Course Driving Techniques

 Launch / Quick Stop

Though this may be one of the "easier" skills, it is not quite as easy as it seems, and it is vital.  You can shave many seconds off of your time with a good, solid launch and knowing how your vehicle stops.  The idea is to take off as fast as you possibly can without either bogging down your engine, or spinning your tires excessively - then, right as you enter a gate, brake as hard and fast as you can without locking up your wheels completely.  If you have ABS (anti-lock brakes) it is likely you should let them do the work for you - at first anyway.  Since I don't believe in "dumping the clutch" or burnouts in regular driving, this was an excellent opportunity to learn the optimal RPM from which I should launch my car.  Multiple runs helped me dial this in to being just below 3500 RPM in my car.  Braking at the exact moment you enter the gate was also a bit of a challenge - easy to brake too soon without realizing it.  My first run was the best, second and third runs I broke too soon, last few runs were close to my first and were a major improvement overall - when you consider my launch dial in and better sense of where my front tires were in relationship to the gate at the end of the run and timing.  If you know how many feet your car requires to go from 60 to 0, you know how fast you can come up on a chicane or other 'obstacle'.  Typically people let off of the throttle too soon, coast for a moment and then ease on the brakes too softly - this burns up a ton of time.  Going as fast as you can, braking as late as you can, but with enough room to let your vehicle settle before a turn is actually quite exhilarating - who said only the gas pedal could be fun? 
 

180 Hairpin

 180 Hairpin

When we first approached the 180, I said to myself "what a joke, it's one lousy cone you just drive around"... not so.  Out of all of the exercises, the 180 was the most difficult for me to pull off correctly.  Sure, anyone can buzz down the lane, turn around and come back - but to drive the correct line goes against what your brain is saying you should be doing to get around the cone - at least, in my case.

There are many theories on the fastest way to navigate a 180, but most credible sources indicate this is the fastest line to take.  This illustration is not perfect, but shows the general idea of where you want to be.  Also, the exact line will vary slightly from car to car.  For me, I felt like I was coming in too far to the right - but it was correct.  I had the tenancy to come in too close to the cone, then when I rounded the cone - was 15ft or more away.  You want to be right beside the cone as you straighten out and exit.  One tip the instructor gave me was to begin your initial turn when your shoulder was even with the cone, then keep your eyes on the center cone as you think to yourself "smooth".  Being smooth, knowing your brakes and the turning radius of your car is essential to conquering the 180.  Don't use your ebrake!  Not only will you flat spot your rear tires and look like a jackass - you will have a difficult time being consistent with that method.  I know for a fact I could have been faster through the 180 initially, by using my ebrake - but through time I would not progress much and would not be consistent - and those who take the proper approach to the 180 would smoke me through it. 

Another tip on the 180:  You can drive in either direction around it.  A common mistake I witnessed in RWD cars is to 'hit it' too early, which either sends you off course, into cones, or at very least sends you sideways with the clock ticking.  In FWD or AWD cars, I saw a lot of people nailing the throttle with the wheel fully turned and inducing massive understeer which sent them far off of the correct line they were setting up for.

I watched the 180 closely on race day and saw a difference of 3-5+ seconds in many cars through it.  That is an eternity in autocross.  My race time was not worth bragging about, but was only 10 seconds off of the fastest time of day - half of that could possibly be made up in a 180 alone.
 

Chicane, S-curve or Ingress/Egress

Chicane

Also called an "S curve" or "Ingress/Egress" but I prefer to call it Chicane, as this is the sound your ego makes when it is ripped from your body "Chicane!"

This was my favorite of all exercises we did.  The instructor was incredible and gave me some VERY sound advice after I told him I was certain I would hit an outside cone just after the second apex.  He said to "drive it at 50% to 60%, get the line right, then take it up a notch"

This particular Chicane was not possible to drive "almost straight through" by swerving slightly.  It actually required some pretty extreme turning from one direction to the other.  In the races, many Chicanes can be conquered with a quick quarter turn of the wheel back and forth - or even going straight through if you can get the right line.

I drove at 50% or so and gradually took it up a notch or two at a time - I was amazed at what my car could do - even being fwd with a big heavy engine in front of the front wheels.  My car was up on 3 wheels each time I rounded the first apex cone - which is normal for my car.  Then the transition to the second apex literally threw my car from one side to the other - this feeling is indescribable and was my favorite part of the weekend.  My problem was that I was being too jerky through the transition.  He had me focus on being smooth, rather than trying to make record time through it.  I focused on staying wide going in, taking the smoothest line I could through the transition, then coming out wide on the other end.  I did this a couple of times and was really having a ball - taking it at a speed which was blowing my mind.  Then he said "Ok, you're looking pretty good... now it's time to take it up a notch"  I burst out laughing like a little kid - here I am blasting through a Chicane at "straight driving speeds" and he says to take it up a notch and smiles.  Well, I did and managed to gradually increase my speed through this thing to the point I didn't really have focus on anything other than braking, the first apex cone, telling myself "smooth" and the timing of the transition as the second apex cone blurred past me as I looked ahead.  This may be incorrect, I'm not sure, but can say I doubled the speed I imagined to be possible for my car through this thing.  Rollercoasters have nothing on the Chicane.
 

Slalom - The slalom is an absolute ball!  Essentially, you have a line of cones which you drive around on alternating sides.  The slalom exaggerates your mistakes as you go through it - if you get off of the line at the beginning, you will likely be FAR off of the line at the end.  It is difficult to recover, once you get off of the correct line.  You will see many vehicles spin off course in the slalom from over-correcting in attempt to get back to the line, or trying to miss a cone once they've gone far off of the line.  The slalom area is usually pretty exciting to watch - and tiring, if your work assignment is picking up cones in the area.

I actually did pretty well at the slalom during the driving school.  My car responded much better than I thought it would with it's stock suspension and uneven weight distribution.  One tenancy I continually had was to turn too late.  By the time you get to a cone, you should already be turning.  It feels like you will hit a cone if you turn sooner, but you have to remember, you turn the wheel - and  your car turns a moment later.  It has to lean from one side to the other, slide just a little, get some grip, then it turns.  So, if you are waiting until you reach the cone to begin your turn - you are too late and this will manifest itself more and more with each cone you (hopefully) drive around.

When you walk the course, be sure to "walk off" the distance between the cones.  Sometimes they are evenly spaced, other times they decrease or increase in space with each cone - so you may end up gradually slowing as you go through, or gradually speeding up - depending on cone spacing.

You can drive on either side of the slalom cones, so long as you alternate as you go through it - during your walk, see where you want to come out of the slalom at the end - then figure out which side you want to drive on, around the first cone.

The slalom was what got me on my first race day.  I mistook the left cone of a gate as being the last slalom cone and received my DNF's for this mistake.  One run, I spent too long trying to figure out if I just missed a gate, or if it was a slalom cone - and missed the next gate - blowing past the Chicane.  My wife got some excellent video of this with our camcorder - as well as the voices of nearby spectators laughing!