Jump to content
HybridZ

Reckless skilled vintage porsche driver?


MazerRackham

Recommended Posts

Boot me if this is not the right place to discuss this. I've only done two road race track days with my cousin at a really cool club track in his Wrx out near Dallas/Ft. Worth (can't remember name of track). He's also had a spec miata and a Radical, currently building a Caterham. I've only done some occasional autocross and drag racing myself. Loved the videos.

 

My question: Why do folks seem to intentionally hit the inside curbing? Does that not really "upset" a car being driven at the limit of adhesion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

 

Typically inside tires are unloaded to the point a mild bump will not upset he car. It really depends on the corner, the size of the curbing, speed thru he corner, car set up, dirVer preferences and probably several other factors I've left out

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends on the corner and the car. My C5 Corvette loved the curb hopping. It was wide enough and planted enough that it didn't seem to upset it much. The Porsche 996TT wasn't as wide and would get upset. You had to commit. The Spec Miata didn't like it much, and that was due to narrow wheel track and short wheelbase.

 

I "think" the datsun will like it "some", but still I try to minimize it. But as Mark says above, it is often the shortest distance, especially in a series of "ESSES", like the climbing esses on VIR.

 

And we're not trying to "boot" people, but rather get them to do as you just did... Ask "Why", rather than make some incorrect statement.

 

Mike

 

Boot me if this is not the right place to discuss this. I've only done two road race track days with my cousin at a really cool club track in his Wrx out near Dallas/Ft. Worth (can't remember name of track). He's also had a spec miata and a Radical, currently building a Caterham. I've only done some occasional autocross and drag racing myself. Loved the videos.

 

My question: Why do folks seem to intentionally hit the inside curbing? Does that not really "upset" a car being driven at the limit of adhesion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Curb hopping reduces lap times. But, as mentioned above, the car setup is critical - in particular high speed compression damping (> .3 mps) on the shocks. Digressive valving reduces the rate of force increase based on piston speed and thus are more effective at controlling the chassis over curbs. Even better are blowoffs that significantly reduce compression damping force at high piston speeds. Even better then that are the custom Penske triples I had on the racing 240Z had Velocity Dependent Pistons (VDP) that had adjustable valving for high piston speeds. We could sorta adjust the high speed compression to allow for different height curbs so the shock would go open (blowoff) at > 3.mps for a certain amount of its travel. Before Buttonwillow was repaved the curbs in the esses were about 3" high. I could drive straight over them and there would only be a slight movement in the steering wheel. More the a few guys had a lot of trouble following my line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't curb hop with Tokcio HP or Illumina shocks. You car will get tossed a couple feet to the side. Had that happen years ago at Streets of Willow going through the kink. Found myself off track to the right and spinning back across the track to the left. Scared the crap out of me and the six cars closely following.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...