On the limit?

[EnthuZiaZT]

Its not that Hugh, Production Cars like ours are set up fairly neutral as they have to cope with all sorts of conditions and road surfaces, People modify their cars to suit their taste. On the track the condition and road surface are a known quantity so the car would be set up to meet the demands of the track and enable the fastest lap.

Mike

 

[hard top]

i took some advanced training a couple of years ago & did it show my lack/loss of skill

Spot on, I have owned a couple of Jeeps and been off roading and when I was working out in the desert, we were given 'desert driving training' by the SAS, thought I knew it all but obviously kept me gob shut..
Tell you what, I learnt a hell of lot that day.

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

Spot on, I have owned a couple of Jeeps and been off roading and when I was working out in the desert, we were given 'desert driving training' by the SAS, thought I knew it all but obviously kept me gob shut..
Tell you what, I learnt a hell of lot that day.

You never stop learning how to drive a car, Mike, how ever much you know, there is always something you can learn.

Mike

 

[smiffy]

the only way to understand the limits is to exceed them. I've long said that a skidpan session should be a part of learning to drive as so many drivers have no idea of how to react.

Skidpan or snow is a great starting point to see what happens in slow motion. I'd think getting a Z to the limit on a dry circuit would be quite a task and possibly "uncomfortable" unless you do something deliberate to make it happen, but would still be worth doing to know where the limit is if you plan on driving like an utter lunatic on the road.

By comparison, when learning to fly, stalling (loss of lift due to insufficient airspeed), spinning, unusual attitude and all of the recovery techniques are in the syllabus. When flying a new type, you will at least practice stalling it to understand how that particular aircraft responds. Car drivers don't even discuss skid recovery other than in environments like this forum.

I'm not sure driving the same piece of road faster and faster until it goes wrong is a sensible way tpo learn though.

 

[miller1098]

I agree to find or be near the limit in your Z you have to be driving outside of what is for most people normal driving practices.

 

[Mint]

In the winter, after some snow, we wouldn't be flying so it was great fun to go and play on the runway. I had a Triumph Dolomite back then and it was great to 'waltz' the car, swinging the rear first left then right from one end of the runway to the other. Experience you just can't get on the road. Brilliant fun

 

[miller1098]

In the winter, after some snow, we wouldn't be flying so it was great fun to go and play on the runway. I had a Triumph Dolomite back then and it was great to 'waltz' the car, swinging the rear first left then right from one end of the runway to the other. Experience you just can't get on the road. Brilliant fun

Our local car club organise night rally's ,call them 12car for obvious reasons and Sunday auto tests ,usually on a farmers field or car park it's great fun and you can do it in your daily driver

 

[t-tony]

We did a lot of this as kids on farmers fields with whatever car we could beg borrow or steal, the best being an old Standard Vanguard straight 6, which is where my love of straight 6 cyl cars came from. Local grass track racing and Formula 2 stock car racing.

Tony.

 

[smiffy]

I'm certainly not cconfessing to ripping up a school playing field one dark night in a GT6 I once owned!

 

[pgunter]

Funny thing reading this thread.. I was looking at doing a skid pan experience in my own car. Hoping they will let the soft top on the track so I can see how she handles. At least then I will understand where she lets go and how to control the car when she does. Thurxton do a skid pan bring your own day.. Might be a interesting day out.

 

[Lee]

On the limit for me is the feeling the car returns when driving enthusiastically. Case and point chasing miller through the welsh mountains with inches either side of the car and feeling the rear slide in under heavy braking and slide out with heavy acceleration.

Lee

 

[Brian H]

I seemed to have missed this thread, great discussion.

The past few years for me I've explored what is possible in my zed, it never ceases to amaze me just what our cars are capable of, I have a few mods but nothing too serious which allows some spirited driving. When on track the limit for me is getting closer but I guess my car could achieve more in different hands, my limit does change though as I get more experienced, there are corners on tracks that I have been to a few times that I will now take at a higher speed because I am more confident, the faster speed does not men that I am being reckless, I just know that the grip is there. Of course the limit for me (and most others too I suspect) changes dramatically from wet to dry conditions, I think I am fine with the level of my "limit" if it got any higher I would s@:t myself!

 

[t-tony]

Honest comments Brian. They also come from visiting tracks at more than one occasion as previously mentioned. As in the comment sometimes heard from motor racing commentators, " He knows this track"!

Tony.

 

[Rha]

Even the best rally drivers who know their limits get caught out, sometimes human error sometimes road conditions it really isn't an exact science and shouldn't be performed on a public road. A lot of people purchase a good performance car only to find they'll never be adle to find its or their limit unless they track it or end up in A&E,
I may be just one of them or change my mind and track it. Oh dear my poor Z.