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What are your other hobbies?
- Thread starter Hocky
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Joey_V
Well-known member
To be able to have a track car is definitely near biblical for me. That would be a great goal to aspire to one day.
Probably a great track car would be something along the lines of a Porsche GT3 for me. If all things work out fine, perhaps someday.
I gotta find time to track my G, I gotta learn the basics sooner or later.
Probably a great track car would be something along the lines of a Porsche GT3 for me. If all things work out fine, perhaps someday.
I gotta find time to track my G, I gotta learn the basics sooner or later.
slowGEEZR
Well-known member
Different strokes for different folks. It's too bad you feel that owning a Cayman would make you feel that way. When I was test driving the cars, (911, Z4, Z4 M coupe, M3, Corvette, Cayman) I ended up buying the Cayman. They each have their virtues, but the Cayman had the balance of virtues that I liked the best.
Joey,
You know, maybe as a b-day present to your self you could take a driving school course.
Like Barber or in my case the Derek Daly Formula Car Racing School in Vegas.
They have BMW M3 skid cars to teach the basics and then you get to take a open wheel car on the road course, which is great fun and you learn a lot about driving a car fast....the right way.
That means hitting braking zones and hitting apexes off of proper lines, all the while heel toeing and shifting to the right power band.
Like I said great fun, but you also learn why you don't want to do that stuff on a public street......And it speeds up your desire to get a track car.
It might be time to revisit this. With the introduction of the 458 Italia, prices have dropped pretty dramatically on 355s, 360s and 430s. If you want a pure track car, then the track only Challenge series 355s and 360s are getting below 50K.
And that would go double for a 348 challenge car, which does have more horsepower and much better handling than the street 348TS. I have a buddy in Chicago that has a Scud, Stradale and a 348 Challenge car and he probably has the most fun with the 348 Challenge car.
Yes, funny you should mention that. As it is my experience that right before the driver turns the traction control off, you hear the driver say, "Hey everybody watch this", and then they proceed to put it into the wall.
In fact, usually something very bad always happens right after someone says,"Hey everybody watch this."
Down here in the deep South, it is usually: "Hold my beer . . . Watch This!"
Joey_V
Well-known member
I agree. I think driving a Cayman is not something that I would consider inferior for the fact that it's not a 911 - in terms of cost. The Cayman is a highly rated driver's car for a reason.
Joey,
You know, maybe as a b-day present to your self you could take a driving school course.
Like Barber or in my case the Derek Daly Formula Car Racing School in Vegas.
They have BMW M3 skid cars to teach the basics and then you get to take a open wheel car on the road course, which is great fun and you learn a lot about driving a car fast....the right way.
That means hitting braking zones and hitting apexes off of proper lines, all the while heel toeing and shifting to the right power band.
Like I said great fun, but you also learn why you don't want to do that stuff on a public street......And it speeds up your desire to get a track car.
Joe,
Sounds like great fun!
You know I've only been driving stick for a little over 3 years. I need some pointers in how to drive it properly and what your opinion is on the DCT that are coming out. From my point of view, the manual is always a more engaging experience, but the DCT is easier and faster... will all cars turn out this way in the future and will manuals become truly extinct rather than harder to find (like today)?
What is the truly proper way to "heel toe" and "downshift"? I've tried to learn from youtube but I just want to be sure that I'm doing it the right way.
Thanks,
Joey
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Hocky
Well-known member
Wasn't one of the big new standard features on the 370 the automatic throttle blip? If so, you don't have to worry about heel toe downshifting since the car does it for you.
Heel toe is truly for the manual shifter. And truth be told manuals will most likely die out on new cars over time, but will always be available on older cars, for as long as they last which is probably forever.
So given that you will always be able to find and drive an older car with a manual, I would think it is still a useful skill to learn.
I am a technocrat and I love new technology. To me the DCT is just another in a long line of technology improvements that make it possible to drive cars and other vehicles faster than ever before.
I do not subscibe to the idea that a human and that includes Schumacher, is faster around a track with a manual and no nannies than a human trained with F1 nannies. The reason I say that is, I actually got the opportunity to ask Schumi that question and he said it was no contest, the F1 equipped car is faster.
Manuals may be more engaging and that is really the problem when you are going fast. Things happen way faster when you are on the physical limits of a car and their is enough to do with steering, braking and shifting, passing or being passed God forbid, to keep any one busy enough.
Add to this the idea that you may not drive your Fast car a lot and if you are in a hurry and you make one mis-shift you can blow your weekend up along with half a years salary. That never really appealed to me.
With F1 technology you can not mis-shift, it will not let you hurt the car. The other nannies, launch control, yaw control, traction control, rev control or engine mapping, e-differential, ride control, active suspension, etc. when combined like they are on the 458 Italia, well eveyone that has driven one has fallen for the car. Check this out. http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/planetev...458_track.html
Now if you are talking just driving through the country side at a leisurely pace or you just want to drive a manual, then manuals are fine as they do give you couple extra things to do or engage you. I have already become addicted to paddles as I have been doing it since spring of 98, so I am a lost cause, although I still drive a John Deere that is a manual and all my motorcycles are manuals.
I am pretty sure that I am not qualified to even try to teach pointers about driving, especially over a web forum. Pcar928fan, may be a different story though, I believe he has instructor experience.
I still go to driving schools myself, because I want to get better with each instrument.....I mean car that I drive.
In 08, I went from F355GTS F1 and F512TR to a single F430. Did one school last year at Road America and this summer I am doing the big school at Mont Treblant. 12 guys, two days and 16 f-cars, including F430 Scuderia, 458 Italia, California, and last but not least 599GTE. 2 days and not a single heel toe in the bunch, thank God, because I would probably wreck something, heck I still may ruin my underwear.
Not sure if even after that I am going to be able to teach anyone anything, as I expect to be quivering mass for quite some time after that.
So given that you will always be able to find and drive an older car with a manual, I would think it is still a useful skill to learn.
I am a technocrat and I love new technology. To me the DCT is just another in a long line of technology improvements that make it possible to drive cars and other vehicles faster than ever before.
I do not subscibe to the idea that a human and that includes Schumacher, is faster around a track with a manual and no nannies than a human trained with F1 nannies. The reason I say that is, I actually got the opportunity to ask Schumi that question and he said it was no contest, the F1 equipped car is faster.
Manuals may be more engaging and that is really the problem when you are going fast. Things happen way faster when you are on the physical limits of a car and their is enough to do with steering, braking and shifting, passing or being passed God forbid, to keep any one busy enough.
Add to this the idea that you may not drive your Fast car a lot and if you are in a hurry and you make one mis-shift you can blow your weekend up along with half a years salary. That never really appealed to me.
With F1 technology you can not mis-shift, it will not let you hurt the car. The other nannies, launch control, yaw control, traction control, rev control or engine mapping, e-differential, ride control, active suspension, etc. when combined like they are on the 458 Italia, well eveyone that has driven one has fallen for the car. Check this out. http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/planetev...458_track.html
Now if you are talking just driving through the country side at a leisurely pace or you just want to drive a manual, then manuals are fine as they do give you couple extra things to do or engage you. I have already become addicted to paddles as I have been doing it since spring of 98, so I am a lost cause, although I still drive a John Deere that is a manual and all my motorcycles are manuals.
I am pretty sure that I am not qualified to even try to teach pointers about driving, especially over a web forum. Pcar928fan, may be a different story though, I believe he has instructor experience.
I still go to driving schools myself, because I want to get better with each instrument.....I mean car that I drive.
In 08, I went from F355GTS F1 and F512TR to a single F430. Did one school last year at Road America and this summer I am doing the big school at Mont Treblant. 12 guys, two days and 16 f-cars, including F430 Scuderia, 458 Italia, California, and last but not least 599GTE. 2 days and not a single heel toe in the bunch, thank God, because I would probably wreck something, heck I still may ruin my underwear.
Not sure if even after that I am going to be able to teach anyone anything, as I expect to be quivering mass for quite some time after that.
Hocky
Well-known member
The paddle shifting is cool and will definitely make a car easier to drive, but I don't think I want a car that is easier to drive. They'll be faster, too, with the right implementations, but unfortunately current implementations suck except at the exotic end of sports cars. We are not doing legitimate wheel to wheel racing and trying to find every last tenth on the road course, so for me, the manual transmission cars are a more enjoyable experience at the limit or otherwise. All the silly "best driver's car" articles always side with the cars that are easy to drive.... my book reads those cars as boring. I want something that is going to slam me around, be brutal, and if I goof, it is going to chew me up and spit me out. Tubes vs solid state? haha.
Joey_V
Well-known member
G37 does not have revmatch... the Nissan 370 does.
Hocky
Well-known member
Ah, got ya, I thought they both did. Heel toe downshifting isn't hard, it is just all about practice. The method will vary from car to car, driver to driver, too, since the pedal placement and foot size makes a huge difference. In my z06, I "heel/toe" with the right ball of my foot on the throttle and the left ball of my foot on the brake. After you get that part down, then the real fun comes in perfecting how hard to blip the throttle for the rev match. haha
Jimna
Well-known member
since cars have over run the hobbie thread, here are my girls:
while neither will win a race, the grey '87 would beat most Vanagons. it is my daily driver(sorry i cant dig up a better pic of it right now), its a seven seating Transporter. it has a conversion/kit motor that has about 12k on it, and a matching rebuilt tranny and torque converter, and matching mileage on most of the bushings bearings and anything else i could possibly replace under the hood including the wiring harness....but more importantly it has modern amenities like AC, power windows, cruse control, real heat, and a mild case of trunk funk. BUT the blue van was my first love.... ive owned it for well over a decade now, crossed country 2.5 times in it and had countless camping experiences that are far more valuable then the van itself. so yes its a full camper minus a shower and bathroom. it has fridge, 2 gas burners, running water with a sink, and full on-board propane system that heats cools and cooks.
"if this vans a rocking, dont come a knocking"
at a music festival
while neither will win a race, the grey '87 would beat most Vanagons. it is my daily driver(sorry i cant dig up a better pic of it right now), its a seven seating Transporter. it has a conversion/kit motor that has about 12k on it, and a matching rebuilt tranny and torque converter, and matching mileage on most of the bushings bearings and anything else i could possibly replace under the hood including the wiring harness....but more importantly it has modern amenities like AC, power windows, cruse control, real heat, and a mild case of trunk funk. BUT the blue van was my first love.... ive owned it for well over a decade now, crossed country 2.5 times in it and had countless camping experiences that are far more valuable then the van itself. so yes its a full camper minus a shower and bathroom. it has fridge, 2 gas burners, running water with a sink, and full on-board propane system that heats cools and cooks.
"if this vans a rocking, dont come a knocking"
at a music festival
I would suggest that a Scud, even with full F1 nannies, will slam you around, be brutal, and if you goof, it is going to chew you up and spit you out.
There is a switch, called a Manettino and you can turn the nannies off, which just means all of the above happens much quicker and a bit more intensely.
Pcar928fan
Well-known member
JM,
I am green with envy of the school you are heading off to in Canada! That is going to be AWESOME! I have read about it! Wish I could do something like that...maybe one of these days.
I would not try to teach driving technique on a forum! Man that is a recipe for disaster there...there are entire books (a great many of them) dedicated to teaching high performance driving and racing technique. Those authors are much better drivers and technical writers than I am!
My favorite book is "Going Faster"...it is by one of the Bob Bondurant Driving School instructors (who's name escapes me right now)...that book is the bible! I read it every few years actually! It is THAT GOOD! There is always more to learn and there is ALWAYS someone faster!
The 430 Scud ROCKS!!! I LOVE the sound that car makes! The shifts will knock your socks off too they are so fast! I drove all the really cool exotic cars that I have driven with World Class Driving and the next weekend after I drove their Scud some IDIOT turned off the T/C (which is forbidden) and wrecked the car IMMEDIATELY! UNREAL!
Looked at the Evora today...neat little car. You would not think it could even have a "seat"/parcel shelf behind the seats it is so small but it sure does! Still looks hard as hell to get in and out of...the Elise is one of the coolest cars on the road today but nearly impossible for an average size American to get in and out of!
I am green with envy of the school you are heading off to in Canada! That is going to be AWESOME! I have read about it! Wish I could do something like that...maybe one of these days.
I would not try to teach driving technique on a forum! Man that is a recipe for disaster there...there are entire books (a great many of them) dedicated to teaching high performance driving and racing technique. Those authors are much better drivers and technical writers than I am!
My favorite book is "Going Faster"...it is by one of the Bob Bondurant Driving School instructors (who's name escapes me right now)...that book is the bible! I read it every few years actually! It is THAT GOOD! There is always more to learn and there is ALWAYS someone faster!
The 430 Scud ROCKS!!! I LOVE the sound that car makes! The shifts will knock your socks off too they are so fast! I drove all the really cool exotic cars that I have driven with World Class Driving and the next weekend after I drove their Scud some IDIOT turned off the T/C (which is forbidden) and wrecked the car IMMEDIATELY! UNREAL!
Looked at the Evora today...neat little car. You would not think it could even have a "seat"/parcel shelf behind the seats it is so small but it sure does! Still looks hard as hell to get in and out of...the Elise is one of the coolest cars on the road today but nearly impossible for an average size American to get in and out of!
Joey_V
Well-known member
James,
How does turning off the TC wreck the car? Yikes!!
I have a lot more respect for the DCT...
Pcar928fan,
Yeah, the Ferrari Experience is something I have wanted to do for a while and then I met and became friends with a guy at Ferrari North America who has the Experience as one of his responsibilities.
He told me last summer that they were adding four 458 Italias to the Experience and that just was too much for me to resist.
So a buddy and I are going to go to F school together, he has a Scud and I have a F430, and we both are in line for the Italia. Hopefully our names will come up before we grow old and die.
The 458 is equal to and in some categories better than the Scud, so like I said, I am packing extra underwear.
Yeah, the Ferrari Experience is something I have wanted to do for a while and then I met and became friends with a guy at Ferrari North America who has the Experience as one of his responsibilities.
He told me last summer that they were adding four 458 Italias to the Experience and that just was too much for me to resist.
So a buddy and I are going to go to F school together, he has a Scud and I have a F430, and we both are in line for the Italia. Hopefully our names will come up before we grow old and die.
The 458 is equal to and in some categories better than the Scud, so like I said, I am packing extra underwear.
James,
In the case of the Scud it is 2775 pounds and 510 HP at 8500 RPM and in addition to TC, the Scud has Launch Control, programmable E-Diff, programmable F1 superfast trans, active suspension, selectable engine mapping and a few other odds and ends that should help you explain to Joey why it wrecks the car when you turn all the nannies off.
I knew one guy that turned them off right after taking delivery of the car and he made it less than a 100 yards before he got it sideways and came within inches of wrapping it around one of those huge light poles on the entrance to the interstate. He hasn't swithed it off since.
I have never switched mine off, the trunk isn't big enough to carry all the underwear and clean pants I would need to take with me.
In the case of the Scud it is 2775 pounds and 510 HP at 8500 RPM and in addition to TC, the Scud has Launch Control, programmable E-Diff, programmable F1 superfast trans, active suspension, selectable engine mapping and a few other odds and ends that should help you explain to Joey why it wrecks the car when you turn all the nannies off.
I knew one guy that turned them off right after taking delivery of the car and he made it less than a 100 yards before he got it sideways and came within inches of wrapping it around one of those huge light poles on the entrance to the interstate. He hasn't swithed it off since.
I have never switched mine off, the trunk isn't big enough to carry all the underwear and clean pants I would need to take with me.
