socalrain

Anybody know of resources for new racers to learn... not so much about the car itself but I'm really interested in how to actually drive the car?

Thanks in advance

MarkA

iTrader: (21)

Some fundamentals/tips via Tamiya: http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/fe...article-id=206

There's really no substitute for just driving, driving and driving some more though. It is truly a learn by doing skill.

GhostTown

Went to my track today and put in 500+ laps. No substitute for practice.

That said, there are some good threads on this forum that discuss how to better your driving skills. Use the search function and read through them. Sometimes one thread links to another good one.

Get your car to handle as best as you can, then practice, practice, practice. At some point you may think to adjust something else to help tighten up your lines or gain more speed through a section you're struggling with... try it and practice more.

Timing and reflexes can't be explained in a text. You just have to run the car until you finally get that "AH HA!" moment. When you do, everything will change for the better.

R1Joel

iTrader: (1)

If your into offroad Google the Hudy setup book. Everything you need to know about setup.

blis

MarkA is correct, there's no substitute for getting out on track. There is a lot however involved in making a car easy to drive and if you get a chance to get to a track on a regular club day to have someone take a quick look at it then you might get a lot further ahead than if you go through the whole process of driving and setup from the start. There is a lot involved, nothing individual is too difficult but the sum of all the parts can be daunting, all the way down to setting up the transmitter.

From there it's a matter of practicing until your motor skills become second nature or sub-conscious. Try to diversify the tracks you practice on, driving one track only can hinder your progress in the long run. Goal at the start is keep it on the black stuff and let others pass cleanly. Good driver will let you get to a corner before they make their move, so don't get anxious and enjoy the drive.

Consistency outweighs speed every time, when the best in the world race, they are not only fast but often within .1 second in their laptimes. If you have somewhere to be timed and if there are consistency/deviation/cons on the result, keep a close eye on them. In a five minute session it is often said anything under 1 second deviation means you can do with more car performance.

socalrain

Thanks so much for the responses that helps me a lot.

Chuckie17

iTrader: (3)

Downloaded the Hudy offroad setup book. That is an awesome read and going to print it off. Thanks for sharing!

@Art_Mighty

iTrader: (7)

This is from a thread a started years ago about this subject. There's a lot of good information here.

http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric...onsistent.html

The most important person you can find at the local track is one who is willing
to help coach the driving line and car setup

rustyus

iTrader: (1)

My only input for getting better at racing is to start out with the correct tires for the track that you are running at. Any little tweaks to suspension, with the incorrect tires, is just a waste of time. After finding the right tires, start practicing with the kits' basic set-up that is found in the manual, and go from there.

MrPuke

I have been running a lot of VRC pro lately. It isn't the same as actual track time but it is about the next best thing I think.

dstidham

iTrader: (14)

Some things that really helped me a lot with my car setup and driving:

My track owner (and members of his team) put on setup clinics every month or so. These are unbelievably helpful for rookies. They looked over my buggy, gave me setup suggestions, and troubleshooted issues with me. Even took us out on the track and showed us how to determine lines, had a team member demonstrate the lines with a car while explaining what was going on, etc.

Talk to other drivers with same car during practice and club races. It is amazing how helpful other drivers are in this hobby. I had a list of setup tips in less than 15 minutes. Bring a pen and paper to keep track of them.

Let someone more experienced drive your car. I know everyone drives differently, but I had a fast kyosho kid that asked to drive my B5M buggy at practice. He was getting about the same lap times between his and mine...that tells me I got the setup dialed for the track. On a side note my track has spec tires, so that eliminated a huge pain point from the start.

Practice, Practice, Practice. I try to go at least once a week and run as many batteries as possible. I watch what the other drivers are doing for lines and just try to copy them. If I cant get it, I will just plain ask them what I am doing wrong.

Hope this helps!

dstidham

iTrader: (14)

As I read through the becoming consistent thread (linked in earlier post) I realized one other thing.

I used to struggle on a section in the middle of the track. It was an almost 180 degree turn into a single and table top jump section. I would always end up jumping off the track. So I moved to a position on the drivers stand where I had a better vantage point of that section. Then i realized i was over steering the corner. At this point i realized that other sections that were previously easy for me became a little more difficult because i was viewing those sections from a different angle.

Now i try to practice at various places on the drivers stand. If there is a section I am struggling with then i move to get a better view of that section until i get the muscle memory for that section.

sakadachi

iTrader: (1)

That's a good idea to move around on the stand to learn all viewing angles.

When I use to race long time ago, I did that too during warm up laps to get a sense of the track.

Jsapata

This is very interesting to me. I'm still a beginner at the indoor track and found watching other drivers from positions other than the driver stand also helped me understand how to navigate certain sections more successfully.

Also, I seem to be far more consistent when I stand on the far left side of the stand than I do standing on the right side. I am starting to wonder if this is vision related. I am left eye dominant and wonder if that makes it easier to track the car when it is to my right.

loheiman

iTrader: (3)

Wikipedia has a great article on the 'racing line' aka the optimum way to take a corner:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_line