top 10 SOLO driving tips
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top 10 SOLO driving tips
Andy Hollis’ Top 10 SOLO driving tips
Andy Hollis is a former SOLO National Champion and 3-time ProSolo class champion.
POSITION FIRST, THEN SPEED. Positioning the car perfectly is more important than trying to attain the highest potential speed. For example, you will drop more time by correctly positioning the car nearer to slalom cones than you will by adding 1 or 2 MPH in speed. Also, position is a prerequisite for speed. If you are not in the correct place, you will not be able to go faster.
TURN EARLIER…AND LESS. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place the arc must start sooner (turn earlier).
BRAKE EARLIER…AND LESS. Waiting until the last possible second approaching a turn and then dropping the anchor at precisely the correct place so that the desired entry speed is reached exactly as you come to the turn-in point is quite difficult to execute consistently. It’s better to start braking a little earlier to give some margin for error. And by braking less, you can either add or subtract braking effort as you close in on the turn-in point. This will make you consistent and smooth
LIFT EARLY INSTEAD OF BRAKING LATER. When you need to reduce speed only a moderate amount, try an early lift of the throttle instead of a later push of the brake. This is less upsetting in the car, it’s easier to do and thus more consistent, allowing for more precise placement entering the maneuver (remember No.1).
IT’S EASIER TO ADD SPEED IN A TURN THAN TO GET RID OF IT. If you are under the limit, a slight push of the right foot will get you more speed with no additional side effects. On the other hand, if you are too fast and the tires have begun slipping, you can only reduce the throttle and wait until the tires turn enough of that exes energy into smoke and heat. Don’t use your tires as brakes!
USE YOUR RIGHT FOOT TO MODULATE CAR POSITION IN CONSTANT RADIUS TURNS, NOT THE STEERING WHEEL. In a steady-state turn, once you have established the correct steering input to maintain that arc, lifting the throttle slightly will let the car tuck in closer to the inside cones. Conversely, slightly increasing the throttle will push the car out a bit farther to avoid inside cones. It is much easier to make small corrections in position with slight variations in the tires’ slip angle (that’s what you are doing with the throttle) than with the steering wheel.
UNWIND THE WHEEL AND THEN ADD POWER. If the car is using all of the tires tractive capacity to corner there is none left for additional acceleration. At corner exit, as you unwind the wheel, you make some available. If you do not unwind the wheel, when you start to accelerate, the tire will start to slide and the car will push out (see No. 6)
ATTACK THE BACK. For slaloms (also applicable to most offsets), getting close to the cones is critical for quick times (see No.1). To get close, we must move the car less, which means bigger arcs. Because the car doesn’t start changing direction until the wheels cross the center and because the reaction times involved, your brain must make the decision to begin turning the steering wheel back the other way just before the previous cone! Since this is a mental issue, a good visualization technique is to think about trying to run over the backside of each slalom cone with the inside of the rear tire. To hit it with the rear tire (and not the front), the car must be arcing well before the cone and the arc must be shallow. Attack the back!
HANDS FOLLOW THE EYES, CAR FOLLOWS THE HANDS. ‘Nuf said.
SCAN AHEAD. DON’T STARE. Keep the eyes moving -- looking ahead does not mean staring ahead. Your eyes must be constantly moving forward (and sometimes left/right). Glance forward, glance back. Your brain can only operate on the information you give it.
DON’T FORGET THE STUFF IN BETWEEN THE MARKED MANUVERS! Too often we think of a course as a series of discrete maneuvers. There is typically more to be gained or lost in the areas that are in between. Pay special attention to the places where there are no cones.
Andy Hollis is a former SOLO National Champion and 3-time ProSolo class champion.
POSITION FIRST, THEN SPEED. Positioning the car perfectly is more important than trying to attain the highest potential speed. For example, you will drop more time by correctly positioning the car nearer to slalom cones than you will by adding 1 or 2 MPH in speed. Also, position is a prerequisite for speed. If you are not in the correct place, you will not be able to go faster.
TURN EARLIER…AND LESS. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place the arc must start sooner (turn earlier).
BRAKE EARLIER…AND LESS. Waiting until the last possible second approaching a turn and then dropping the anchor at precisely the correct place so that the desired entry speed is reached exactly as you come to the turn-in point is quite difficult to execute consistently. It’s better to start braking a little earlier to give some margin for error. And by braking less, you can either add or subtract braking effort as you close in on the turn-in point. This will make you consistent and smooth
LIFT EARLY INSTEAD OF BRAKING LATER. When you need to reduce speed only a moderate amount, try an early lift of the throttle instead of a later push of the brake. This is less upsetting in the car, it’s easier to do and thus more consistent, allowing for more precise placement entering the maneuver (remember No.1).
IT’S EASIER TO ADD SPEED IN A TURN THAN TO GET RID OF IT. If you are under the limit, a slight push of the right foot will get you more speed with no additional side effects. On the other hand, if you are too fast and the tires have begun slipping, you can only reduce the throttle and wait until the tires turn enough of that exes energy into smoke and heat. Don’t use your tires as brakes!
USE YOUR RIGHT FOOT TO MODULATE CAR POSITION IN CONSTANT RADIUS TURNS, NOT THE STEERING WHEEL. In a steady-state turn, once you have established the correct steering input to maintain that arc, lifting the throttle slightly will let the car tuck in closer to the inside cones. Conversely, slightly increasing the throttle will push the car out a bit farther to avoid inside cones. It is much easier to make small corrections in position with slight variations in the tires’ slip angle (that’s what you are doing with the throttle) than with the steering wheel.
UNWIND THE WHEEL AND THEN ADD POWER. If the car is using all of the tires tractive capacity to corner there is none left for additional acceleration. At corner exit, as you unwind the wheel, you make some available. If you do not unwind the wheel, when you start to accelerate, the tire will start to slide and the car will push out (see No. 6)
ATTACK THE BACK. For slaloms (also applicable to most offsets), getting close to the cones is critical for quick times (see No.1). To get close, we must move the car less, which means bigger arcs. Because the car doesn’t start changing direction until the wheels cross the center and because the reaction times involved, your brain must make the decision to begin turning the steering wheel back the other way just before the previous cone! Since this is a mental issue, a good visualization technique is to think about trying to run over the backside of each slalom cone with the inside of the rear tire. To hit it with the rear tire (and not the front), the car must be arcing well before the cone and the arc must be shallow. Attack the back!
HANDS FOLLOW THE EYES, CAR FOLLOWS THE HANDS. ‘Nuf said.
SCAN AHEAD. DON’T STARE. Keep the eyes moving -- looking ahead does not mean staring ahead. Your eyes must be constantly moving forward (and sometimes left/right). Glance forward, glance back. Your brain can only operate on the information you give it.
DON’T FORGET THE STUFF IN BETWEEN THE MARKED MANUVERS! Too often we think of a course as a series of discrete maneuvers. There is typically more to be gained or lost in the areas that are in between. Pay special attention to the places where there are no cones.
Great post! I think this advise can be utilized for spirited canyon carving too.I printed it immediately and hung it above my desk so I can read it before my commute home every night through the hills! :]
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Car Info: 2002 WRX
good post thanks!
TURN EARLIER…AND LESS. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place the arc must start sooner (turn earlier).
I know the lines that I SHOULD take but I have a problem with cutting the corner too soon. I start cutting to the inside of a turn and once I get to the inside line I have to hold it their for too long until I can let the car start to move to the outside of the exit. So in my case I have to make a concious effort to turn later OR turn less so I hit the inside of the turn at the....for lack of a better word, fulcrum
TURN EARLIER…AND LESS. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place the arc must start sooner (turn earlier).
I know the lines that I SHOULD take but I have a problem with cutting the corner too soon. I start cutting to the inside of a turn and once I get to the inside line I have to hold it their for too long until I can let the car start to move to the outside of the exit. So in my case I have to make a concious effort to turn later OR turn less so I hit the inside of the turn at the....for lack of a better word, fulcrum
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,023
From: Phoenix, AZ
Car Info: Subaru Impreza WRX 2002
These are indeed great tips, but I wonder how useful they are for AWD turbo cars. Having to maintain a high RPM to keep the turbo spooled made for a big change in my driving style, and coming from a N/A Miyata I find I can get away with a LOT more with AWD and still stay within the cones. I find I almost never lift once I enter a turn; the more power put to the ground, the better the WRX grips. I also find myself in 1st gear in many places where a N/A car would be in second, due to the necessity of keeping the engine above 3500 RPM.
The "unwind the wheel" part is becoming a very important tip for me now that I am over 220 WHP -- I can see how that would be more of a problem on a RWD car, but even with good tires I can feel the car start to twist and buck if I gas it too soon. I drove a 400 WHP EVO a few weeks back, and the damn thing smokes all four tires between 1st and 2nd and 2nd and 3rd; you have to drive it like a grandma to find grip. Stupid!
The "unwind the wheel" part is becoming a very important tip for me now that I am over 220 WHP -- I can see how that would be more of a problem on a RWD car, but even with good tires I can feel the car start to twist and buck if I gas it too soon. I drove a 400 WHP EVO a few weeks back, and the damn thing smokes all four tires between 1st and 2nd and 2nd and 3rd; you have to drive it like a grandma to find grip. Stupid!
Last edited by meilers; Dec 11, 2006 at 08:08 PM.
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