The first 3 min of this vid is funny, so I thought I'd share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYATHRk8NzU

 

You are driving the 350Z?

 

excuse me for the stupid question... but seeing that you actually have a right arm and right hand... why you don't use it?

 

Yup, that's me

 

You know you can only see 1/3 of the steering wheel, and you do know that the car is not an automatic, right?

 

I do hope that was an HPDE-1 beginner group...

 

That was the most advanced group of the day. Speedventures red run group.
That's why it's funny, first lap out on track and everyone is spinning out.

 

They might want to heat up their tires first. Or, drop down a group then.

 

They are all very good drivers. The track was colder then normal, and they should have heated up their tires better.

 

I'm not a track guy, but there do seem to be a lot of times when you are keeping your right hand on the shift **** between shifts.

 

look, take it easy and watch your own video.
I see that you do A LOT of turns with ONE hand and the left hand is holding the top of the steering wheel instead of being on the "left" side.
that's it.

 

That's cause when you run a 1:25 at the Streets you need something to hold on to

 

OK, that's all fine. I don't mean to jump on anyone. I guess I'm not sure what's up with the steering wheel fascination about this vid. It's the first few warm up laps. You guys see me pulling out of the hot pit. Don't worry everyone, I'm a very accomplished driver. When I need to use both hands on the wheel I will. I'll make you all a vid of my hand and foot use when I'm at ButtonWillow this weekend so you guys can point out my bad technique j/k, I've seen some pro drivers out there with only one arm too!

 

In SuperKool's defense... that track looks like one that really doesn't lend itself to good technique. Very auto-crossy.

 

Auto-crossy = bad technique???

 

Sorry... didn't mean to disparage autocross... but sections that are slow and tight and busy sometimes lead to poor/lazy technique.

I'm trying to give SuperKool the benefit of the doubt here.

 

Experienced drivers *should* note that the tires and track are cooler than normal, and (especially on lapping days) expect to take more time bringing their tire temps up to working temperatures. This is what I'm seeing with SuperKool: he is driving well within the car's capabilities and leaving (additional?) margin for error -- especially useful after he passed the Exige and had a bit of a "moment" coming out of turn 1 (at 5:05). There appears to be plenty of room to recover and still get back on-line for the next corner -- without slowing down that much.

As far as the track goes, one way to keep speeds down (and insurance costs down for the track owner) is to have a lot of turns that don't have a lot of straightaway before them. You still get the rush, but you're not seeing cars get into the 130+ MPH range except in rare spots.

I hope that the 370Z was OK -- it looked like he was going a LONG way, and that wall may not have been far enough away from the track to avoid contact.

 

Yes, the 370 driver was clear of the wall. This track (Streets of Willow) is very forgiving as far as tracks go. It's not a high speed track at all. Average speeds are around 60 mph. Top speeds are right around 100 to 110 or so at the end of the front straight.

These Cali guys are not used to the cool weather at the track I guess. I have some video from ButtonWillow that I'll post a little later. It's a much higher speed track and I'm using both hands most of the time, but I'm sure some of you will find some problems with my driving style

 

The only thing I'll say about it is this: any thing you do like that, even if it's on a warm up or cool down lap... your brain is remembering it. And subconsciously, it will revert back to it... or... if you don't do it at speed, your brain will be confused if it needs to do something subconsciously. If you've every had any decent instruction at all, you should have been told to "drive your line" even during warm up and cool down laps... this includes steering technique as well.

Additionally... if you have any desire to instruct, there's no worse example to set than keeping a hand on a shifter... whether in a straight line, or worse, while turning (no matter the speeds involved.)

This is not a flame... just trying to be constructive

 

Here are a couple of vids from this past weekend at ButtonWillow:
https://my350z.com/forum/autocross-r...ml#post8011834

If there is any one handed wheel action, I'm sure you all will find it