RE: V8 Supercars 'Foot Cam': Time For Tea?

[danielj58]

aarondbs said:

I think the idea is to just bring the front end back into play on the sweepers. The synch between the footcam and track position could be out..

Oh, and try doing left foot breaking in a VW.... wtf is all that about!!

as far as i know VWs (the modern ones anyway) all use fly by wire and prevent the throttle from opening when the brakes are being applied, it also delays the throttle when you try to jump back on it i think. The diesels are also rather bizarre when coasting owing to very little perceived engine braking.

Makes for a very disjointed experience when you're pressing on, caught me out a few times and left me wrestling some tank slappers!

[cheddar]

Snifflytooth said:

As someone pointed out earlier, he's making sure the pads are seated and haven't been knocked back.
This can happen a lot in bikes, either a tank slapper or a hard front wheel landing MAY force the caliper pistons back. Couple of dabs of the brake, pads are definately ready for action.

Pretty much this.

Mark Skaife - 5 times series champion and commentator in the vid - calls it a 'confidence tap' just to make sure the brakes are there.

This is arguably the most exciting race car series in the world today - thread and UK viewing tips here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

And the incredible Bathurst 1000km at Mt Panorama in 14 days time - schedule details below:

http://www.v8supercars.com.au/championship/2014-v8...

[shoehorn]

Watchman said:

I wonder if he's just "cleaning" the brakes before he needs them for real - the wet conditions might mean there's less bite for the first rotation of the disc.

Any water splashing onto the red hot brakes no doubt will be instant vapour.

[AGAR]

Great footage!

Slightly off topic, but still in keeping with Channel 7's coverage of Bathurst. Here's one of my favourite in-car videos from there. It's Glen Seton wrestling to control an R31 Skyline Turbo on a very very wet Bathurst track. Watch as it goes slideways along Conrod straight at high speed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D-JtvVvESc

[roddyp]

British Beef said:

I tried left braking once, ended with me nearly putting my head through the windscreen.

Just a lack of practice, because your left foot is so used to pressing the MUCH stiffer clutch pedal.

It's a bit like the embarrasing moment when you forget you're driving an auto box car as you attempt to come smoothly to a stop. Left foot goes for clutch, hits brake...

British Beef said:

I dont understand why he is tapping the brake with his left foot occasionally while he is flying on straightish bits of track?

Pad knockback, I'd think. http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technica...

[Coatesy351]

The brake tap isn't to clear water . The brake temps are so high water would evaporate instantly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdXvOry5eW4

[Coatesy351]

Tyre cam is good, shows the loads the poor tyres deal with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-DMkO3g2SI

[RogerVulva]

Coatesy351 said:

Tyre cam is good, shows the loads the poor tyres deal with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-DMkO3g2SI

Yes I couldn't believe it when they first showed this.
I remember Lowdnesy seeing his own tire on a bigscreen as he was racing and made a comment about it. Was rather funny.

[Coatesy351]

Slippydiff said:

Good though this and the Senna NSX videos are, this is the definitive LFB video :

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ieRNmgxiA

I suspect that there are some/plenty of V8 drivers who don't LFB, and brilliant though the Senna video is, the Rohrl video is the master at work and LFB because you had to in the Quattro with its laggy turbo engine, crude four wheel drive system and engine located between the headlamps.

I've always thought there were a few failings with this clip. The car swaps between the normal SWB quattro and the evolution version, and to me the engine sound doesn't sync with what he is doing with the throttle.
I wonder if someone has the unedited footage of just the pedal cam.

[dfen5]

I thought he was left foot braking on the throttle to stop the un-weighted wheel from spinning up, a bit like manual traction control?

[graham22]

Do they really call it foot cam - sounds like some sort of up skirt website!

dfen5 said:

I thought he was left foot braking on the throttle to stop the un-weighted wheel from spinning up, a bit like manual traction control?

This is quite a common technique in off road motorcycling, use the rear brake to govern wheel spin & helps recover grip, personally use it quite a bit in trials/road trials.

Used the brake dragging technique on tarmac at some speedhill climbs, CR500 2 stroke on intermediates and adverse camber uphill left - dragged the back brake to stop the rear stepping out - made the bike feel tighter, helped with confidence in getting the throttle open.

[CrutyRammers]

Coatesy351 said:

Tyre cam is good, shows the loads the poor tyres deal with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-DMkO3g2SI

That's pretty "geek cool"

[team underdog]

Absolutely love watching V8 Supercars, especially the Bathurst and Surfers Paradise races. Proper cars, proper tracks and great to see the drivers skill on display.

Switching between right and left foot braking is impressive but whats more impressive is that he's braking right foot in the inital braking WHILST HEEL N TOEING then switching to his left foot to trail brake! Nuts.

I'm well used to left foot braking racing karts but when I try in a road car I can feel I've not got the same sensitivity with the left foot as my right, so my application of the pedal is a bit cumbersome. I'm sure with practice that would improve but it's not something I want to practice in road driving.

[garypotter]

Great piece of footage and shows how much work is going on thats rarely seen by the public.

When I raced gearbox karts back in the day, I had a set up for the clutch cable that was split so I had the pedal for pull away and linked to the gear lever (sequential) that on the down shift it would automatically pull the clutch in leaving both feet on brake and throttle pedals. never know why they do not do this for race cars? Hydraulic versus cable yes but they must be able to have a splitter available

PS no clutch on up shifts (YZ 125 engine) full revs and smashed up a gear, bloody good fun but never won anything as liked too many burgers.....

[richb77]

That takes me back. I have been fortunate enough to be at Bathurst for the 1000 and see the V8's at the Melbourne GP. AWESOME cars, awesome sound and awesome speed. Bathurst has to be one of if not my favourite track in the world.

On a side note. Since ditching sky... does anyone know where i can watch the V8 supercars? I miss watching it avidly (used to be on motors TV but thats not available on freesat).

[Hasbeen]

DB89 said:

British Beef said:

I tried left braking once, ended with me nearly putting my head through the windscreen. I put it down to size 12s and a lack of coordination.

I dont understand why he is tapping the brake with his left foot occasionally while he is flying on straightish bits of track?

I think it's to make sure there full pressure in the system again after a big stop.

It is to correct knock off in the pads.

Flex of the stub axles, & even minor play in wheel bearings allow the discs to move quite a bit in hard cornering. This knocks the pads back, & the pistons back into the caliper. A pump of the brakes before the next barking point brings them back out against the disc.

It is a real heart in mouth moment if you forget to do it, & the brake pedal goes halfway to the floor next time you wasn't them. It becomes an automatic action after quite a short time.

[soad]

British Beef said:

Bring this to F1, might just be more exciting than watching the cars from the outside!!

F1 - Foot Camera With Ukyo Katayama - 1993 Japanese GP

[cheddar]

richb77 said:

does anyone know where i can watch the V8 supercars? I miss watching it avidly (used to be on motors TV but thats not available on freesat).

Take a read through this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[boxerTen]

Coatesy351 said:

Slippydiff said:

Good though this and the Senna NSX videos are, this is the definitive LFB video :

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ieRNmgxiA

I suspect that there are some/plenty of V8 drivers who don't LFB, and brilliant though the Senna video is, the Rohrl video is the master at work and LFB because you had to in the Quattro with its laggy turbo engine, crude four wheel drive system and engine located between the headlamps.

I've always thought there were a few failings with this clip. The car swaps between the normal SWB quattro and the evolution version, and to me the engine sound doesn't sync with what he is doing with the throttle.
I wonder if someone has the unedited footage of just the pedal cam.

+1 on the definitive LFB video. Note Rohrl is depressing the clutch twice on downchanges, proper double de-clutching there, unlike the Bathurst video.

As to the video itself I think its a bit of a montage - bits of the Acropolis rally? - mixed with shots from New Zealand.

[Reardy Mister]

From the tv channel and race that invented the in-car camera (racecam).