Re: Smooth Driving?

[Brian ///M Kennedy <kennedy@xxxxxx>]

rsalzmann@domain.elided wrote:

>      My question is this:  What comprises "smooth driving"?  OK, not hard
>      to imagine, but can we put it in words that describe what is involved
>      technically, physically and mentally?

Technically:  Car control is largely determined by how well you keep your
tires planted to the road.  Abrupt inputs to your car will result in 
unsettling the car and loss of traction at one or more wheels.  Smooth
inputs are those that minimize that.  An obvious example is slamming the accelerator
to the floor in a high HP car -- your rear wheels spin and you
do not accelerate fast and possibly the car spins.  A more important example
is jerking the steering wheel -- that throws the weight of the car to
one side, the springs load up and then rebound -- you end up with traction
bouncing back and forth -- imagine trying to control a four-wheel drift
with traction of your tires oscillating side to side!

Physically:  the driver may be thrashing around, even the steering wheel
and pedals may be getting lots of small inputs or be moving very fast,
but from the outside, the car should be traveling in smooth arcs and
its weight should be shifting smoothly and not rebounding.  Transitions
from accelerating to braking and from side-to-side should not be distinct
points, but more a continuous flow.

Mentally, Braking:  When you go to brake, squeeze (don't stomp) on it; 
try to squeeze it until your ABS kicks in as quickly as possible; the 
idea is to do that such that the car leans forward, but does not rebound
back.  When you let off the brakes, ease off them.  A good way to
practice/experience this, is to brake hard, and then as you come to
a stop, ease off the brakes just enough such that the car settles
gently back to level, without jerk or bounce.

Metally, Turning:  When turning a corner or curve, try to pick a single
arc through:  turn the steering wheel to a spot, and just hold it there
through the whole turn, and then unwind.  The goal is to make it through
the curve, turning the wheel as little and as slowly as possible.  When
slaloming, your hands should never stop moving -- think of a pendulum 
swinging -- it moves most slowly at the outward points of its swing, and
most quickly at the center of its swing, smoothly accelerating and 
decelerating -- rhythm.


BTW, in autocross, a sport where you don't get to do the same lap a hundred
times over, the key to smoothing out your inputs is to be looking far ahead
of where you are on the course.  At the very least, you should be looking at
the next turn -- not the one you are in.  You want to try to mentally plot
a smooth arc through as many turns ahead as you can -- and its the end of
that arc that you should be looking at -- until you get the car set for 
that arc, and then you should be looking at the next turn and trying to
plot the next arc.


Brian

P.S.  An excellent way to learn "smooth" is to take a McKamey Autocross
      School when the next one appears near you.

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