Re: Learning to Brake well (long)

[gwells@xxxxxxx]

Someone in a 318ti (Sorry I deleted the digest before grabbing your
name and address) wrote in about wanting to learn how to brake well.
The best advice has already been offered which is seat time.

I want to go past that in terms of what has helped me...

You have heard that you can do 1 maybe 2 things wrong and be OK, but
almost never 3.  Spinning/off course is not a bad thing in my mind if you
were exploring
slightly higher limits rather than doing obviously stupid stuff.
Remember to only change 1 thing per session to learn from that adjustment.
BTW, Solo 1 events are a great place to explore since there is basically
one car on the track at a time.

I purposely disabled my ABS this past summer to learn to really brake in a
controlled
fashion.  It has brought me to a new level.  I obviously locked up the
tires a few times until
I learned the technique.  My lap times have dropped by over 2 seconds.  I
enable the ABS on rainy days.

Finally, braking is not just to slow down.  It settles the car in many
instances such that combined
with the proper smooth steering inputs and movement back to acceleration
the car can be
placed on a line that will lead to much quicker lapping.

Final example...In Sept (BMW school, A group) I had a goal of taking turn 1
at Road Atlanta at 90mph.  The quickest I had taken it was 85 at a Solo 1
in August.  My instructor and I took the corner at 85mph numerous times,
but once at close
to 90 we experienced a bit of 4 wheel drift so we backed off to 85.  Sunday
comes around and I'm motoring
Solo on my 2nd session.  I attempt 90 again, but this time I slowed from
120 to 90 with a different braking
point which allowed me to carry just above 90 into turn 1.  I spun...  The
spin was kept on the track and I reversed
to a safe point until the flagman waved me back on.  I went to the pits and
discussed what happened with the
chief and my instructor, finished the session with no more moments.  My
instructor thought it was the loss
of his 200lbs in the passenger seat, the chief felt it was me not
accelerating hard enough up the hill to plant
the E30 rear end.  After now consistently achieving 90mph through turn 1, I
now know it was the transition between
my braking and getting back under hard acceleration that caused the rear to
become unsettled.

I feel I had to spin to learn that.  It was unfortunate that it was at a
driver school and in hind sight I should have
saved my exploring at that high a limit to a Solo 1 event.  Learning the
nuances of high speed driving requires
exploring.  The smoothness that people talk about is key, but its the
combination of braking, acceleration,
and steering input that smoothness encompasses.

Disclaimer, the turn 1 scenario works with my car and its
capabilities...your car will handle differently.

Grant
gwells@domain.elided
'87 E30...

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