The devil is in the details!

Black VW

New member
I'm reading my October 2019 issue of Road & Track, and on page 16 is an article by Ross Bentley... who needs no introduction! The title is "Sweet realease: Breaking down how we break it down". If you have the chance to read it, please do yourself a favor and take the 5 minutes to do it.

Of course, during our driving school's theory class, *blah* we talk about the whole being smooth thing and we mention that part of the "being smooth" recipe is to NOT let the brake pedal pop back up. We tell the students to release the brakes by "walking back" the pedal to minimize the weight transfer effect. Correctly releasing the brake pedal has as many subtle effects as tinkering with tire pressures and having slow hands on the steering wheel. It is a skill that needs to be honed out and requires time and practice.

Bentley says that managing the brake pedal lets you rotate the car as to let you accelerate earlier. We affectionatley call it "pivoting" :D but it is nice to see we talk the same language as the top guns of our sport. Saddly, these subtle actions are part of the knowledge each driver needs to learn and understand for and by himself... in due time. These minute details are what sets appart fast and REAL fast drivers.

There is one quote that got my attention, Bentley says: "Oversteer is what the car has done to the driver. Rotating is what the driver has done to the car." Think about that for a second... or two! :bigup:

Dave P.
 
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