Show Me Your Racing Machines

[NickR33]

Apparently some say i have an odd steering wheel technique... LOL not sure what they mean though... Judge for yourself!

not really your just a bit right hand dominant... when turning right you reach up with your right hand and pull the wheel down, which is fine (as you still have a hand on either side of the wheel)... however when you turn left you do the same thing, reach up with your right hand (to about 2 o'clock) then push the wheel over so that your right hand ends up almost all the way over to the left of the wheel

you just need to do the opposite when turning left... reach up with your LEFT hand and pull the wheel down... does that make sense?

anyway I'm no expert, just an observation... nice car, good work on chopping those Holdens!

[Beer Baron]

yep, seat and harness us the next step mate. you will be able to use your hands and feet for steering and working the pedals instead of hanging onto the wheel and bracing with knees etc to stop yourself sliding around. you definitely want to try and keep your hands fixed on the wheel. no feeding it through, watch vids of serious guys, unless you need more than 1 full turn (should never really unless you're in a massive slide) then your hands shouldn't move.

I would also suggest try some different gearing. you spend a lot of the bottom of the track in 2nd. try 3rd. it often feels slower as you are not revving the nuts off it but you can often gain some corner speed. worth trying, the stopwatch will tell you whether or not it's faster. you could certainly probably take turn 2 in 3rd and hold 3rd between 2 and 3 and 3 and 4, and maybe snatch 4th just going up the bridge or hold 3rd if need be. not sure what diff ratio you have though and of course that will affect things. from the S it'll be 3rd or 4th, then 3rd into the left hander before the flip flop with usually a short shift to 4th just before the flip flop then hold it flat over the top (depends on power of car and gearing of course) short shifting to 4th up before the flip flop just settles the car down and means you can hold it flat over the top or close to it. and then usually 2nd or 3rd coming onto the straight depending on how good the corner speed is.

[Marlin]

I can't really completely agree with Baron's thoughts of basically "must affix hands to the wheel". I think it's best to try and remain fluent at the wheel, if that means moving your hands around the rim a little then so be it. I'm a bit of a "shuffler" myself if you watch closely. Nothing staggering, just a bit. I'd rather shuffle than cross my arms though. I have also discovered that I have suprisingly more control when big sideways when shuffling than when I used to "not shuffle". Gee it's hard to explain!

Also, when you watch guys in real race cars, be it V8's/rally, whatever, they typically have much less wheel movement required than a road car, as their steering ratios are much much quicker. So, really, it's a little dangerous trying to copy a style thats used directly from a real racer.

[Beer Baron]

sorry I might have not explained properly. I didn't mean you need your hands glued to one place on the wheel and like I said you do need to move them when recovering from slides etc, but the main thing when starting out is it's best if you can to keep them pretty much where they are and not move position like ando does to get leverage over the wheel when approaching the corner. you need to do it to break bad habits. I know I did years ago. many people have that bad habbit of moving their hand over the wheel before a corner. it's not a good thing. you're right you do often need more lock in a road car than a dedicated track car F1 car etc. anyway I didn't mean watch vids of F1 drivers to get an idea of good technique, but serious drivers driving road based track cars on tracks we know. have look at berry for example.

once you get rid of the bad habits then you can work on a technique that suits. some guys will happily cross and uncross even in opposite lock, it's not really comfortable for me so I need to move grip, but you want to be entering a corner with your hands in the right place and adjusting a little if need be.

there is a big difference between 'shuffling' a bit and reaching one hand over to the other side of the wheel to join up with the other hand pre corner. I thought that is what we are talking about? generally hands stay near the 10/2 or even 9/3 mark for good control of the wheel. and sure if you need 2 turns of lock I don't expect someone to somehow mange to tie a double bow with their elbows! if you can do it though please teach me how!

[Beer Baron]

in fact the best advice I can give is don't listen to me at all and get along to have one of the NSW instructors in your car. they can quickly and easily tell you where your going wrong and correct it on the spot. and unlike me they know what they are talking about. I've always enjoyed instruction from aaron macgill so see if you can get along to one of his days. dean canto was good too but not sure how many private days he gets to as instructor atm.

[Marlin]

I nearly came back and deleted my last post because it's just impossible to not sound like some kind of tosser when giving advise on this subject.

I totally agree with Richard, after a good harness and seat, the best money you could spend is to get a professional instructor in your car with you. He/she can give you some good advice to where you may improve. Go with someone with a good reputation, as I've seen "driving instructors" that couldn't drive a greasy stick up a dog's arse, and I've even seen a couple write off client's cars. way not cool.

[N I B]

The Silvia has War paint now.

[kingscorp]

The Silvia has War paint now.

Wow, thats an awsome car!

[S13Deviat]

in fact the best advice I can give is don't listen to me at all and get along to have one of the NSW instructors in your car. they can quickly and easily tell you where your going wrong and correct it on the spot. and unlike me they know what they are talking about. I've always enjoyed instruction from aaron macgill so see if you can get along to one of his days. dean canto was good too but not sure how many private days he gets to as instructor atm.

Nah i appreciate all feedback Richard! But yes i have ahd instructors in the car before but it has been more orientated around the car driving ability itself, more than concentrating on steering input/control... Will hit one up next time

I nearly came back and deleted my last post because it's just impossible to not sound like some kind of tosser when giving advise on this subject.

I totally agree with Richard, after a good harness and seat, the best money you could spend is to get a professional instructor in your car with you. He/she can give you some good advice to where you may improve. Go with someone with a good reputation, as I've seen "driving instructors" that couldn't drive a greasy stick up a dog's arse, and I've even seen a couple write off client's cars. way not cool.

Again nah, you didnt sound like a dick at all Marlin, sound advice which is appreciated. Nothign worse than someone giggling at your style and not being able to explain and assist!

In light of all this i think it actually has helped me figure out exactly what i THINK I am doing and why!

I have had a very decent break in my left arm/wrist and thus is quite a lot weaker than my right, SO, as someone mentioned, i could be sub-conciously compensating for it and pushing down with my right hand.... also my seat isnt the best... the 32 GTR seat leans back a little so i think i am trying to stablisise myself not only left and right, but front to back as well..... So new seat and try and figure out a new techinque for left handers

Cheers again dudes! Appreciate the feedback!

Anywho back on track...........

NOICE car N I B

[Marlin]

The Silvia has War paint now.

I lyke, is niiiice! (Borat)

[phunky_monkey]

The Silvia has War paint now.

Looks fantastic, very nice indeed!

[Beer Baron]

I nearly came back and deleted my last post because it's just impossible to not sound like some kind of tosser when giving advise on this subject.

agreed you do sound like a tosser. hehe. nah you're right, it's even harder to critique from where i'm sitting on a rock with a greasy stick squarely up my dogs arse! I felt the same, after I posted that stuff it made me sound like a bit of a wanker.

but the real improvements will come with good seat and harness. once you have those you may find you drive completely differently out of the box. the first time you get out onto the track in a proper race seat and 4 point (6 point better) 3 inch harness you will be amazed and what a different feeling it is. your bum knows what the car is doing and your body stays in one place. you literally feel like you're driving the car with fingertips and toes. after that you'll be spoilt, everytime you get out on a track with a road car seat and belt you'll be reminded of how awful it is!

[Beer Baron]

silvia looking good too.

[phunky_monkey]

after that you'll be spoilt, everytime you get out on a track with a road car seat and belt you'll be reminded of how awful it is!

Too true, one of the best investments you can make for a track car in my opinion.

I always think the money should be spent on seats, harnesses, steering wheels and to a lesser extent your gearknob as you're using them constantly and they can have a big impact on how your car feels. Well it does for me anyway!

[Marlin]

Yes, enough emphasis can't be put on how important being properly strapped into the car is.

My mate Johnny O (a member on here) is a great steerer, but sitting beside him around Lakeside recently in his roady 32 GTR on sticky tyres I can really see how his driving is severly compromised by the standard seat and belt. He is forced to brace himself however he can, usually straight-arming in the longer corners which means he just can't adjust his line with his hands, on the throttle.

He didn't realise just how bad it was until I highlighted it to him, now he's on the hunt for a seat he can bolt in the night before the track day. A simple taxi bar can be made up and bolted to the upper seatbelt pivot points for the harness too

I'll be interested in seeing his lap times once he doesn't need to spend half his energy just hanging on! lol

[S13Deviat]

Thanks again dudes! Well i have 1 round left of Interclub supersprints for the year, so will make do for that, then in the New Year look into a seat. I currently run a 3" 4 point harness which is good over stock seat belt, but i still move around in the stock 32 gtr seat....

[Beer Baron]

harnesses with stock seats help a bit with movement but they are dangerous. particularly if you back it into a wall as you will find the seat back snaps very easily and you are now sitting in the backseat! or where the back seat used to be. or squered by something. in other accidents as well the back can snap and the belts only stop you going fowards, any other type of accident and it could be bad. having said that the stock belt is not really better but at least it's not putting downward pressure on the seat back at all.

definitely make a seat the next thing when budget allows. not just to improve times and feel, but it's a massive improvement in safety over 20yo standard seats...

[Roy]

Weak as camel's piss, all this talk of seats and harnesses. Guys were going way quicker then us in the 60s back when sex was safe and motorsport was dangerous

[hrd-hr30]

I'm with Richard. Hands in the one spot on the wheel unless it goes really wrong. Admittedly this is easier with the faster steering ratio my old Supra had, but I still don't feel the need to change hand position even in my totally recalcitrant Sil80, whether its dealing with the understeer in the middle of carousel or the oversteer everywhere else...

There are some exceptions, like the hairpin at Mt Cotton hillclimb, but on racetracks you should be right to keep your hands in the same position.

[Beer Baron]

!!!! someone agrees with me. I'm shocked. don't worry I won't let it go to my head.

nice vid harry. nice driving too and demonstrates the technique well. you would be hard pressed to catch at least one of those 'moments' if your hands had been together on the wheel.

anyway, very nice vid mate. taming the beast! it really does want to slide. lol, front end mid corner, rear end corner exit! can you fit 235s on the front too? that may help with the understeer a bit but I guess it's just one of those things that needs dialling out with set-up/suspension work. my silvia is a bit like that too and it's set-up is fairly drift biased with some cheap hard as fk coil-overs, but itss getting there too. now if only I could drive as well as I talk.....