Fast Right Turn
(Driven before the repaving)
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The
"Main Straight" at Lime Rock Park in
Connecticut is bumpy and fast, and that's the order you notice it. As
you approach the quite important "Big Bend" in a halfway decent Mini
you can be doing about
115 mph, because you've been hard on the gas since the left hander in
the "Esses". There's a lot of speed scrubbed off at the "Uphill" and
"West Bend", but it's still pretty fast, and you're just starting to
breathe a little easier since holding your breath in the "Diving Turn".
Now, past the Start-Finish line, the distance markers to Big Bend are
coming up and going by fast. Some place between the 2 and the 1
markers, you're eyes are getting way too big so you lift and brake and
start to turn in. A Mini with (antique)
10"
wheels, rubber cone springs, stiff shocks and go-cart tires is really a
huge amount of fun to drive because you're never really finished
driving it. Just when you think you've got it pointed in the right
direction, there's a correction to be made. Sometimes a big one.
Why does that happen? I think it's the bumps. You set up your car to be as fast as it can be for a lap around the track. There are spots on the track where your setup just isn't all that good because you're trying for a fast complete lap, not the fastest in any one spot. Since the spring rate on rubber cone springs rapidly approaches infinity (or broken) at the ends of their travel, you need some pretty stiff shocks to dampen the rebound (extension). So you keep buying the trick shocks, like Koni's or Spax's (Spaxi?), and you make them pretty stiff either with adjustments to the shocks or the linkage that moves them. That gives you pretty good roll control in most situations, but in a situation like the Main Straight the shocks are being hit over and over so they tend to stay compressed since they don't have the time to rebound before the next hit. When you're going in a straight line that's not so bad. It's even good because it holds the car down on the road just a little lower so your expensive air dam can do some good at exactly the right time - entering Big Bend. Big Bend is a double apex turn. That makes the entrance to it very important as it effectively increases the length of the straight, and that's what road racing is really all about - making the straights longer. So the object is to go into Big Bend fast, giving up some position at the exit because the exit is the slowest place on the track. In between you try to gather everything up. This is where the bumps come in. The shocks are compressed and now you're turning hard right so the left side wants to compress more but it can't. Little bumps are now a big deal, since there's no travel left. It's very unsettling to a car/driver combination. And it's really important to loose some serious speed on braking for Big Bend. A lot of cars have ended up in the weeds on the outside of Big Bend. I end up downshifting into 3rd just about at the first apex for Big Bend, which adds some more instability to the car. Just lifting off the accelerator by itself while turning in has a tendency to bring the tail around. Add the increased negative acceleration (deceleration) of braking and you have a neat situation. Increased load on the front tires and hugely decreased load on the rears. And the rear wanted to swap places with the front a long time ago. Now the added jolt of the downshift just makes things dicier. Of course things like braking and downshifting should be done with the utmost smoothness, but there's a lot going on and sometimes, truth be told, it's not always all that smooth. So the car is unsettled and we have to get it back before the exit. This is where I see the real joy of a well designed front wheel drive car. When in doubt (most of the time) GAS IT! At first it's counterintuitive. Crazy even. But the tail is already coming around and it's acting like additional brakes for itself, the front was already overloaded with most of the weight and now the turning loads too. Hopefully the speed is such that you can now apply power to the front wheels to gain control of the car. That's why the hard braking was so important. So adding gas now will stabilize the car and at the same time move you thru the apex at a pretty good clip, even if it is a little bit sideways. Not only sideways, but pointed in the right direction for the exit! What a plan. And the thing that lets it go sideways a little earlier with no effort from you is - the bumps. I used to like the bumps.
Why does that happen? I think it's the bumps. You set up your car to be as fast as it can be for a lap around the track. There are spots on the track where your setup just isn't all that good because you're trying for a fast complete lap, not the fastest in any one spot. Since the spring rate on rubber cone springs rapidly approaches infinity (or broken) at the ends of their travel, you need some pretty stiff shocks to dampen the rebound (extension). So you keep buying the trick shocks, like Koni's or Spax's (Spaxi?), and you make them pretty stiff either with adjustments to the shocks or the linkage that moves them. That gives you pretty good roll control in most situations, but in a situation like the Main Straight the shocks are being hit over and over so they tend to stay compressed since they don't have the time to rebound before the next hit. When you're going in a straight line that's not so bad. It's even good because it holds the car down on the road just a little lower so your expensive air dam can do some good at exactly the right time - entering Big Bend. Big Bend is a double apex turn. That makes the entrance to it very important as it effectively increases the length of the straight, and that's what road racing is really all about - making the straights longer. So the object is to go into Big Bend fast, giving up some position at the exit because the exit is the slowest place on the track. In between you try to gather everything up. This is where the bumps come in. The shocks are compressed and now you're turning hard right so the left side wants to compress more but it can't. Little bumps are now a big deal, since there's no travel left. It's very unsettling to a car/driver combination. And it's really important to loose some serious speed on braking for Big Bend. A lot of cars have ended up in the weeds on the outside of Big Bend. I end up downshifting into 3rd just about at the first apex for Big Bend, which adds some more instability to the car. Just lifting off the accelerator by itself while turning in has a tendency to bring the tail around. Add the increased negative acceleration (deceleration) of braking and you have a neat situation. Increased load on the front tires and hugely decreased load on the rears. And the rear wanted to swap places with the front a long time ago. Now the added jolt of the downshift just makes things dicier. Of course things like braking and downshifting should be done with the utmost smoothness, but there's a lot going on and sometimes, truth be told, it's not always all that smooth. So the car is unsettled and we have to get it back before the exit. This is where I see the real joy of a well designed front wheel drive car. When in doubt (most of the time) GAS IT! At first it's counterintuitive. Crazy even. But the tail is already coming around and it's acting like additional brakes for itself, the front was already overloaded with most of the weight and now the turning loads too. Hopefully the speed is such that you can now apply power to the front wheels to gain control of the car. That's why the hard braking was so important. So adding gas now will stabilize the car and at the same time move you thru the apex at a pretty good clip, even if it is a little bit sideways. Not only sideways, but pointed in the right direction for the exit! What a plan. And the thing that lets it go sideways a little earlier with no effort from you is - the bumps. I used to like the bumps.
just a thought. bill brower, 14-feb-2004
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