Drive Limits - What to expect?
Discussion
After a tentative wet session at Snetterton in my first ever RWD track car, I've decided to book onto a Drive Limits day with "Mark" at North Weald airfield. It's a 4-person day, so I'm hoping to get plenty of coaching time to improve my ability to push the car further.
Has anyone done one? What did you think?
Has anyone done one? What did you think?
Thanks chaps. I've had much more powerful RWD road cars, but only ever tracked FWD cars. I was hopeful that a wet trackday would be a good starting point, but it was pretty busy with some fairly tasty machinery, so I never got to have the track to myself in a way that made me feel comfortable to explore the limits.
I've been giving some thought to adding an LSD to my Z4, but I'm holding back on any major modification until I can be confident that I'm not the weakest link. At the cost of an expensive trackday, it feels like a sensible place to start.
I've been giving some thought to adding an LSD to my Z4, but I'm holding back on any major modification until I can be confident that I'm not the weakest link. At the cost of an expensive trackday, it feels like a sensible place to start.
rooney1000 said:
I did it last year at North Weald, 4 person day.
Like mentioned above, the surface is a little poor, basically you are on a small section of the old runway, but in terms of fun and learning a few things about your car's abilities (and yours) it is great.
Mark is a good guy, plenty of in-car tuition and lots of opportunity to drive. I was in my Atom and discovered that he used to be a Atom hot lap instructor so that really helped. Was also good when he had a drive in my car and showed me what it is really capable of - differing level of speed.
I think it is good value for money when you look at the cost of anything else that gets you this sort of time on un-restricted tarmac.
Excellent, thank you. This is exactly what I was hoping for!Like mentioned above, the surface is a little poor, basically you are on a small section of the old runway, but in terms of fun and learning a few things about your car's abilities (and yours) it is great.
Mark is a good guy, plenty of in-car tuition and lots of opportunity to drive. I was in my Atom and discovered that he used to be a Atom hot lap instructor so that really helped. Was also good when he had a drive in my car and showed me what it is really capable of - differing level of speed.
I think it is good value for money when you look at the cost of anything else that gets you this sort of time on un-restricted tarmac.
Tyrant said:
I was at North Weald with Mark yesterday. Great tuition and an environment suitable for driving well beyond what you’d get away with on a track day. Well worth the trip from Brecon to Essex and back through multiple storms (in an Atom!)
Excellent stuff! Did you do a 4-car session?My session is this Thursday, and sod's law dictates that it's going to be a rainy/changeable day. Perhaps not the end of the world, but I'd have really liked a good run at a dry day.
Only one small detail, but I haven't seen if there's any requirement for helmets. There's nothing mentioned in any of the booking docs, and before I chase the organiser I wondered what others did. Personally, I'll probably take an open-face helmet (I'm in a convertible) if there are no hard-and-fast rules, but I was wondering what the protocol was.
Only one small detail, but I haven't seen if there's any requirement for helmets. There's nothing mentioned in any of the booking docs, and before I chase the organiser I wondered what others did. Personally, I'll probably take an open-face helmet (I'm in a convertible) if there are no hard-and-fast rules, but I was wondering what the protocol was.
gareth h said:
C70R said:
My session is this Thursday, and sod's law dictates that it's going to be a rainy/changeable day. Perhaps not the end of the world, but I'd have really liked a good run at a dry day.
Only one small detail, but I haven't seen if there's any requirement for helmets. There's nothing mentioned in any of the booking docs, and before I chase the organiser I wondered what others did. Personally, I'll probably take an open-face helmet (I'm in a convertible) if there are no hard-and-fast rules, but I was wondering what the protocol was.
No need for a helmetOnly one small detail, but I haven't seen if there's any requirement for helmets. There's nothing mentioned in any of the booking docs, and before I chase the organiser I wondered what others did. Personally, I'll probably take an open-face helmet (I'm in a convertible) if there are no hard-and-fast rules, but I was wondering what the protocol was.
AlphaDelta said:
C70R said:
My session is this Thursday, and sod's law dictates that it's going to be a rainy/changeable day. Perhaps not the end of the world, but I'd have really liked a good run at a dry day.
Only one small detail, but I haven't seen if there's any requirement for helmets. There's nothing mentioned in any of the booking docs, and before I chase the organiser I wondered what others did. Personally, I'll probably take an open-face helmet (I'm in a convertible) if there are no hard-and-fast rules, but I was wondering what the protocol was.
As said by others, no helmet or other equipment was required. When I did it the conditions were overcast and there was some rain for part of the day. I don’t think the weather should put you off, doing handling drills in wet weather adds some extra challenge! Only one small detail, but I haven't seen if there's any requirement for helmets. There's nothing mentioned in any of the booking docs, and before I chase the organiser I wondered what others did. Personally, I'll probably take an open-face helmet (I'm in a convertible) if there are no hard-and-fast rules, but I was wondering what the protocol was.
I have a trackday at Cadwell next week, so I'd rather like to be able to apply whatever I learn there. Perhaps I'm overthinking it.
Well that was an absolutely brilliant day out.
An entire day spent learning how to use each of the steering, brakes and throttle to control a car cornering near the limit. The goal is to push the car to failure in very safe surroundings, then learn how to combine all three inputs to keep it shiny side up.
Mark the instructor is a really lovely chap and a great tutor, and a bloody impressive driver to boot.
I reckon I probably learned more about car control yesterday than in every trackday I've done combined. Given that a 4-car day costs about the same as trackday, I really can't recommend it enough.
For everyone here asking what modifications you should do to go faster on track, I'd say this course should be at the top of your list.
An entire day spent learning how to use each of the steering, brakes and throttle to control a car cornering near the limit. The goal is to push the car to failure in very safe surroundings, then learn how to combine all three inputs to keep it shiny side up.
Mark the instructor is a really lovely chap and a great tutor, and a bloody impressive driver to boot.
I reckon I probably learned more about car control yesterday than in every trackday I've done combined. Given that a 4-car day costs about the same as trackday, I really can't recommend it enough.
For everyone here asking what modifications you should do to go faster on track, I'd say this course should be at the top of your list.
DocJock said:
Thoroughly agree!
The one thing I remember most was being told to brake hard when turning in to 'the corner'. It seemed so counter-intuitive and I was convinced it would provoke a spin. Shows what I knew..
Probably the best instruction course I've attended.
Couldn't agree more. I was bracing myself for a spin, and the front just washed out. The session after that, where we modulated the braking to balance the car, was probably the most useful thing I've learned since I passed my test.The one thing I remember most was being told to brake hard when turning in to 'the corner'. It seemed so counter-intuitive and I was convinced it would provoke a spin. Shows what I knew..
Probably the best instruction course I've attended.
DocJock said:
One thing I recall about one of those days at North Weald is that it was hard on the tyres.
Two of our group of four, in heavier cars, were well below road legal by the end of the day.
Coming back to this, I can only assume they were on very marginal tyres at the start of the day.Two of our group of four, in heavier cars, were well below road legal by the end of the day.
I've got a bit of feathering to the outside tread blocks on my front right, but that's about it from an entire day spent throwing the car into left-hand turns.
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