Short slalom (practice) video:

Z1NONLY

Just a quick video of me practicing lateral placement on a "fun run" day:

chrischhorn

Wish I had a backyard big enough to run slaloms in.......What kind of tires are you running?

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R.I.P. 8/01/13 1SlowZ
One day I'll have another....

olddudesrule

Just had to get a little closer to the GoPro, huh...

Very cool, we should all have a space like that to "unwind" after work....

Z1NONLY

This was last year. I think I was on star specs then.


This is our venue (Gulf coast autocrossers) and it's almost literally in my back yard. I could hear them running from my yard. That's how I "heard" about the club years ago.

abm89

LOL, nice run at the end!

I liked your third pass. The exit was super tidy!

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Z1NONLY

Thanks! I actually moved the last cone on the third pass.

Eighties Meta

yes! death to the camera.

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Mai-z

Nice and tidy.

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Z1NONLY

Lol. No cameras were harmed in the making of this video.

It was blown off the cone it was mounted on by the "air wake" of my car. I was a little worried about the fall from the cone, but it survived.

GSS138

Cool vid man. Gotta question for you or anyone else. I have done a few track days and am starting to "get the hang of it" with my car I think, but I have not done a slalom/skid pad/autcross day. Could you or someone else just elaborate a little bit on the slalom theory and technique? I notice you try to get the car straight for a brief second on each move in order to let it settle for just a split second. Can you just go a little bit into the basics of what is actually going on with the car?

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Z1NONLY

I was actually focusing on only one aspect of slaloming in this video, and that was lateral placement. (Trying to get the sides of my car as close to the cones as possible.)

I actually tolerated some slop in my longitudinal placement and throttle inputs on these runs.

What I want to do in slaloms:

1) Strategy (Optional slaloms):

If it's an optional slalom, you generally want to enter on the side that allows for the best exit into the next element....but not always. Look at the stuff before and after, and try to determine which approach will work best.


2) Commit to the first cone.

There are exceptions to this depending on the course leading up to the slalom and the spacing of the slalom cones. (Consistent, or varying) Generally I try to get "on" the first cone with the back tire of the car. Some courses even allow for an imaginary "extra" first cone. I will actually pretend there is another cone before the actual first cone and place the car as if I am starting the slalom one cone early. This can help with rhythm.


3) Rhythm.

Constant spacing = steady speed.
Deceasing spacing = deceasing speed
Increasing spacing = increasing speed

I generally want to pick one of those scenarios and stick to it, without a bunch of throttle adjustments throughout the slalom. < Easier said than done. I usually end up minimizing throttle adjustments rather than being able to eliminating them. Still working on it.

4) Get "on the cones."

Stay as tight on the cones as possible while still allowing for a good "angle of attack" on each cone. I want the back tire of the car on each cone, but I don't want to add a lot of real estate to make it happen. If you go too "flat", you will be "on the cone" but with the wrong part of the car. (The front) Then you will get "behind" your rhythm and have to wait until the front of the car is "clear" of the cone so you can turn....late. (And add time)

The other extreme is to make big sine-waves. This approach will make it easy to get the back of your car on each cone, but it will also add distance and time.

I tell students it's best to err on the sign-wave side while learning, and work towards flattening-out as they get more comfortable.

5) Fix it now.

Many of us track rats have learned to "fix" mistakes "on the fly" but the slalom is not a good place for this. Every cone in the slalom is kind of it's own element. Each cone is an opportunity to lose time. All elements on course are tied together but this effect is amplified greatly in the slalom. If you find yourself "off" in a slalom, fix it now. If you get out of position in a slalom, do whatever you have to do to get back on track and in rhythm..even if that means backing off the throttle a little.

6) Know when you are "done" with the slalom:

Depending on the element after the slalom, you may be able to roll on the throttle before the last cone or even the last two cones. Being "late" on the last cone only hurts when you have to get around it. If you don't have to get around the last cone, roll on the throttle a little earlier, open up your arc and focus on position for the next element.