Reddit reviews Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving
We found 28 Reddit comments about Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
ISBN13: 9780837602264Condition: NewNotes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Find the organizations that hold track days at your local tracks and sign up as a beginner with an instructor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CarTrackDays/
Some reading: https://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262
Don't get too caught up in the didactics, as there is no replacement for seat time. But it's a good introduction so you have the right frame of mind and get the most out of your instructors.
There are no winners at track days, but there can definitely be losers.
Be safe, and have fun.
The book is also fantastic
I would highly highly recommend picking up the book "Going Faster" and reading through that. It teaches the basics of race craft and how to break down the geometry of any circuit, and how to establish the best racing line through a corner. The book may be a little dated, but the fundamentals haven't changed one bit. And the boys at Skip Barber know a thing or two about race training.
Going Faster! from Skip Barber Racing School is a great resource as well.
Just my 2C, but unless you learn race craft and theory, simply using a “line” drawn by someone else will do nothing for you. Once you learn the theory you then can start applying it to each corner based on your driving style, etc. There’s no magic bullet outside of outright knowledge and practice.
My suggestions beyond practice and seat time:
Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving https://www.amazon.com/dp/0837602262/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UC.GDbR6JKTR3
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1785211749/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_QE.GDbWKAQZPM
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1540628590/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_.F.GDbC7VC4TN
Do you have any wide open stretches of pavement you can screw around on without drawing unwanted attention? A big un-lit parking lot in an industrial area for example? The best way to learn driving is by doing it, and particularly by screwing up in a controlled manner so you can learn how the car feels when you take it over the limit. If there's nothing to hit for hundreds of feet you can go out when the weather is bad (I don't think you guys get snow, but rain works almost as well) and intentionally put the car out of control knowing that if you don't get it back under control you at least won't hit anything.
Beyond that, this book is always one I've heard of for being very good: http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262/
I've never read it myself but it comes up all the time on various forums when this sort of question is asked.
There's nothing really special about driving this specific car. It's a front-engine front-drive with independent front suspension and a beam axle out back. The turbo is small enough that lag is not really a huge factor and you don't need to think about it much at a basic level. Most hot hatches have a similar formula, with the main difference being some of the nicer ones have independent suspension in the back too.
I started writing up some basic instructions here, but then I figured there are enough people here who actually race competitively or semi-competitively and would be better at it than a guy who knows the theory but puts it to practice mostly hooning on back roads and playing video games.
This question has been asked a bunch of times, but the one post I've found the most helpful was /u/that_video_art_guy's response in this post. For quick reference, here's the copy/paste:
I've read many of these books, I'm partial to the mechanics and team member books but find all of them to be very enjoyable.
The Super Collective Super list of Super Good F1 Books:
Mechanics/Team Members
[Life in the Pit Lane: Mechanic's Story of the Benetton Grand Prix Year](
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Pit-Lane-Mechanics-Benetton/dp/0760300267/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356716346&sr=1-5&keywords=steve+matchett) - Steve Matchett
[The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit-Lanes of Formula One](
http://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Tale-Life-Pit-Lanes-Formula/dp/0752827839/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356716346&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+matchett) - Steve Matchett
The Chariot Makers: Assembling the Perfect Formula 1 Car - Steve Matchett
Team Lotus: My View From the Pitwall - Peter Warr
Jo Ramirez: Memoirs of a Racing Man - Jo Ramirez
Art of War - Five Years in Formula One - Max Mosley, Adam Parr, Paul Tinker
Tales from the Toolbox: A Collection of Behind-the-Scenes Tales from Grand Prix Mechanics - Michael Oliver, Jackie Stewart
Technical Books
Red Bull Racing F1 Car: Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual
McLaren M23: 1973 Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual
Lotus 72: 1970 Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual
Tune to Win: The art and science of race car development and tuning - Carroll Smith
Engineer to Win - Carroll Smith
Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook AKA: Screw to Win - Carroll Smith
Race Car Vehicle Dynamics: Problems, Answers and Experiments - Doug Milliken
Chassis Design: Principles and Analysis - William F. Milliken, Douglas L. Milliken, Maurice Olley
The Racing & High-Performance Tire: Using Tires to Tune for Grip & Balance - Paul Haney
Technical Driving
Ultimate Speed Secrets: The Complete Guide to High-Performance and Race Driving - Ross Bentley
Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving - Carl Lopez
Working the Wheel - Martin Brundle
Drivers and Rivalry's
Senna Versus Prost: The Story of the Most Deadly Rivalry in Formula One - Malcolm Folley
The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit - Michael Cannell
Winning Is Not Enough: The Autobiography - Sir Jackie Stewart
Shunt: The Story of James Hunt - Tom Rubython
Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage - Alex Zanardi, Gianluca Gasparini, Mario Andretti.
It Is What It Is: The Autobiography - David Coulthard
Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way! - Perry McCarthy The Black Stig, Damon Hill
F1 Through the Eyes of Damon Hill: Inside the World of Formula 1 - Damon Hill, Photography: Sutton Images
People Of F1
Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One - Professor Sid Watkins
Beyond the Limit - Professor Sid Watkins
I Just Made The Tea: Tales from 30 years inside Formula 1 - Di Spires
Bernie: The Biography of Bernie Ecclestone - Susan Watkins
Picture Books
McLaren The Cars: Updated 2011 Edition
Art of the Formula 1 Race Car - Stuart Codling, James Mann, Peter Windsor, Gordon Murray
I believe this is heralded as THE racing guide
One book i can recommend
https://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262
Sorry, I typed a reply earlier on my phone which apparently didn't send.
If I were you I would call Skip Barber back and try to reschedule something sooner. If you wait until summer you'll miss at least half of the 2016 season. I'm not sure about series in California, I know there used to be a Pacific F2000 championship but I'm not sure how good it is or if it's even still around. You may get annoyed traveling across the country all the time, but IMO the best place to start is the SCCA's F1600 Championship Series. They straddle the line between club racing and pro. The paddock is really relaxed, but the racing is still really competitive and most of your competition will be career-minded drivers. A new car will cost around $70,000, but you can find older, still competitive ones for less, and a season budget will be anywhere from $30-150,000. Another bonus is that the Formula F is an SCCA class, so you can also run the same car in the SCCA Majors, Runoffs, and there are several championships in Canada that the car can run in with zero modifications. You could run a race every single weekend and still have well over half of your budget intact. If you decide to do this, let me know. I'm working on putting together a program to run in that series myself.
In the meantime, read these two books: Going Faster and Drive to Win. The first is all about racing theory and is the official textbook of the Skip Barber Racing School. Become familiar with that before you step into a race car and you'll be ahead of everyone else at the school. The other is more about what is expected of a racing driver who wants a career. They're both a bit dated but still very relevant.
Also, get iRacing and buy the Skip Barber car. Even if you don't do the Skip Barber series, it's a low-powered formula car that behaves a lot like anything else you'll drive at the beginning of your career. Simracing can't replace real-world seat time, but you can still learn things from it that will help you when you get into a real car.
Good luck, and don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. Honestly I'd trade 10 years of karting experience for an $800k/year budget in a heartbeat. You've already got the hardest problem solved, now go have fun learning to do something well.
Pyrometer
Low profile jack stands (flat feet, safe for tarmac)
Racing gloves
RaceQuip Helmet Support
A GoPro off-brand accessory kit To help mounting that GoPro to whatever you want to mount it to.
Some Mechanix gloves lots of options
Paint markers various colors.
F4 self-sealing silicone tape
Going Faster
Speed Secrets
High-Performance Handling for Street or Track
Another few things would be to find out what the driver uses for brake pads, brake fluid, rotors, oil filter, etc., as those can be pricey and nice gifts. (I use Hawk DTC-60 front, HP+ rear pads, Motul RBF-600 fluid)
Portable battery powered air pump for tires I have one very similar to this. It's cheap and great to use for adjusting pressures before sessions.
A decent tire pressure gauge This is the one I have and have used for several years and I have been very happy with it.
A subscription to Grassroots Motorsports
Torque wrench, +200 ft/lbs This is the one I have been using for a few years and it works well.
I've got lots of other ideas for tools and such; specific socket sets, impact gun & sockets, special bits for your car, magnet, flash lights/head lamp/stick light, channel locks, stubby sockets, various wrenches, extensions, breaker bar, bits, allen wrenches, vice grips, pry bars, adapters, pliers, cutters, etc that would be good to put on your list if you don't have them in your kit.
Happy holidays!
Ultimate Speed Secrets by Ross Bentley
http://www.motorbooks.com/books/Ultimate-Speed-Secrets/9780760340509/4185
Bentley has several books that cover specific topics. This book pulls all of that together in one volume.
------------
Going Faster by Carl Lopez
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262
An old standby.
You are probably entering with too much speed. In levels of importance when racing are
Too many drivers focus on entering as fast as they can which messes up both their line and their exit speed and makes them slower overall.
Also, in the MX5 weight shift is key. To get the car rotating release the throttle. You will get throttle-lift oversteer which is the key to rotating the car into the turn.
I highly recommend buying and reading this: http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262
As a beginner, you're going to benefit way more from getting your form and technique in line before you start tweaking things with the kart. Change one thing at a time until you get a handle on things.
Karting techniques:
http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Bondurant-Race-Kart-Driving/dp/0760310769
http://www.amazon.com/The-Karting-Manual-Beginners-Competitive/dp/0857330861/
http://www.amazon.com/Kart-Driving-Techniques-Jim-Hall/dp/0936834471/
Not karting specific:
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262/
Going Faster, the Skip Barber book.
Edit for Amazon link:
Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving https://www.amazon.com/dp/0837602262/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_JEK2wbPN6JSZV
You could at least give the rest of us a link, unless you were planning to keep the secrets to yourself ;)
https://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262
buy this book - http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262/
it helped me a LOT. they break it down so well and explain everything you want to work on imho...
Also this one is more specific than the Speed Secrets book IMO, which can be a good addition for your reading: http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZQHKTH18AJ2MMNPZ7EZ
Well, you already know about design, but you could specialize in industrial design, or take another course in ergonomics and such. I have no idea what the job market demands are for car-design, but in a creative place, fresh ideas from other perspectives are usually welcome, so maybe being an architect isn't such a bad position to be in.
Now, you can like cars from varying points of view, you may like to tinker with them, to look at them, or maybe just drive them. If you like the driving part, I'd recommend you go several track days, or try to go to a high performance driving school, just keep in mind they can be expensive. If not, try to save up for a place with serious go karts (try and find some that go to 60mph, but you'll find ones going up to 100 or 120 mph) and learn how to really drive. A good go-kart is cheap fun and acceleration/cornering wise is pretty much on par with a decent, winged, single seater, this means it will corner and brake harder than any supercar car and accelerate on par with most of them.
A couple of books that might help you on the subject of high performance driving would be Thisand this one.
Regarding car shows, the most entertaining one is called Top Gear. It's British and it's more a entertainment show that happens to have cars, but most of us gearheads enjoy it.
I don't know much but if you have any questions ask away :)
You want more? You want Going Faster. I've spent a few weekends at the track, but this book still taught me a lot. Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving https://www.amazon.com/dp/0837602262/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_cV2AwbH2J2389
This may help
Going Faster is a widely recommended book for real life driving and racing. I say driving and racing because you need to focus on two different objectives. There is the ability to go around the circuit fast (Driving) and then there's Race Craft, which is the art of passing, defensive lines, etc. You need them both to be a winner, whether real or simulation. Enjoy.
I agree with everything he said. Another way to get the most out of your eventual driving class is to read this book first:
Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving https://www.amazon.com/dp/0837602262/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_nkVvub00B1PF5
Good reading: http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262
My first was a lot of fun, but I took it very easy since I had OEM summer only tires and it was in the low 40's max in October... Keep an eye out for stupid or faster drivers and just let them pass in the passing zones. Not everyone on track actually belongs there...
Here is some advice, especially for an older car:
Brakes are the MOST important thing to check and there are plenty of incidents where people crash due to inadequate maintenance. fresh brake pads, inspect rotors for thickness, stress cracks if drilled. Inspect brake lines for nicks/age cracking, check brake fluid condition, reservoir leaks. Some places will turn you around right away if they see a wet reservoir. Flush and replace if it is bad or only DOT3. GOOD fresh oil and filter change, check wheel bearings for play (that will get you kicked out). Check tire condition, no dry rot. Clean and check alloy wheels for stress cracks. Remove all loose items you don't need at the track. Bring water, hat, long pants, long cotton shirt, helmet (SA2010+ probably), and of course a camera!
> Get the best experience out of iRacing possible without wasting time
I would suggest possibly changing the mentality here (If I'm understanding you right). Instead, take your time & enjoy it instead of trying to rush to the top classes. Especially with road racing, the lower classes are the best place to learn tracks & driving competitively.
For learning how to be fast, I always recommend the book Going Faster. Everything else is just from experience & practice.
For the wheel stuff, you should be fine. Stick shifter would add immersion, but it's not mandatory.
I just picked up Going Faster! and it seems like a solid book.
Thanks. I've found a few recommended books already:
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312228989&sr=1-1
and
http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Your-Car-Handle/dp/0912656468/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312228516&sr=1-5
The latter is available as PDF ("for free"), although I don't know about the former.
Edit:
The recommendations are taken from this Audi A4 tracking introduction:
http://www.startupracing.com/Docs/Tracking%20the%20Audi.pdf
If you think you learned a lot from the video, buy Skips actual book, "Going Faster". It's the single book to own for any driver. The video everyone keeps posting is a massive summation of the writing and it skips a ton of amazing stuff. Not to mention full page illustrations of suspension geometry and setup techniques, setup theory, etc. I got a copy off of amazon for like $20 - http://www.amazon.com/Going-Faster-Mastering-Race-Driving/dp/0837602262