Q: How do I adapt to a new (rear-engined) car?

Q: How do I adapt to a new (rear-engined) car?

Q: “I’ve recently bought a 991 Carrera after owning (and tracking) a 1999 Porsche Boxster for 6 years at various PCA DE events. In light of the obvious bump in horsepower and the different placement of the engine, I was wondering if you had any tips on how to approach taking the 991 out on track coming from the Boxster.”

Q: How can I get better at remembering what I felt when driving on track?

Q” “Something I’ve been pondering lately goes well with improving the mental game, I think. I guess it’d be called mindfulness? I go out in the car for an HPDE session with a plan of a few things to work on and I think I do pretty well sticking to that – most times anyway! 🙂 But then I get out of the car and while I can remember certain moments from the session, like a huge pucker factor moment carrying too much speed into a turn, the rest of it is all a blur. Is there some sort of corresponding technique to visualization for this?”

Q: Why should I start racing in an open-wheel car?

Q: “Hey, I have a quick question. I can’t remember if I read it from the book you wrote or one of your online conversations/blogs, but I think somewhere you stated that starting in an open wheel car was the best way to start off racing. Is there any specific reason why this is the case in your eyes?”

Q: Should I use ABS or Threshold Braking on the track?

Q: “What’s the preferred method of braking in a lightly-modified car (i.e., track brake pads and 200 tread wear tires)? Should an advanced driver engage full ABS or try to utilize threshold braking? I sense that my utilization of threshold braking is leaving too much stopping power on the table.”

Q: How much rotation into a corner is the right amount? And what’s the difference between rotation & oversteer?

Q: How much rotation into a corner is the right amount? And what’s the difference between rotation & oversteer?

“How does one determine the amount of rotation that should occur in a corner? Given that there are appropriate turns and areas to invoke different amounts of rotation during cornering, how does one determine how much is the right amount? What are signs that that you are under, over or have accomplished the desired rotation? Also please differentiate between rotation, drift, slide and oversteer.”