Driving at the Limit

[SpinOutF500]

Equipe Rapide and Texas Region SCCA proudly presents Driving at the Limit, the Technical Aspects of Autocross Driving, by Dr. Bob Woods.

A flyer with more information on the dates, subjects to be covered and a map will be posted shortly on the ER and SCCA web sites (a pdf is available now in the Texas Region Forum thread of the same title). There will be 3 Sessions, so come to one or come to all of them. The Sessions will be held every 2 weeks starting Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 7:00 pm at UTA in the Nedderman Hall, Room 100.

You can tour the FSAE shop before or after the meeting. Come see where the UTA cars get built.

These Sessions are Free to attend. Watch the ER and SCCA Solo web pages for updates or changes.

Now, if you want to make a donation to the UTA SAE program as a Thank You to Dr. Bob Woods for the Sessions and information, they will be accepted and appreciated.

Any questions just ask me. And we will see you there, I'm sure you will learn something.

[SpinOutF500]

From the Flyer, the Sessions will be...

Session 1, Thursday March 13. The Tire and Weight Transfer - Typical tire characteristics will be presented and discussed. Of particular interest will be how the tire's adhesion varies with load will be emphasized. Load on a tire varies with weight transfer, so lateral and longitudinal weight transfer will be presented. The traction circle for a tire and for the complete vehicle will be discussed.

Session 2, Thursday March 27. Driving Techniques - The tire, weight transfer, and the traction circle dictate how the car should be driven at the limit. We will discuss driving on a skid pad, slalom, acceleration and braking, trail braking, shuffle steering, and the importance of being smooth.

Session 3, Thursday April 17. Car Testing and Setup - Skid pad testing, slalom testing, brake balance testing. Considerations for car setup will be discussed in an open forum.

Expect each Session to last approximately 2 hours. No food or drink will be provided. But a soda machine is close by.

[SpinOutF500]

~~~ Reminder Bump ~~~

The first of 3 Classroom sessions by Dr. Bob Woods is this Thursday, March 13, starting at 7:00 pm at UTA.

See ya there.

[jrj512]

I plan to attend. Anyone else?

Here is the flyer with directions and all.

[cone-cerned]

I am planning on being there.

[Darron65]

Yup. I'll try not to be late.

[SpinOutF500]

Session 2 is now upon us.

Session 2, Thursday March 27. Driving Techniques - The tire, weight transfer, and the traction circle dictate how the car should be driven at the limit. We will discuss driving on a skid pad, slalom, acceleration and braking, trail braking, shuffle steering, and the importance of being smooth.

Hope to see you there!

[rpmchris]

Couldn't make the first one, but I'll be at the next two!

[Mark52]

Couldn't make the first one, but I'll be at the next two!

Me too!

[CosmosMpower]

For the people that went to the first one, how applicable did you find the speech to making you faster on an autocross course. Seems like there's a lot of advanced engineering concepts/theory involved that the general crowd might not understand or be able to apply?

[jrj512]

For the people that went to the first one, how applicable did you find the speech to making you faster on an autocross course. Seems like there's a lot of advanced engineering concepts/theory involved that the general crowd might not understand or be able to apply?

I gained a little, but not a vast amount of knowledge. Much of it was over my head, which is not too high.

I still plan to attend, as I can use all of the free help that I can get!

[Darron65]

... Seems like there's a lot of advanced engineering concepts/theory involved that the general crowd might not understand or be able to apply?

Yeah, that's right. Only doctoral candidates need apply. Then all the secrets will be safe! I thought it was explained very well. Dr Bob has a way of dumbing it down so anyone can get it.

[SpinOutF500]

Session 3 is this Thursday!

Car Testing and Setup - Skid pad testing, slalom testing, brake balance testing. Considerations for car setup will be discussed in an open forum.

Hope to see you there!

[altiain]

Yeah, that's right. Only doctoral candidates need apply. Then all the secrets will be safe! I thought it was explained very well. Dr Bob has a way of dumbing it down so anyone can get it.

Dr. Bob is an excellent speaker, and he's great at explaining an esoteric concept in layman's terms. Not only that, but the man lives and breathes motorsports. I was very lucky to have him as a professor in two of my undergraduate Engineering classes at UTA.

Definitely worth going to, if you can make it.