trackdays

DwD 0370:  Overdriving vs. Underdriving

When trying to improve as a driver there are many instances where the same driver can be overdriving their car and at other points on the track can be underdriving.  In addition, the best of us also can have areas where we do one or the other and our lap times area adversely affected.  For this episode, we talk about some indications of a driver under driving their car and other indications where the driver driving the car.  While people grow in their driver education and skills, most will have a personality predisposition towards one side of the spectrum generally.  We use this episode of DwD to try to explain the jargon and help you determine where and when you may be under or over driving and some things to do to continue to improve.

A link to the episode is: https://tiny.one/OvervsUnderDriving

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We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS  Are you are looking to stream or save your integrated telemetry/racing data with video? Candelaria Racing Products Sentinel System may be the perfect solution for you.  We are in the midst of installing the system in two of our cars.  If this sounds like something that may help you and your team, please use our discount code "GHIT". This will give 10% discount code to all our listeners during the checkout process.

PS2  If you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, do not forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems.  Please enter the code “ghitlikesapex!”. You will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40.

Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Alan, Jeremy, and Bill

Hosts and Drivers for the Garage Heroes In Training team

Bremspunkt, Ideallinie, Fahrerlager und Rundenzeiten bedeuten für sie alles, auch wenn manche Motorradfahrer der Zeitenjagd auf dem Rundkurs wenig abgewinnen können. Das Hobby "Rennstrecke" mag teuer sein, verlangt aber deshalb noch lange nicht nach einem superteuren, modernen 200 (plus X) PS Bike. Worin aber liegt die Faszination? Wie können auch Anfänger stressfrei in das Gemisch aus Benzin und WD40 reinschnuppern? Sollte man für die Kosten eines Rennwochenendes nicht einfach einen deutlich längeren Urlaub genießen? Kann jeder bei einem der zahlreichen Cups mitfahren? Derlei Fragen (und mehr) beantworten PS-Volontär und Racetrack-Aficionado Mario Steffen und Hobby-Racerin Alisa Bielicke im Gespräch mit Reiseredakteur und MOTORRAD-Podcaster Ferdinand Heinrich-Steige. In der Folge geben wir zudem Empfehlungen für preiswerte Track-Tools und Tipps für die erste Fahrt.

Bremspunkt, Ideallinie, Fahrerlager und Rundenzeiten bedeuten für sie alles, auch wenn manche Motorradfahrer der Zeitenjagd auf dem Rundkurs wenig abgewinnen können. Das Hobby "Rennstrecke" mag teuer sein, verlangt aber deshalb noch lange nicht nach einem superteuren, modernen 200 (plus X) PS Bike. Worin aber liegt die Faszination? Wie können auch Anfänger stressfrei in das Gemisch aus Benzin und WD40 reinschnuppern? Sollte man für die Kosten eines Rennwochenendes nicht einfach einen deutlich längeren Urlaub genießen? Kann jeder bei einem der zahlreichen Cups mitfahren? Derlei Fragen (und mehr) beantworten PS-Volontär und Racetrack-Aficionado Mario Steffen und Hobby-Racerin Alisa Bielicke im Gespräch mit Reiseredakteur und MOTORRAD-Podcaster Ferdinand Heinrich-Steige. In der Folge geben wir zudem Empfehlungen für preiswerte Track-Tools und Tipps für die erste Fahrt.

On this Episode, Anand Dharamraj from Indimotard tells us why motorcyclists should attend a track day and how it helps improve your riding skills be it on road or the track.

John Lavin joined us from the Safety 3rd Motorsports racing team for a great discussion of his racing and team history, including how his background in racing snowmobiles, motorcycles, and snowboarding has led to and helped with his racing cars.  His team started with an initial car that was intended for Lemons but ended up being a second gen Supra that was better fitting into an episode of Better Call Saul and ended up in ChampCar and started with the usual issues and tremendous stories as his team grew.  The team is currently running in several ChampCar events each year, as well as several other organizations in multiple divisions. 

We are hoping to talk John into letting us attend one of their upcoming races to learn more, if they will have us.  Please follow them on Instagram at Safety3rdMotorsports. 

In our Dominating with Dawson segment, we go into racing in the rain and while some complain, it’s really actually better in many ways for learning and definitely should not be skipped or avoided.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast
and team members in the GHiT
Immature Endurance Racing Team

Highlights from the episode include:

1)  Sharing the pain of herding cats as the team manager’s primary role.
2)  It appears John's path is similar to Bill’s, just executed much better.
3)  VIR gets another big endorsement, and it wasn’t from Ben this time.
4)  First race stories for the team, a true 24-hour race at VIR.
5)  Why they eventually switched from a Supra to a BMW to the annoyance of all the Fast and Furious fans.
6)  Racing is really a situation of management by crisis, we agree and couldn’t have said it any better.
7)  Several discussions on the differences and benefits of a racing school, as compared to HPDE’s and track days.
8)  A comparison of ChampCar and the Lemons series, with a bit about AER as well.
9)  How the teams racing philosophy has changed as they have become faster and a bit more competitive.
10)  A very good discussion on transitioning a team from having run racing a car to racing to compete.  A challenge our team is likely approaching.
11)  We offer our excellent BBQ rub and BBQ sauce for some of their secret sauce, so far to no avail, lol.
12)  Practicing at track days vs learning from an instructor and several other benefits of instruction.
13)  A discussion on the various aspects of car control, what it is and several techniques that can be used to improve it.
14)  The everlasting rumor of Lime Rock closing has reached Vicki for the first time.
15)  John even sneaks in a discussion of the modern style racing line for Lime Rock.
16)  Since John’s team races an E36, we can't help but discuss some of his thoughts on the E36 setups and even more importantly how to evaluate and develop them for yourself or when using a shop to assist.
17)  We even went into more depth around tire temperature and tire pressure and tire selection.
18)  A dual team meetup is preliminarily in the works and sounds like it will be great fun!  Still working on the Baja road trip invitation though.  Lol.
19)  Bill tries to talk John into lowering his standards and joining us for a race or for weekend racing fun.  Still TBD to see if John is capable of making a decision that bad.
20)   John was even gracious in acknowledging our difficulty with the rear hub bearing a few weeks back.  We may even be able to replace the control arm Bill broke after our quarantine ends.
21)  Towards the end, we even went into team HPDE and team bonding ideology that are helpful to all levels of teams.

Keith Tanner who has literally written the book on improving the performance of a Miata, actually three books, and works with the team at Flyin’ Miata joined us for this episode to discuss his driving history and he was also willing to add to our recent series on the “Usual Suspects” and addresses many aspects of the use and optimization of all four generations of Miata’s/MX-5’s.  Since we have two MX-5’s on our team already and we are routinely passed by them at every race and HPDE event we have been to, we could not have this series without going over them.  The MX-5/Miata is one of the more flexible racing vehicles available and with little modification, it can be competitive in many types of racing, as well as being a perfect choice for HPDE and track days.  Additionally, the cost for wear and maintenance is quite low in terms of both cost and frequency, due to its light weight and the wide availability of parts. 

 

Our Dominating with Dawson segment goes over the term Trail Braking, what it is and how it can be used on a track as you increase your skill and experience.

 

We hope you enjoy this episode. 

 

Please subscribe to our podcast on iOS most use the Podcast app or Android users may use the Android App, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher etc.  We have also added this to our YouTube channel, especially useful with subtitles if you are hearing impaired, as several of our drivers are. 

 

If you could leave a review, that would help us greatly and you can also add any questions or topics you may want us to cover.

 

Thank you again and best regards,

 

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan
Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast
and team members in the GHiT
Immature Endurance Racing Team

 

Highlights include:

1)  How to choose which version of Miata depending on what your interests are and/or how your personal geometry needs may require, including potential to LS swap

2)  History of the Miata, how it came to be and how its racing pedigree arose and developed throughout the 30 plus years of production

3)  We mention Long Road Racing during the episode, but they have been recently replaced by Flis Performance for ND prepped cars for the Global MX-5 Cup Series

4)  How did Keith originally get into Miatas, including his gateway drug called Autocross and how he has expanded his interests and testing though the years

5)  How Flyin’ Miata develops and designs its parts internally and with its suppliers to serve a wide variety of needs and performance interests

6)  Can you say LS Swap?  Flyin’ Miata can!!! And it fits into a Miata as well, lol.

7)  Bill reviews how he came to have and lose the NB Miata to Vicki in a single day

8)  Overall advantages are lightweight, relatively cheap to operate and maintain, great driver feel, excellent handling and grip in turns, a great car to learn and develop your driving skill, and relatively bullet proof.  Disadvantages are relatively low power and acceleration (true momentum cars) and straight-line speed.

9)  NC Miatas (2006-2015) are in a sweet spot for depreciation and a bit larger than the other models.  It is also a bit difficult to install a full cage.  

10)  NA and NB Miatas are a bit smaller, lighter, and “fun” to drive.  Downsides, they are getting pretty old.

11)  ND Miatas are smaller and lighter than NC, similar to the NA/NB’s and the power is increased above the others, especially the NA’s and NB’s.  Also it has the only adjustable steering wheel in the Miata family.  Weaknesses may be in the transmission area and you may want to augment the cooling.

12)  Recommends looking at used spec Miata for value, especially the 1.6-liter versions that are not as competitive in the series as the 1.8-liter cars.

13)  How to inspect and maintain your Miata, especially as the NA and NB’s are getting close to 30 years old or more.  Hint look at your cooling systems effectiveness, including the transmission and differential. 

14)  Pluses and minuses of our Flyin’ Miata Stage II NB Miata, cooling and transmission etc.

15)  Advantages and disadvantages of the 5-speed vs the 6-speed transmission in the older Miatas

16)  Keith’s thoughts on gauges vs ECU control and how to tell if there is an issue without additional gauges and which gauges may be helpful in general

17)  Some of the potential issues involved with a LS Swapped Miata and some of the many issue that had to be addressed during their development to be able to have a system they could offer to their clients.

18)  We even get into the new ND and ND.2 models

19)  Keith discussed some stories about his past experiences in the Targa Newfoundland

20)  Bill and Keith compare stories when they both lost a wheel while driving and other lessons Keith learned while racing and testing over the years

21)  In the end, Keith even tolerated some of our more off the wall inquiries and concerns

22)  Alan valiantly tries to help a listeners with what gear to use when doing burnouts in a turbo NB Miata.