Ask Ross
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Got questions? I’ve got answers. This is where I post answers to the many questions I receive. You may find the answer to a question you have here (you can use the “Search” tool), but if not, you have two options:
- If you want the answer immediately, sign up for my SpeedSecrets.ai app (think of it as “Google on steroids, focused solely on performance/race driving,” or “ChatGPT trained to only pull from the 5 million+ words and content I’ve personally created”)
- If you can wait until I get to your question, email it to me.
Q: What is maintenance throttle & when should I use it?
Q: “I hear the term ‘maintenance throttle’ used, but I don’t really know what it is. And how and when I should use it. Can you explain?”
Q: How do I know if I’m driving my car at its limit?
Q: “At a certain point, any car driven to its limit by the best driver will have a lap time that cannot go much lower. Short of having a pro do lap times in my car, is there any way to determine the difference between a plateau and the best lap possible?”
Q: Do I need to turn in late to get to a late apex?
Q: “I’m told by my instructors to late apex corners, but I sometimes feel I’m turning in too late, and I have to turn sharply to do that. Is there a way to use a late apex without turning in late? Or is this all geometry?!”
Q: Does getting back to throttle early always mean a better exit?
Q: “Does an earlier throttle application always mean a better exit off of a corner? It seems that sometimes when I start accelerating early, I don’t end up with as high a top speed on the straight as other times. What’s going on?”
Q: Can you explain why writing notes on a track map will make me a faster driver?
Q: “A friend told me that he downloads track maps from your website, and uses them to make notes that help him drive better. I haven’t gotten into doing that yet, so can you tell me what kinds of things I should be making notes of, and how that’s going to make me a better driver?”
Q: Where should I be looking when driving on a race track?
Q: “I’m told to look far ahead on the track, but where? That advice seems vague – how far ahead, and at what?”
Q: What is “fishtailing” & how do I control it?
Q: “What causes the phenomenon known as “Fishtailing” and how do you stop it? I was at a HPDE event at Road America many years ago and the instructor said a quick stab of the brakes would stop it. I’ve have only gotten to use it when towing an unstable race car trailer, and it did work on that. Should that work in a race car or on the highway?”
Q: Any comments on the similarities between skiing and driving?
Q: “I’ve been an avid reader of your content since about 2002, and I find that you always have some new angle of providing new knowledge to us drivers. I have a question that’s a bit borderline off-topic. I don’t remember whether you’ve mentioned alpine skiing anywhere, but even as an inexperienced skier I find there are some similarities which could actually help my driving. For example, the use of vision, the importance and use of balance, and of course, the way of finding “the line.” I know that you often look into other sports to find ideas for use in car racing, and therefore I want to ask you if you know of any good alpine skiing “speed secrets” books to explore?”
Q: How do I know where to look for the EoB (End-of-Braking) point?
Q: “I’m doing sim racing and until now I was not too much paying attention to the EoB (End-of-Braking). What can we look at to use as a reference point for the EoB? For the BoB (Begin-of-Braking) it’s easy to look at a wall, curb or sign, but for the EoB I don’t really see what to look at.”
Q: How important is the heel & toe downshifting technique?
Q: “I race endurance wheel-to-wheel and at present I do not use heel/toe downshifting. I understand that this technique is a needed skill to be a “great” driver. If you had to rate this skill, where would you consider it to be?”
Got Questions?
Get Immediate Answers
Skills
Types
Subscriptions
Got questions? I’ve got answers. This is where I post answers to the many questions I’ve received. You may find the answer to a question you have here, but if not, you have two options: If you want the answer immediately, sign up for my SpeedSecrets.ai app (think of it as “Google on steroids, focused solely on performance/race driving”), or email it to me.
Q: What is maintenance throttle & when should I use it?
Q: “I hear the term ‘maintenance throttle’ used, but I don’t really know what it is. And how and when I should use it. Can you explain?”
Q: How do I know if I’m driving my car at its limit?
Q: “At a certain point, any car driven to its limit by the best driver will have a lap time that cannot go much lower. Short of having a pro do lap times in my car, is there any way to determine the difference between a plateau and the best lap possible?”
Q: Do I need to turn in late to get to a late apex?
Q: “I’m told by my instructors to late apex corners, but I sometimes feel I’m turning in too late, and I have to turn sharply to do that. Is there a way to use a late apex without turning in late? Or is this all geometry?!”
Q: Does getting back to throttle early always mean a better exit?
Q: “Does an earlier throttle application always mean a better exit off of a corner? It seems that sometimes when I start accelerating early, I don’t end up with as high a top speed on the straight as other times. What’s going on?”
Q: Can you explain why writing notes on a track map will make me a faster driver?
Q: “A friend told me that he downloads track maps from your website, and uses them to make notes that help him drive better. I haven’t gotten into doing that yet, so can you tell me what kinds of things I should be making notes of, and how that’s going to make me a better driver?”
Q: Where should I be looking when driving on a race track?
Q: “I’m told to look far ahead on the track, but where? That advice seems vague – how far ahead, and at what?”
Q: What is “fishtailing” & how do I control it?
Q: “What causes the phenomenon known as “Fishtailing” and how do you stop it? I was at a HPDE event at Road America many years ago and the instructor said a quick stab of the brakes would stop it. I’ve have only gotten to use it when towing an unstable race car trailer, and it did work on that. Should that work in a race car or on the highway?”
Q: Any comments on the similarities between skiing and driving?
Q: “I’ve been an avid reader of your content since about 2002, and I find that you always have some new angle of providing new knowledge to us drivers. I have a question that’s a bit borderline off-topic. I don’t remember whether you’ve mentioned alpine skiing anywhere, but even as an inexperienced skier I find there are some similarities which could actually help my driving. For example, the use of vision, the importance and use of balance, and of course, the way of finding “the line.” I know that you often look into other sports to find ideas for use in car racing, and therefore I want to ask you if you know of any good alpine skiing “speed secrets” books to explore?”
Q: How do I know where to look for the EoB (End-of-Braking) point?
Q: “I’m doing sim racing and until now I was not too much paying attention to the EoB (End-of-Braking). What can we look at to use as a reference point for the EoB? For the BoB (Begin-of-Braking) it’s easy to look at a wall, curb or sign, but for the EoB I don’t really see what to look at.”
Q: How important is the heel & toe downshifting technique?
Q: “I race endurance wheel-to-wheel and at present I do not use heel/toe downshifting. I understand that this technique is a needed skill to be a “great” driver. If you had to rate this skill, where would you consider it to be?”
Got Questions?
Get Immediate Answers