes from lap to lap to improve. I was driving my 1992 Miata with no real power mods, but pretty good suspension (FM Fox coilovers, poly with bronze bearings, good alignment) and Continental ECS tires. I had a hard time getting the uphill section into turn 2 right, since I needed to downshift at some point, and on this lap I didn't stay far enough to the left through turn 3 to get a really good run through 3a - anything else obvious to anyone (other than hitting the rev limiter heading into turn 9)?

https://youtu.be/wPpPHPMB_Aw

For someone on their 4th track day ever you're doing fine. Your hand position is good you're not making any sharp inputs. Your lines are good and where they're not you know it.

The one thing I do see is you are driving from point to point as opposed to letting the momentum of the car carry you from entrance to apex to exit; read your car is hooked up everywhere as opposed to drifting through corners.

With that said it's your 4th event ever so I wouldn't expect you to have those skills yet and if you did try to skate the car through the corners at your current experience level you'd probably crash the car. 

Given there isn't a lot of runoff room in most corners at Sonoma it's not a place to send it. You'll need to inch up to it.

Keep doing what you're doing and continue to analyzing your video. You just need seat time. You are doing well for a guy with 4 track days.

Good idea for a thread, and you're doing great for your 4th track day.  I don't know that track but just a few general observations.  You paid for the whole track, go ahead and use it.  You missed a few apexes and in general you had more room for track out than you used.  This is usually a consequence of not looking far enough down the track, which doesn't feel natural at first.  Before you get to turn-in you should be looking at apex.  Before you get to apex you should be looking at track-out.  The other area you can probably pick up a lot of time is braking zones; read up on threshold braking.  Also there are very few places you should be using maintenance throttle in a stock powered Miata on most tracks.  Most tracks you're either standing on the throttle or standing on the brake.

These two things (eyes up and braking) are hard skills to master, even really experienced drivers need to work hard on them.  Just keep turning laps, they'll come.  Work hard to drive a perfect line every lap, even if it means going slower. Warm up, cool down, yellow flag... they all count.

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

You paid for the whole track, go ahead and use it. 

One of the best things an instructor ever told me was to use the whole track even if you're not going fast enough to need it. Because eventually you will be going fast enough to need it and you don't want to be constantly relearning the line as you get faster. Plus knowing how much space is available makes it that much easiet to know how much faster you could be going.

Who did you run with at Sonoma? Link?

Thanks, that was all really helpful feedback. I did have a few laps where I did some things better and a lot of laps where I did worse, but having the video and overlay is super useful (and fun). This is the first time I've managed to get the GoPro and RaceChrono both working, but I forgot to change the battery before the last session where I had my most consistent and fastest laps. Next time.

GTwannaB this was actually the performance driving course through the Sears Point Racing Experience - it's pretty expensive as far as track days go, but it's a small group and I felt like the instructors were helpful. I was in a group with a pair of almost new GT3s and a Cayman GT4 - so I was slightly outclassed in a straight line, at least. 

In reply to cmcgregor (Forum Supporter) :

Having cars leave you down the straights makes you work harder on the corners; it's a good thing.