It's an old saw, but tightening up the nut behind the wheel is probably the cheapest and fastest way to get faster.
Photography by Dave Green
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It’s no secret that track time is more accessible and even more affordable than ever. But time spent on track isn’t always time spent improving–and if improvement is your goal, then structured training should be part of your plan.
Behind nearly every great athlete is a great coach–or even several great coaches. And while elite athletes are typically gifted with outstanding skill and discipline, they will always lack the clinical objectivity required to fully assess their performance.
The same goes for race car drivers. Here are a few good arguments in favor of engaging a driving school or coach if you want to improve behind the wheel.
Yes, you can get an objective measure of performance from data collection, but a truly objective analysis of that data can only come from a party who doesn’t live in your own brain. We humans are not always great at delivering hard truths to ourselves.
Much of high-performance driving boils down to problem solving: trying to execute a physical task within a highly structured set of limitations. And when it comes to solving a problem, two heads are often better than one. A good coach should be adept at recognizing your current level and getting you to progress from there, not along an arbitrary set of progression guidelines.
Much like objectivity, having a separate perspective to keep us honest and realistic about our current abilities is invaluable. Humans are masters of rationalization, and sometimes hearing that you failed and seeing conclusive evidence of why and how to fix it is way better than that subconscious defense mechanism of convincing yourself that everything is fine.
Drilling can be one of the least pleasant parts of athletic training, but it’s also a fantastic way to build the brain and muscle memory needed to execute common tasks effectively. Drilling is also important in driver training, whether you’re working on brake release, turn-in speed or even eye movement. Having a third party run you through these techniques in a controlled, repetitive way can be far more beneficial than drilling on your own, which can frequently become unfocused.
Your coach or instructor has lived an entirely separate life from yours and has their own library of on-track experiences to draw from. Having access to that sort of knowledge can be a huge benefit while you’re learning unfamiliar techniques that are routine for them.
Yes, seeing times improve on a stopwatch is satisfying, but sometimes it’s not as motivating as receiving praise from a colleague or an objective analysis of the improvement.
It's an old saw, but tightening up the nut behind the wheel is probably the cheapest and fastest way to get faster.
I had the recent pleasure of having one on one instruction with data to help sort the car and driver recently. It was amazing. I shaved over a second off my personal best at Gingerman with technique and another second the following day with car setup changes done the night before. So yeah.... getting that personal one on one is definitely worth the money if you want to better yourself!
Robertson Racing, basically Scott Robertson of GLTC and One Lap "fame" knows his E36 M3.
I thought the caption on the lead image was a Subaru joke at first.
When I was racing, I bought a day with the champion of my spec class. It wasn't cheap, but it definitely shaved time off my laps.
Also, if you race or drive at VIR and want to get faster, Google "Peter Krause".
Instruction cuts more time per dollar than any mod I have ever seen, plus, you can "install" it on the next car.
Any novice who asks about mods, I tell them to buy their safety gear first (Helmet and HANS is the minimum), then add up their mod budget for coilovers, tires, wheels, etc etc and spend that much on coaching, THEN go buy the mods. THe skills learned will make the benefit of future car mods even greater.
All true and worth it. Slowest part of any car is the driver. Upgrade it.
DaleCarter said:Instruction cuts more time per dollar than any mod I have ever seen, plus, you can "install" it on the next car.
Any novice who asks about mods, I tell them to buy their safety gear first (Helmet and HANS is the minimum), then add up their mod budget for coilovers, tires, wheels, etc etc and spend that much on coaching, THEN go buy the mods. THe skills learned will make the benefit of future car mods even greater.
like all good things, it's best experienced in moderation. One thing that good coaches know is you can only teach somebody so many things at a time. Its difficult when you're right seat in the car because you want to point out every mistake but often times your best to work on one or two things at a time, master them, learn to apply them to every spot on track, then learn another 1-2 skills.
so here is a question for folks
if you could choose a structured track driving experience that is designed to teach people that follows a playbook re-enforcing specific things that people need to get better at OR... personalized coaching.
for example, assuming all things are equal a 2 day evo school is around $650 for the weekend, is it better to do that or hire a coach for a day (I have no idea what a driving coach charges for a day)
and before you say "it depends" instead say "it depends on what..." what students would benefit most from each approach.
ClearWaterMS said:if you could choose a structured track driving experience that is designed to teach people that follows a playbook re-enforcing specific things that people need to get better at OR... personalized coaching.
for example, assuming all things are equal a 2 day evo school is around $650 for the weekend, is it better to do that or hire a coach for a day (I have no idea what a driving coach charges for a day)
and before you say "it depends" instead say "it depends on what..." what students would benefit most from each approach.
It depends on the experience level of the student. Newer students have a lot to learn (everything in the case of a first-timer) and can thus be served well with an "off the shelf" standard course of instruction. A more experienced driver will likely have uneven levels of skill in different areas, and will thus benefit more from a personalized approach. That's not to say the individual coach won't work for the new student, but it's likely more expensive than is necessary.
My coach charges about a grand a day plus expenses.
Also 'coaching' is such a wide range. The average dude at a HDPE might be able to help you fix the big stuff, but you'll only get so far with broad pointers. OTOH if you're talking about a pro who can sit down with you between sessions and go over data with you, that's probably worth a lot more. I feel like I'm where I need to start getting serious about data in order to see where to improve. I don't really need the traction circle explained again.
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