i didnt read the article, but it is obvious that late apexing has less
benefit in autocross because the straights are so short compared to a road
race track. remember to late apex you go slower than a geometric apex on
the first part of the turn, hoping to make it up by more speed all down the
straight. in autox there another turn awaiting you shortly, so the idea of
a good line for a particular turn is affected greatly by what comes before
and after.
ive autoxed a FWD car with excellent handling and power, a RWD torqueless
car with good handling, and a RWD monster car with ... hey i dont need no
stinkn handling, ive got TORQUE! hehe and for the most part i think the
fast way is very similar in all of them: get on the gas smooth, brake late
and smooth, trail brake, use all the track, and carry maximum speed through
the corner while looking ahead and linking it smoothly with the next corner.
be smooth and look ahead. my advice is not to get too worked up about
differences in cars until you can reliably execute basic technique properly
(i cant yet).
comments?
-James "torque poisoned" Creasy
President, BAPOC www.klio.net/probe
FFR Cobra #1630 www.klio.net/cobra
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Bergsman <jeremybb@leland.Stanford.EDU>
To: ba-autox@autox.team.net <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, May 04, 2000 2:02 PM
Subject: best line
>Could people comment on the learning to autocross article in the recent
>Sport Car? My question concerns the advice to drive the shortest path
>through the course and concentrate on the slowest turns rather than
>approaching the turns like in road racing where you will try to increase
>exit speed before the straights. To what extent does this decision depend
>on your car's acceleration/handling mix?
>
>Thanks.
>--
>Jeremy Bergsman
>jeremybb@stanford.edu
>http://www.stanford.edu/~jeremybb
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