PsYkHoTiK

After you get the checkered flag, it is good etiquette to wave to each corner worker (the guys in charge of the flags and safety on the track) to "thank" them.

dingosatemyaudi

Great vids, thx for posting and looking forward to more.

Very wise to spend the time to learn the proper line and braking points then build up speed as your confidence and consistency improve.

Do they teach maximum braking where you hit the brakes hard enough for the ABS to kick in or do they teach using less braking effort so that you can more easily modulate it?

PsYkHoTiK

No problem!

Yeah, I found as I got more and more comfortable and in the groove, I began pushing on my own (like in the final complex before the front straight - as noted by the instructors comments haha). Speed will definitely come naturally once consistency is settled.

They had some braking exercises in the driver's education course. Speed up to 60 and hit the brakes and let ABS kick in until the car stops. After that, I practiced some threshold braking (brake hard until you kinda detect it is at its limit and ABS is about to kick in). And I started using a lot more of the brakes on my second video (only session that I used the brakes really hard). They also taught us the Traction Circle as well (I love all the theory part - so stuff like there's an imaginary string tied between the wheel and gas pedal - the more you turn, the less throttle you can use, etc).

I'll definitely post some more vids tonight after work.

audi_noob

Thanks for posting the videos... It was a awesome time... Now the long wait for the next event!

voltrons_head

Is that a GoPro stuck to your sunroof?

PsYkHoTiK

Yup! A GoPro HD Motorsports. I wanted to put it on the windshield initially but I didn't want to block the instructor's view. Maybe when I can drive solo on the track I'll mount it there. I'd also like to experiment with it being mounted outside of the car as well (the suction cup mount is really strong)...

johnnyb84

Nice videos!
I have the same camera. Definitely mounting it in various places can spice things up.
Here is a short video of myself at an audi event at Mosport.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l_6EvUKXz8

mellow_sparky

Thanks for sharing PsYkHoTiK - i was interested in how the brake upgrade you and NW did would hold up on the track. I did a track day at Pacific a couple months ago and my experience was similar (and I had the stock brakes): if you really want to track this car hard you need a better set up to haul it's portly 2 ton butt down. In fact I think in my write-up I suggested that new brakes would probably be the first mod I'd do (if I do any).

So, are you going to get a BBK?

LeadToRome

I read this yesterday and I've sort of been turning it over in my mind since. Essentially what the instructor is saying is that there is a defined point, X, at which control is lost. A standard setup would begin to complain and make its issues known at a certain point, say X-20%, so you have a 20% margin between when the car begins to be unhappy and where it actually loses control. (All numbers strictly hypothetical). An improved setup might not begin to complain until you reach X-10%, so you would have only a 10% safety margin. But why is the instructor convinced that X is static?

Let's just say that the point of loss of control with an improved suspension also moves (and I think it does move) to a hypothetical X+10%. So the suspension letting you know that it is reaching its limits at X-10% actually leaves you the same margin of 20% and, further, moves the speed at which control will be lost higher, thus making it less likely to be reached and which, taken together, makes the vehicle with the improved suspension safer overall. Just because you can drive faster safely doesn't necessarily mean that you will. In fact you'll probably drive at very near the same speed as before the upgrade but your safety margin after the upgrade will be substantially bigger.

In other words I think the instructor has it exactly backwards. He is essentially saying that improving your car makes it more dangerous to drive fast and I say that improving your car is, well, improving your car.

And improvements will make it both perform better and be safer.

what say ye?

AcBc

Thank you Rome, i was scratching my head while reading that yesterday, and you were able to verbalize why something seemed off to me. I was at work so i didn't have the time to sit there and think about it like you did. I can kind of see and understand what the instructor is trying to say, but i'm more inclined to agree with your thinking.

and to OP, thanks for the post and the videos. Super cool stuff.