>"Smooth doesnt count for anything."
I, too, must disagree with the SVO man here. My best example is personal
experience. I usually share my car with a co-driver. Our styles are very
different. He's extremely aggressive, often blinded by the red mist - "Must
kill Justin... Must kill Justin..." :) Smoothness is not his strong point,
but he does drive a bit faster than me and closer to the edge. I, on the
other hand, am, if anything, too conservative. I don't push the limits
quite so hard (something I'm working on), yet I try to be very smooth in all
of my maneuvers - sometimes quick, but always smooth. Although my actual
speeds are probably slower than his, he beat me by about .3 second at our
first event of the year, and I beat him by .3 at the second one. Both our
times were 2-3 seconds faster at the second event, so I'll just have to keep
improving more than him. :)
>"Point and squirt"
This works great in a Mustang or Camaro. It definitely does not work in my
low powered BMW! Handling is its strong point, so my technique is to use
that to carry as much speed through the turns as I can. Wider rubber and
bigger sway bars help! Which works for you depends on your car. I'm not
sure which would be better for Mari's MR-2 - probably a combination of both.
As far as book suggestions, I'd like to throw in "Going Faster," the Skip
Barber book. It's also geared toward road racing, but the techniques apply
on a smaller scale to autox as well. This book pays particular attention to
lines, so it may be just what Mari is looking for.
- Justin
'83 BMW 320i ST
Team SOL #4
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