I have Created this Post to help drivers by suggesing drills that can help improve car handling. I also have some Team training methods that will help just about any driver and will also help with Understanding the car and the effects of tuning.
DrillsBasic Car Control (No TCS, STM or ABS / Manual YES)
Line up a couple corners before the longest straight and practise getting all the way up the
gear box and back dow to first with out locking up the brakes Wheel spinning or over revving the engine. These drills are also really good to practise on your own at the nurburing with that massive straight just go up and down the straight - boring as heck but I tell you what it teaches you a lot about your car and your technique). If you want to refine your braking even more then againg at nurburging use the straight, Drive up to the bridge and turn it round. Start under the bridge like it was a drag race. Only go as far up the gearbox as you would in a race (for example if it was the Spec Series 7 car (audi) then only go to the top of 5th gear) practise holding that gear pick your braking spot and aim to stop between the 2 white linesabout a mile down the track. I have shown this with the
yellow box bellow. once you get more confident then aim for the
red box. The Red box is any where between the Red Rumble strip on the Left side. Remember to not lock the brakes and use the Gears to help slow the car down quicker. I would recomend doing this with the 3 different transmitisson types: Front wheel drive, Rear Wheel drive and All wheel Drive.
Braking Drills at NurburingCornering"You wanna flaten the corner" or "Take the racing line" both of these expressions have helped me a lot and the image below explains it quiet well. There is the Geometric Apex and the Racing apex. The geometric Apex is the Middle of the corner. The Racing Apex is usually just past it.
A lot of tracks have cones around them, Serbring and Silverstone pop to mind. There are cones on the outside of the corner this is the corner Entry cone. The point at which you would start to turn into the corner. The cone on the GEOMETRIC apex and then another cone on the outside of the track, this is the exit cone and is where the car should be ending up if you hit the geometric apex. The Racing line is normally to aim just PAST the cones.
This brings me on to what I consider to be crutial part of improving driving technique and overall speed.
Eye lineLots of people (me included) do not lok far enough down the track especially if its a long straight or quick chicane. try to look around the next corner. See the image below, Picture paints a...... wel you know the rest.
Know the Track (Driving line OFF / TCS, ABS & auto on)
I use a low powered car (C550 Mini) that is easy to drive. I want to concentrate on the track NOT the car sliding and understeering because its hard to drive.
This drill is used by just about all top racers everytime they go back to a circuit. I still do it and I have raced at most tracks in forza2. It rally helps you focus on the job ahead and to remember tricky sections.
Go to the track you are racing at (do this a min 3 days before the race) GO SLOW, travel slowly around the track look at all the corners. You are looking for the straightest line around the track and through the corners in general.
Corner Entry - look at the corner from as far afway as possible, look at where the turn in might be try to think about where you might want to brake and start the turn in. If you need to stop and have a look do so then back up a little and have a go at the corner. Take note of any odd bumps that might push you off line.
Look for the apex - The apex is the point of the corner where the Car need to be furthest to the inside of the track before you start to exit the corner. Find the Geometric apex first because this is always the safe option and a good place to start. then progress to finding the racing Apex and line.
Find you corner exit - When you hit the apex look for the exit. Or the entrance for the next corner if they are close together. Continue going round the circuit till the lines start to stick in your mind.
Team Drills (Pairs)(Assists as you would in the race)
Warm up - Get in a lobby together for 10 laps (not at Nurburing) run apart from each other get used to the car and track.
Watch the "Teacher" This time the Student is going to spectate from the lobby while the Teacher drives 5 perfect laps. The student should have the telemetry on and be looking at the Throttle and Brake controls. its important to watch from the view you normally use (I recommend driving in the bumper or hood view because you get more responce and feel for what the car is doing. It takes a little while to get used to but it will make you faster in the long run)
Watch the "Student" - Do as above but this time the "teacher" is going to watch the "student". Try to watch for 2 laps and then work on improving the line and brake points, the speed will then come naturally.
Repeat Warm up
Repeat Watch the "Student"
Before making drastic changes to the set-up of the car the driver need to be consistent. you cant tune the car if every time you take a corner the line is different because you effectively won't be testing the changes.
Once the consistancey is there then work todether to get the car working better for that specific track.
Using the above method is a great way to datalog a tune but that is a different chapter all together. Once FM3 comes out and I know more about the telemetry then I will finish the Pairs Tuning BOOK that I havve been writing.
I hope the above information will HELP ALL DRIVERS. Go Luck.
