stability control on track

I have driven around monticello and have seen several people wreck their cars. I would not experiment particularly on that track. There are a lot of elevation changes and the corners are tricky.

You can attend an autox event where its farily safe (big open parking lot) and the speeds are relatively lower. You can try flooring it around some of the cones for a brief stretch and see what happens. Worse you'll knock some cones around or need new tires at the end. Of course, all with common sense. Just because the car is equiped with stability control, it can't prevent anything once the tires have exceeded their limits.

 

Have my second GTR, headed to Barber this w/e, can guarantee you that if you are in R (race) mode on the traction control, and at max speed coming into a corner and you floor it at the apex (and keep it floored) you will be off track in a hurry. Don't know about normal mode.

 

Maybe I just really suck but I can't do anything with TC. To me TC is unpredicatable and makes me loose concentration.

 

No. You have to have progressive throttle.

 

Fair enough. [I have no idea!]

But, you seem to be saying that tiny Lotus have a more advanced SC system than mighty Porsche? I'm surprised

Cheers,
Ian

 

I have to agree with FBB, the nincompoop in the drivers seat has to be in control of the throttle application for turning. The traction control computer has no video input and cannot see if you are in a 50 MPH decreasing radius turn, or a 50 MPH increasing radius turn. All it can see is steering input and throttle input, and make some guestimates as to what the driver wants.

One of the reason they (FIA) banned tractioni control in F1 cars, is that the F1 ECUs are (ARE) smart enough to know the shape of the turn, and even weather conditions. So the driver could, literally, just floor it and fly.

Mabe 10 years from now you could get the TC computer hooked up to the GPS device with a national road map, and a link ot the national weather service, and understand the situation at had. But at this point you would not even need a throttle pedal, just let the computer do it.

 

I'm not arguing, but do you have any links (etc?) where this is discussed?

TIA, cheers,
Ian

 

What's the point of doing a track day if you're not interested in driving.

 

The GTR is pretty amazing. However, please don't plan to just plant your foot mid turn. It isn't that amazing.

Just as you would in any other car, creep up on the limit and push the car a little more each time being sure to leave a couple of feet at the track out point to use in case you break the car loose. They are good but not magic. I've seen them spin at Infineon and the driver was in the advanced run group (though I'm not sure he should have been).

The Lotus traction control is good. To say it is "better" than porsche is a stretch but some might argue less is more. It is more adjustable though. In fact, with eleven (0-10) settings, it might be the most adjustable. It is not PASM. it's far simpler.

 

Fair enough. I haven't seen the video, but;

If this is true, then while it may be "simpler", it seems to allow more "exuberance" (depending on setting?) without biting back(?)

I guess the Lotus doesn't have the (excess?) power of the Porsche is the difference?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Here's the vid: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_X-cyhk63I[/ame] (the traction control good bits start around 5 mins)

It's not about the car having a GPS-level knowledge of the track, it's about the traction control computer reading traction levels at all times and adjusting, likely hundreds of times per second, the throttle/brakes to keep you stuck to the road.

 

The new TC and anti skid systems are so good that you don't really notice them. At our 24 in the rain our drivers loved them and the telemetry showed they really worked well.

 

Do your driver's use traction control and stability control in the dry?

 

Yes. At the Ring we use it a lot. Bosch makes the systems we use.

The amazing thing to me and I'm not a race driver at all is what driving a high downforce car is like. In the rain at 180 MPH you feel very safe and calm. The momentum you can maintain is really something.

 

I don't understand why you'd even want to do that? The whole fun and purpose of a track day is to learn your car and car control, having the computer do the work for you defeats the purpose.

In competition it's different where you want every advantage you can get to beat your competitors. The only purpose I'd see for wanting to be able to do that at a track day in a street car is to then go out and see if you can 'beat' the computer by driving the car faster without the aids on after having set a time with them enabled.

 

Last month when I did the SLS GT3 training, I had experience with the traction control system. Specifically on the SLS GT3, there are 1-10 levels for ABS and TC, 1 being low intervention, 10 being high intervention. They are operated by the driver via a dial on the console. My instructor, who had just driven the same car in the 24H of the ring told me he ran in setting 3 on TC during the night. I started out in 10 and it was quite restrictive. ABS had to be dialed down for slicks. I easily spun the car on a TC setting of 6. While the system helps, it's not a failsafe. I'd say the settings on that car had to be matched more against the weather and tire compound, than driver ability. It was a bit counterintuitive.

 

The best idea is to go to the track the day before and test your traction control settings in the parking lot where there is nothing to hit - many famous pro drivers have done this over the years when trying a new car