Car Limits Airfield Driver Training Day report

[Neophyte]

Quick report should anyone be interested

Where to start...

Andy Walsh - the instructor (ex Benetton F1 test driver) nice bloke, laid back and good at conveying complex points succinctly.

Began with the basics, eg how to turn the steering wheel. I knew about pushing , not pulling steering wheel (ie left hand does work into a right hander (better able to feel weighting up in steering and any lose of grip)); but picked up some good pointers on hand position and re-centreing of wheel.

Next exercise lift-off oversteer through fast 90 degree left. Start at 60 mph and gradually build speed....

Andy on board (not at all nervous/keen to impress of course ;-) 250 metres and five fishtails later, finally spin out, both begin laughing, then get enveloped in tyre smoke as product of said fishtails finally catchs us up, this causes much amusement. Immediate feedback from Andy after laughter, good reactions to keep catching slides but need to re-centre correctly wheel to stop fish tailing (I know we just covered that and already I forgot ). As he gets out says to me I was going to ask if that was enjoyable, but I already know the answer..

Other bits of interest; softness on steering wheel, thus allowing tyres to deflect on big bumps/when airborne so wheels land in direction car travelling when it lands, as opposed to direction it was travelling before bump (this bump is what started above fishtailing hilarity)

Anyway enough of my rambling; in summary it was very good, definetly recommended. £170 so not cheap, but unlike Trophys most good things in life don't come cheap...

 

[Nik]

Sounds excellent, cheers for the write up.

Will definitely look at doing one of these next year

 

[pootle]

i was talking to someone about this very course with car limits at the weekend. he couldn't rate the day high enough as well. definately one to look into, especially as you can tailor the course to your needs!!
costs as much as a trackday, but it's worth it when what you learn could prove to be invaluable!!

 

[ducks butt]

Neo have you got anymore details on this course, ie people who run it etc.... It sounds like you had a ball.

 

[pootle]

website http://www.carlimits.com/

think its the same one.

 

[Neophyte]

Neo have you got anymore details on this course, ie people who run it etc.... It sounds like you had a ball.

Details, best start here
http://www.carlimits.com/
I attended one of these
http://www.carlimits.com/script/viewEve ... ldtraining

It was a right laugh, Andy Walsh is both skilled at driving and teaching. With the course being limited to four people (or two if you have more wedge!) you get good chunks of time with Andy either as passenger or driver. So not bad value when you analyse what you get in my opinion.

The only criticism I have of the course is the space you work within, sufficient but not massive. But then again I am stupid in liking to keep my foot in when things get out of shape and that requires a lot of room!

We covered the following:
1) Braking - emergency stop
2) Steering wheel hand position and re-centering
3) Lift off oversteer
4) Trail braking into corners
5) Traction circles (Understeer, oversteer & slip angles - optimisation there of)
6) Then some circuit work around some cones (which was timed - Andy was very interested in split times and level of consistency)

I think that should get you started, if there are any other questions give me a shout

 

[Neophyte]

website http://www.carlimits.com/

think its the same one.

Spot on

 

[rswestling]

I did a course with Andy in my Exige which was a blast, but a bit scarry at times. I plan to do another in the Trophy in the spring. It's a great way to find the edge of a given car, and learn how to get the most out of them. I can certainly recommend as well.

-robert

 

[ducks butt]

Thats handy north weald isn't far away. Think i'll try one of these courses before the track day then. Sounds great.

 

[wigstar1]

Well if there are a few of us who fancy it, why dont we try and bok up one of the 4 people days between us??? Gotta be better for everyone in the long run! Cos not only will we get to learn the car better, so will the instructor! Cos he'll be gettin straight out of one Trophy into another!!! ]

Im up for it! As Ducks Butt says " Get one of these out of the way before we start rippin up the tracks in 2006 "

 

[Sam]

Well if there are a few of us who fancy it, why dont we try and bok up one of the 4 people days between us??? Gotta be better for everyone in the long run! Cos not only will we get to learn the car better, so will the instructor! Cos he'll be gettin straight out of one Trophy into another!!! ]

Im up for it! As Ducks Butt says " Get one of these out of the way before we start rippin up the tracks in 2006 "

Yeah good idea..

Keep me posted, as i'll be up for it as well..

 

[duffer987]

I did a 4 car day (myself, MX5, RX8, Elise) on Friday and had a cracking time. I'd second everything that Neo said, it was my first time taking the Trophy off public roads and sure was a learning experience. It was 'fun' to spin out big time in a wide open space and feel what its like when the car is pushed too far in a safe environment. Andy is really good craic and it was cool to see how a proper driver should drive a Trophy...suffice it to say I got nowhere near the benchmark time he set on the circuit :roll:
The space available is big enough for the cars that were there, but if there was a Porsche or FQ400 they might find themselves running outta space. Didn't need more than 3rd gear and didn't get over 90mph (I think?) but with corners and metaphorical 'walls' to avoid it was definitely enough.
To top things off I managed to get the the inside back wheel off the ground so that was the icing on the cake for me

 

[Steve]

To top things off I managed to get the the inside back wheel off the ground so that was the icing on the cake for me

I did this on Ditchling road on the way home from work, there was a Zafira GSI driver who thought he had an M5, driving up my arse so I had to show him the difference between a lightweight car with proper suspension and a mummy's school run van in the corners, he became a quickly diminishing and quite out of shape blob in the rear view mirror. Still at least he can get his 17 kids in the back, probably holds the road better with them in too.

Great write up guys, definitely worth the money, worth more in lap times (and saving your life) than any other mod, probably.

 

[FunkyMunky]

Well if there are a few of us who fancy it, why dont we try and bok up one of the 4 people days between us??? Gotta be better for everyone in the long run! Cos not only will we get to learn the car better, so will the instructor! Cos he'll be gettin straight out of one Trophy into another!!! ]

Im up for it! As Ducks Butt says " Get one of these out of the way before we start rippin up the tracks in 2006 "

count me in on that, sounds like a cracking idea. once i get my camber settings checked/adjusted :wink:

 

[wigstar1]

I am also still totally up for getting on of these days set up! So if we can agree a date between 4 of us? Get us all booked in and it will be a right laugh. Price is better for 4 people i think too.

I reckon see if we can look to get a date sorted and see if they will do a discount for a group of us. Im sure we could fill at least one day with peeps from here , then offer it out to Cliosport as well, see if we can negotiate with them???

Always up for a Group Discount!

 

[FunkyMunky]

has anyone else been on one of these days recently? i'm looking to book onto one and would appreciate the feedback!

Cheers,

G

 

[Cue]

i was thinking about it also - was reading Evo at the w/e and thought maybe fun to do a refresher....

 

[Gazza]

just seen this post, i live really close and am definalty up for it.

So i just need 3 more ppl. flexible on dates

anyone??

 

[Gazza]

24th of may looks like next one with 4 spaces

 

[FunkyMunky]

i've just gone bugger it and booked the last remaining space on the course this Friday.... wanted something pretty quick and had noticed as i browsed that the dates are getting booked up pretty damn quick.

i'm booked on with a Alfa GT, Caterham 7 and a Elise S1.... hope the good weather stays with us