I would be too! But sounds like a blast. Something in my future is getting an older subi and start to rally. Where is the closest events? Always wanted to try!!
First day was great. Left foot braking leaves a lot of learned driving habits to be unlearned, especially after driving AWD cars exclusively for the past 7 years. Perhaps I should say, paralleled learning must be accomplished. They're demanding that we master front-wheel, awd, and rear-wheel techniques in the space of a few days and then it's on to the really complicated stuff. Tons of information. Even the mechanics seminar was eye-opening. I only hit one cone so far. I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing something wrong.
If it makes you more comfortable, the only difference between fwd, awd, and rwd is when you're on throttle. Weight transfer, coasting, and braking techniques are largely the same, although there is some influence with engine braking and linked parts (awd linking all tires together, diffs). Driving style does need to adapt to the car though, so how you go through corners varies. Once you understand the basics and the physics of maneuvering a car, it translates through to any platform. Learning about drifting is a good approach to car control as it covers a lot of the core techniques to make the move the way you want it to and gets you accustomed to not only driving up to the limit but specifically over and around the limit. While it's not something normally associated with rally, it does teach a lot of the main techniques you need to understand to control the car because you're almost never going straight. The Team O'Neil rally school is something I'd love to do, but it's serious $$$ I don't have. I'm just glad I was dumb enough to beat on my cars when I was young and broken into the science of car control before I got older, wised up, and slowed down. There's always stuff to learn though and there's always refinement of the skill, much of which I've lost unfortunately. Rally-x and auto-x only make up for a fraction of what was done on a daily basis. Rally schools like Team O'Neil's kicks butt because it's so much stuff packed into one experience. I'm actually surprised there aren't a few more schools like that around. Maybe some of the rally teams around here should find a plot of land and start their own school. :biggrin:
Nice, man! Did you get to wear the pink helmet? I'm tempted to put one of these new Fiestas into an embankment.
Samoya22-what's do you find the most interesting part of your experience so far? That you're learning something new or that you're having to break bad habits? LOL What ever you do just be yourself, its their job to help you get better. Don't cheat your way thru just to get thru class. It's much easier to learn something new, but it's very difficult to undo what you normally do. Besides that have lots of fun and be safe. I'd enjoy a full report of your experience once you have completed this program. Thanks!
Hey Musashi! I just got done with my second day. More time in FWD Fiestas, and a little bit of time in some old Audi Quattros. I'm definitely an AWD person. I find it easier to control the car with throttle than I do with the brakes. The brakes are important, though--left foot braking of course. The delay between weight transfer when you're using a left foot braking technique is almost halved. So, it's not so much a matter of breaking bad habits. It's about learning new ones, too. All of these techniques are news to me. I'm learning a lot more about balance in the car, where the weight goes and how it gets there and what it does when you're adding input to the steering wheel. Very basic stuff. But it's the really basic things that need to be emphasized, and constantly readdressed. For instance, a huge focus of this course has been on where your eyes are when you're performing a maneuver. They call it "optimism and denial," wherever your eyes are when you're making a turn is probably where you're going to end up. It might be impossible, but often times if you're focused on where you want to get the car to be, you'll get there. We have to understand this important concept if we're going to be doing late apex turn, which is usually what you're going to be doing if you're running rally. If you're eyes aren't focused on where you want to be and are instead focused on the apex, the chances are good that you'll either miss the next turn, or plow your car into the inside barrier of the turn (ie. a tree). So we're working on that a lot. With front wheel drive, and an instructor yelling commands into your ear, and trying to juggle the complexities of kicking out the rear and maintaining your lines while searching for the best position in your next turn--well--it get's a little difficult. I found myself much more comfortable in the Audi. It's like driving a jet ski, as biker boy once put it. You're lifting and tapping the brakes to destabilize the car, while making the turn, centering your steering wheel and applying a hefty amount of throttle and countering when you need to. But being sideways almost makes it easier for me to see where I want to be. I'd rather be looking through a rolled down window than a dusty windshield, to be honest. After driving and AWD car for so long, its weight and balance dynamics are much more familiar to me. I am, however, looking forward to trying out a RWD car. I think a lot of fun could be had there as well. It just feels more natural for me to have the power coming from all four wheels or the power coming from behind me, pushing the car, rather than trying to pull it. I'll add more later. They're giving me an RS to work with tomorrow. It's a lot lighter and a bit more nimble than the Quattro tank I was kicking around the course today. We're also getting onto the real track tomorrow. So, the cones aren't cones anymore. They're boulders. A little less forgiving. Hope this satisfies some of your curiosity, Musashi.
Well you don't have to worry about breaking bad habits if you haven't developed them. LOL I'm sure the instructors are very critical about every little thing given it's a rally school. If you haven't already set yourself some obtainable goals, things like I want to be smoother with my steering inputs, pedal transition, shifting and being consistent. It's always great to learn new things, don't be afraid to test the boundaries a little especially in this environment this will become very useful down the road as it will help you engage the limits much quicker. Fully utilize the instructors experience, don't scare them but challenge them, show them what you can do and where you want to be. Majority of your driving will be dictated by your eyes, where you look, how you use them and how quickly you can use them. The technique I used when working with advance students and other instructors is looking where you are and switching to where you want to be quickly and back and forth. This does require moving your eyes very quickly and being able to identify your targets quickly. This technique helps me drive with more precision and and consistency, it also helps with avoiding fixation-going where you don't want to be going. You're doing a fine job. I think part of the reason why the Audi felt more comfortable is because it's probably also heavier with less power giving you more time to moon walk. LOL I really enjoyed the update thank for taking the time to post this and I'm looking forward to what you have to report back on your third day.
some of the audis are definitely better than others lol as you've probably found. I think the red one was down to like 1 cylinder by the end of the last day when I was there lol, didn't sound so hot. you'll find throttle steer is completely different from one awd car to another depending on how the differentials are set-up, I had to completely change the way I drove after we upgraded the front diff midway through this season. the audi is a good learning tool because it's pig heavy and underpowered. it takes some very planned and over exaggerated inputs to get it to do what you want. The impreza is entirely different, you may not like it at first after driving the audis but you'll get used to it. the one we had was super gutless and had all open diffs
Hah! Yeah. I'm looking forward to the Imprezas, just because I think my first rallyx or regional rally car will be an older GC. I'd like to get as much seat time with an instructor working on that. RWD will be fun though, I'm hoping. Speaking of cylinders. I ask "Chaaaalie" where they have their cars dyno'd. He looked at me funny and told me, "We just put new parts in and if the car doesn't misfire, we call it good." HAH!
Day 3 went well. I had some pretty great runs--kissed the embankments a couple of times, but nothing major. Got a rock caught between the wheel and the tire, so we had to get that fixed. My trail braking is spot on. I'm getting really good at it. The instructors seem pleased with my progress there. I'm still a little under confident when I'm coming around tighter blind corners with wet conditions. I tend to lay off the brakes too soon and apply gas too quickly, which puts me in an understeer situation, so I play with the peddles a bit. This is something I'll focus on today, as well as working on my trail braking. I've heard from several instructors that trail braking makes you or breaks you as a driver (no pun intended). Day 4, COMMENCE TO START!
Everything was great. I got the second fastest time of the day in our final assessments. The school is amazing. I'm much, much more confident behind the wheel in a rally/rallyx environment. Overall, A+ for a rating. I'd write more, but I'm thoroughly busy with work, now that I'm home. If you want more details, just ask.
