Myth of Big Brake Upgrades

Lemans Car at Sebring - the red glow within the wheels are the rotors heating up in a braking zone just before a turn. Photo by Jeffery Ling

It is easy to believe that larger rotors and bigger calipers will make your car stop faster, but that is because most people assume that brakes stop the car, when in actuality they only stop the wheels.  This may seem like a minor distinction, but consider this: if you slam on the brakes and lock up the wheels (assume the car doesn’t have ABS for simplicity), does the car stop?  Not when traveling at speed it doesn't.  The car slides for a while with smoke billowing  and the tires screaming in agony.  At this point, stopping distance is determined not by the size of the rotor, or if they are cross-drilled, or Carbotech brake pads, but by the tires.  A quick side note: locking up the tires is never considered to be the fastest way to stop a car, but even still, it’s the tires that will have the biggest impact on the stopping distance of a car.

So, if the brake system only stops the wheels from turning, but doesn’t stop the car, then why use fancy drilled and slotted rotors, the $150+ race pads, and multi-piston calipers?  The answer is a bit more complicated and will require a short and hopefully painless foray into the world of physics.  The brake system of a car is an energy conversion system. It takes the energy of the car’s momentum and converts it to heat.  When you apply the brakes you slow down because your forward momentum is being converted into heat energy by the friction of the pads on the rotors.  If you slam on the brakes once, the car will slow down very quickly and your brake system will become very hot. If You then accelerate and do it again within a short time interval the brakes get hotter.  And if  you keep doing this, eventually you will put so much heat into the system that they don't work effectively any more, and the brakes will feel softer and softer until they don’t work any more.  This is called brake fade.  For those who have lived or driven in the mountains are already familiar with brake fade when descending a mountain.  If you haven’t had the chance to drive in the mountains then let me explain.  When heading down hill for an extended period of time you are constantly checking your speed with some braking inputs to keep you from accelerating.  If you don’t down shift and take some of the load off the brake system your brakes get so hot that they don’t work any more, and then your trip down the mountain becomes rather terrifying.  It is when you are stressing the brake system with repeated accelerating and hard braking like you would on a road track that a big brake system makes sense. 

Here is a list of common brake upgrades and what purpose they serve.  You will notice almost all of them deal with managing heat or increasing the heat tolerance of the system.

DOT 4 or 5 brake fluid – Most cars come with DOT3 brake fluid, which is perfectly fine for every day driving, but DOT 4 has a higher boiling point so the fluid can withstand higher temperatures so the brakes can get hotter before they start to fade.  I would highly recommend using at least DOT 4 in any track car.  DOT 5 is silicone based and has an even higher boiling point, but the brake lines need to be thoroughly flushed when converting a DOT 3/4 system to DOT 5 since the different fluids do not play well together.

Stainless Steel Brake lines – Brake lines in the car tend to be all hard lines except for a short flexible rubber section from the chassis to the caliper to allow for suspension travel.  When the brakes fluid heats up from heavy use, the rubber gets a little softer and allows the line to expand a little, which translates into a slightly softer pedal feel.  The stainless steel lines don’t allow the line to expand and so the brakes feel a bit stiffer and more consistent.  Also, the stainless steel is much more durable.

Racing Compound Brake Pads – If you go to your local auto parts store for pads they cater to the common driver who aren’t racing their car and don’t want noisy brakes.  The primary difference between a race formulated pad and an AutoZone pad is that the compound works at higher temperatures.  Because of this, many of the really aggressive race pads will need to come to temperature before becoming 100% effective.  You will also notice a big difference in feel.  The brakes should feel sharper, will be more consistent.  They also tend to be noisier, and its very important that they are bedded in before taking them out on the track.  There may be additional benefits to give up an arm or a leg for the more expensive pads depending on application.  My 24 Hours of Lemons team runs a ‘96 Neon, and at our first race we ran Hawk Blacks.  After approximately 8 hours of racing the pads were worn out, and the backing plate bent backwards cracking the caliper piston.  We had to swap not only pads but scrounge for another caliper, which we ended up taking off another team’s car that had retired with a blown engine. I am not blaming the Hawks, they are good pads, and we believe that a major cause for the failure was lack of airflow to the front brakes.  However, we installed brake ducts and now run Carbotechs that cost over $200 just for the fronts, because they have a good track record for surviving an endurance race, and they have an extra thick backer plate to prevent the pads from bending backwards, because this is a common problem with Neons.

Slotted Rotors – A slotted rotor has grooves machined into the face of the rotor that helps give the pad a bit more traction and vents gases that are produced as the pad heats up. This will wear the pads faster but should have a sharp, and more importantly, a consistent feel.

Cross-Drilled Rotors – As I had mentioned, a lot of hard braking in a short period of time will cause heat to build up in the brakes, and if they get hot enough the braking power becomes less and less, until it eventually fails all together.  These rotors will have holes drilled into them that will help the rotors cool down faster so that the brakes don’t fade.  There are also the combination rotors that have been both drilled and slotted so that they have benefits of both.  Please do not go cheap on these parts, since a cheaply made cross drilled rotor can crack prematurely and potentially fail at a very inconvenient time.

Larger Rotors –Having a larger rotor means there is more rotor material and they can absorb much more heat energy.  Also they have more surface area so they will cool faster.

Multi-piston Calipers – Many of you may not even know what a caliper piston is so I will try and briefly explain.  The caliper is a hydraulic system that squeezes the pads against the rotors.  To do this there is a cylinder that one of the pads sits against, and when the brake pedal is pressed, the piston presses it against the rotor.  An arm on the caliper assembly that moves with the pressure of the piston reaches over the rotor and applies braking pressure to the other pad on the opposite side of the rotor.  In general, this one piston system works fine because it is more than sufficient for street driving.  However, on the track the system is being taxed heavily, and as the brakes heat up the pads will flex slightly.  The single piston in the middle of the pad will focus the brake pressure on the center of the pad and the edges will flex away from the rotor.  This means the pad is not being heated evenly and so the whole pad is not sharing in the braking load.  Arranging multiple pistons behind the pad means the braking force is more evenly applied for increased braking efficiency.  There are dual piston, 4 piston, and 6 piston calipers that I am aware of.  Since more of the load is being shared along the whole length of the pad, they don't wear as fast and can actually save you money as well as improve safety.

Brake Ducts – These are a very simple modification that can really improve the effectiveness, and life, of your brakes when on the track.  There are special brake ducting hose that looks like plastic dryer ducting, or you can be really cheap and just get aluminum dryer ducting.  The idea is to route some air from the front of the car to the rotors so that they stay cooler.

When I was running my MR2 track car, I had run the stock brakes with stock pads and had no issues with brake fade, and I definitely can lock up the wheels, so the only modification I made was to run DOT4 brake fluid.  But the car only has a 135 horse power, so its no rocket ship, and therefore I wasn’t putting a lot of heat into the brakes.  I have just recently swapped in a V6 which has increased my WHP from 100 (in actuality, the motor was pretty tired, so I bet I was closer to 85 or 90) to about 165.  Though I haven’t run the car yet, I am anticipating that I will have issues with the stock brakes overheating.  The plan is to upsize the brakes to what the turbo model has and add stainless steel brake lines.  Since the turbo has approximately 200hp, and my V6 version has about the same, the cars braking requirements should be about equal and so this upgrade should be sufficient.

How to Upgrade Smartly
Racing, or even tracking, a car is an expensive hobby, so you may be wondering how to get the most bang for your buck when upgrading your brakes.  One easy rule of thumb is that if you have modified your car, giving it significantly more horsepower, then it is a good bet that you will also need to upgrade the brakes before you take to the track, since the stock system probably won't be able to handle the extra heat.  Another indication that you will need to make some modifications to your brake system would be if you are experiencing brake fade while on the track, even if it is a stock car running stock brakes. 
First, always upgrade your brake fluid to at least DOT 4.  In order for this to be effective you need to bleed brake lines dry but you won't have to flush them.  While you are at it, I would suggest getting the stainless steel brake lines for the extra durability and better pedal feel.

If you are only experiencing slight fading when on the track a pretty simple and relatively cheap modification would be to add brake ducts.  Sometimes all you need is a bit more air flow to keep the brakes cool and they will be fine.  

If you have done both of these and are still experiencing brake fade it's time to look at new rotors and pads.  There are mildly aggressive race pads that will handle heat better than regular stock pads.  Cross-drilled rotors shed heat a lot faster than the plain-Jane rotors that come with most cars, so the combination of the two should give you a significant improvement.  
Finally, if none of this is working you have a pretty serious car or a mechanical issue.  Serious cars means big brakes, which means new rotors, calipers, and pads.  This is a pretty involved upgrade, since this can also effect your brake balance, which is a whole other discussion.  

Of course, if you are ever having braking issues on the track, slow down to a safe speed and pit.  Also, when in doubt, either about making any modifications to your car or the safety of the car you should always make the safe decision.

How To Inspect Your Car For The Track

For your safety and the safety of other participants, it is important that you bring a car that is mechanically safe for the track.  There will likely be some sort of safety or tech inspection, but no one will know the car as well as you, so ultimately, it's your responsibility to make sure that the car you are bringing to the event is safe.  If you aren't the mechanic in the family I would suggest learning the basics like changing a tire, torquing the wheels, checking fluids and bleeding brakes.  It isn't uncommon to have to bleed the brakes while at the track because you cooked your brake fluid.

- Fluid leaks:  Look for any significant leaks and get them fixed.  If the engine is wet from oil, but its not dripping significantly, you will be OK.  Significant leaks are anything that leaves a quarter sized puddle after the car has been sitting for an hour.  This is transmission, engine, radiator, brakes, power steering, fuel (want to burn to death?), differential, blinker fluid and any other fluids your car may have that I forgot about.

- Brakes: Check to make sure your rotors are in decent shape and you have plenty of meat on the pads. Even if the fluid looks good and you have good pedal feel it's still a good idea to bleed the brakes to get some fresh fluid in the calipers.  If you change pads then you should bed in the brakes to give you the best possible braking performance. It is also a good idea to bring an extra set of pads in case you wear out the current set on your car.

- Suspension/drive-train.  Check for any loose components especially ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings, and control arms.  One way to check it is to grab the top of the tire with the car on the ground and shake it.  If there is play or funny noises, you better investigate further.  Then jack up the car, and grab the tire in the 3 and 9 o'clock position and shake it.  Then repeat in the 12 and 6 o'clock position.  Again, you are looking for excessive play or noises that indicating that there are some loose parts.

- Tires:  You should expect to wear the tires pretty significantly, so check them for thread depth, uneven wear, cracking, cuts or damage.  Check them between sessions to make sure you still have meat on them, but I wouldn't recommend going to an event unless the tires have at least half the thread depth left otherwise you might have to retire from the event early.

- Battery:  It must be secured so that it doesn't become a wrecking ball inside the car.

- Wheel Torque.  Bring a torque wrench to check the lugs regularly before, during and after the event. Know what you should be torquing your lugs to because if you over do it you can break wheel studs which the organizers won't like to much.  Plus, think how embarrassing it would be if a wheel came off on the course.

- Steering:  I should feel tight.  Older cars with the conventional steering linkage may have more play, but if its excessive you need determine if you have any worn components.

-Misc:  Safety belts need to be functional.  Tail lights usually need to be functioning.  The inside of the car needs to be cleared of loose items, including the floor mats. No cracks in the windshield. No loose or hanging body panels. No significant rust in structural areas of the car such as the frame, suspension hard points, and strut towers.

Just figure that you could be going 100+ mph into a turn, do you want a mechanical failure to send you into the wall?  If the answer is yes, then please let me know which track day you will be at so I can avoid it.  When in doubt, slow the car to a safe speed and return to the pits and ask someone to help you.  There are a lot of cool people out there, and they will be more than happy to help if they can.  Track days are the most fun when you go home with your car and your self in one piece, so don't worry about getting your moneys worth. 

How to Track Your Car

When I say "track" I mean a road track.  With turns. Right as well as left hand turns.  Usually in some interesting configuration.  So I am not talking about drag strips, speedways, or circle tracks.  Road tracks would be like Watkins Glen, Laguna Seca, or anything that Formula 1 races on.  A road course tests the car and driver as a whole, not just acceleration or top end speed, but also cornering, braking and car control. 

It might surprise you how easy it is to be able to get your car out on real race track by participating in an event called an Open Track Day (OPD), also known as a High Performance Driving Event (HPDE).  It is like actual racing but mitigating the risk by limiting how and when cars can pass each other.  Generally this means you can drive your car as close to the limit as you feel comfortable, but you can only pass a slower car on the straights after they have pointed you by.  Sure, sometimes you can get stuck in "traffic" but usually the events are organized in such a fashion as to give you plenty of track time, so the few laps in which you are working through slower cars, you can make up for it with many more open laps and pushing yourself and your car.

Now you might be asking what do you need.  For the car, it should be in fine running order.  Some tracks may require convertibles to have a roll bar, but you won't need a roll cage, race suit.  Just a regular old Ford Taurus would be fine.  Maybe not fun, but a stock car is perfectly acceptable.  I will define what "fine working order" means in more detail a little later.  Cost wise, registration fees can range anywhere from $100-400/day depending on how nice the track is and who is organizing it.  For instance, Laguna Seca is about the $300-400 range, where Gingerman Raceway in South Haven Michigan is about $150.  Gingerman is a nice track, but it doesn't have the pedigree of Laguna Seca.  Your next biggest expense, unless you already have one, would be a helmet and that can cost $250 or more if you want a really fancy one.  Next would be gas.  Not only for driving to a from the track, but also at the track and that expense will vary with the car.  If you have a helmet, and you go to Gingerman, then you can expect to pay about $350 for the day if you are driving 4 or so hours to the track and staying at a hotel for one night.  If you can camp on the track, I would suggest it since it usually means you can walk the track the night before and perhaps even make some friends with other drivers.

Step one; find the nearest tracks.  You may be lucky and live in the Detroit area in which there are 5 tracks within a 4 or 5 hour drive or you may live in a race track desert and will have no choice but to drive 8+ hours.  Unfortunately if you try searching on google maps you can get a lot of false positives, but its a good place to start.  One really helpful website is Trackpedia.com.  On that site you can browse tracks by continent, region and state so you can then easily identify tracks that might be close to you, see the course layout, see in-car video of the track and read through the turn by turn guide.  Once you have identified some local or not so local tracks, you can find their website and see if they have a posted schedule for open track days or what groups are hosting events there.  For instance, you might see that the Porsche Owners Club has an event, and they may be open to anyone who might be interested in attending simply because they can't can't get a large enough group from within the club to cover the costs of renting the track.  Also, there are groups that all they do is track events such as 3Ballsracing.  If necessary, you can always try and contact the track and see what groups are around that allow random people to attend.

Hopefully you have found a track and some potential track dates it's time to get ready.  You need inspect the car for potential mechanical issues that if not addressed or identified might make the day a little more dramatic than you originally intended.  I will post a write up on how to check your car before you bring it to the track.  If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, you can bring it to a mechanic who can do it for you.  Whoever is organizing the track day may have a few local mechanics that they would suggest.  It is better to address any problems ahead of time because the organizers will likely have a safety (aka tech) inspection on site to try and identify and mechanical hazards.  And if your car is deemed as being unsafe, you may not be able to run.

Besides having a car in fine working order, you will need a helmet.  When purchasing a helmet you should pay attention to teh safety rating since different tracks or organizations may have different requirements.  When in doubt a SNELL SA2010 full face helmet will meet or exceed all requirements and you can use it if you start racing.

Most importantly, bring an open mind.  Listen to people.  If available, ride along with more experienced drivers.  Take it easy, and try and work on the fundamentals; racing line, identifying turn in points and getting a feel for the car. Of course, have fun, and you won't be having fun if you are pushing to hard, driving stupidly and crashing. 

Lastly, keep in mind that you will be at the track all day, and it will probably be hot.  Try and get plenty of sleep the night before because you will definitely get more out of it if you aren't hungover or half asleep.  Bring sunscreen, a hat, a chair, some shade if you can, a cooler with drinks to keep hydrated (preferably water),and snacks.  Don't under estimate how much your performance on the track will be dictated by how dehydrated, hungry or fatigued you will become from the heat.

See my next post on inspecting and prepping your car for the open track day.

Review: 2011 Honda CR-Z

It has been about 14 years since Toyota unleashed the Prius on the world.  From the motorsports crowd it garnered a nod for innovation but also instilled a little fear since hybrid cars seemed to foreshadow the eventual doom of car racing as we know it.  I am sure many were imagining a world where little electric cars whirred by so quietly the crowds could drown out the sound with their own collective breathing.  Perhaps that future may still await us, but there is another chapter to be told that will be belted out in the raucous breath of fossil fuels and I think the opening line is the humble little CR-Z

It really is the first affordable sport hybrid.  When I first saw it at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Porsche was releasing the 918 which is a super hybrid that only costs $845,000.  That is expensive even by super car standards.  These aren’t the first two sports hybrids.  Over the last couple years and in various racing series, a few hybrid race cars have been fielded, including the Kinetic Energy Regeneration System (KERS) employed in Formula 1.  Like the hybrid technology found in regular road going cars, the KERS system is charged by capturing some of the energy that would be lost during braking.  This hybrid technology adds a little spice into F1 since the driver now has a "turbo" button that he could press to give him 80 extra horses for up to 6 seconds per lap.  Of course the system adds weight, it's tricky to tune without throwing off the brake balance, and there have been reliability issues.  Now that F1 is in the second season of implementation after taking one season off in 2010, many of the teams have worked out the bugs and it will become more refined as time goes on.  What I find most fascinating about the CR-Z is that Honda was able to bottle what is essentially the same technology, and sell it for less than $20,000 USD.

I am not saying this car is a monster on the street; far from it.  The little 1.5L engine puts out a whooping 112hp with 107lbs of torque with a manual tranny; one more of each over the CVT. However, this is combined with an integrated electric motor that kicks in when you are accelerating to give you an additional 14 horses and 58 lbs of torque at 1000-1500 rpms.  Which means the little bugger is quite peppy! 

This car really is the grandson of the CRX; it’s a two seater economy car that is really only a sports car in that it’s light enough to seem fast with that tiny engine, and has the stance and look of a sporty car.  What is really nice is how the whole drive train is packaged.  The batteries aren't huge since they aren't intended to power the car on their own, so they don’t add to much weight.  The electric motor is about the size of a pizza and is sandwiched between the engine and trans. When the car knows you are accelerating, the electric motor kicks in to help the engine like a mini supercharger.  Honda has dubbed their hybrid system the Integrated Motor Assist (IMS) and was already employed in the Insight.  The most amazing part of the car is it offers us a glimpse of the future.  Take a moment and imagine this technology scaled up into a true track thrasher.  A Civic SI with 200hp from a 2.0L engine coupled with the IMS that improves gas mileage, and gives the car significant torque off the line.  Or instead, what if this was implemented into the anticipated Toyobaru where 250+ hp wouldn't be overly ambitious for a RWD car as it might be for the FWD Civic.  That car would be a real monster.

Well, enough of this envisioning what this car promises for the future; what is the car like?  I will keep is pretty short, since I have spent enough time talking about how this car is the pivot point for a new chapter in motorsports.

On The Street

I like.  It makes a nifty commuter, and if I was looking to buy another daily driver, it would be in the top 5 cars I would consider because it is pretty fun to drive.  It gets pretty good gas mileage; 35 city, 39 highway. The six speed manual tranny is smooth and easy to use, though the gears are pretty tightly packed.  The seats are comfortable and I really liked how the dash was laid out.  My only critique of the interior is that the air conditioning knob was exactly where I expected the volume for the stereo to be.  Every time I tried to change the volume, I adjusted the air conditioning fan speed.  As you would expect, everything was plastic, but seemed solidly built. 

It has all the standard features you would expect in a car built for the MP3 generation.  A small cubby hole in the center console has a USB cable to plug in a thumb drive loaded with music.  There is also an auxiliary input jack on the face of the stereo.  In the standard model there is a 160 watt stereo, which can be upgraded to 360 watts in the EX car.

Taking a queue from some fancier cars, the CR-Z has three driving modes; Sport, Normal, and Econ.  In sport mode the throttle response is sharpened, the steering is tightened up, and the electric motor is used more aggressively. Even in this mode with the manual transmission, if you come to a stop and you are in neutral, the engine will turn off until you up it into gear.  Then the electric motor kicks the engine back on.

When in Econ mode, and driving the manual, the car will reduce the use of accessories and use the electric motor to maximize efficiency.  However, with the CVT tranny, the car will shift sooner to keep the rpms low and therefore the gas consumption low as well. You will get better fuel economy with the CVT than you would in the manual but I think the manual would be more fun to drive.  So if you are just driving to work, then you run in Econ mode.  You decide you want to race a Civic off the line at a light, then hit the Sport button; which you can do on the fly.

Many complain about the visibility, and it has two main blind spots.  Looking out the back of the car, the hatch frame blocks much of the view and the c-pillars are so wide that there is a bit of a blind spot in the rear quarters.  Yeah, those are annoying, but I think you would get used to it.  For me, there is one major drawback and really makes me hesitate to buy one; the safety rating for this car is only 3 stars for front and side impact.  Yeah, in rollovers it is rated at 5 stars, but considering that if I did buy this car it would primarily be a commuter car and perhaps secondly an autoX'er. I am more worried about hitting other idiots on the road or them hitting me than I am about rolling over.  So I would feel a bit better if Honda put 50-100 pounds of steel in the car to reinforce the body and perhaps bump its safety rating to 4 or 5.

For the Track

This car would be slotted into the "fun but not terribly fast" category; even with 122 combined horses of the combustion and electric motor working in unison.  Sure the car is peppy, but it goes from 0-60 at the same pace as my girlfriend's Fit.  Even it if isn't really faster than a Fit, the suspension and chassis are MUCH MUCH better.  The CR-Z 5" shorter, 2" wider and has a lot better road feel especially with the bucket seats that come standard.  Its track credibility is enhanced by the 4 wheel disc brakes, but I almost wonder if they are necessary.  With a 58.8 to 41.2 weight distribution, I don't know how much stopping the rear wheels will be doing when the car leans forward under hard braking.

Overall I would be happy to own the car, but given the abundance of large trucks on the American roads, I would be a little worried about getting tagged by some wayward driver. It would probably be a fun autoX'er and it gets good gas mileage but I would doubt that it would make a fun track car for the intermediate or experienced driver.  However, I do like that it gives us a preview of what affordable sporty hybrids will look like in the near future.

Specs:

Hp: 122hp combined

Weight Disp: 58.8/41.2

Weight (lbs, MT/CVT): 2637/2690

Track Car for the Novice

It’s easy to find a lot of articles about which car is the best track car, but they are usually measuring which car can turn the fastest lap time.  That is really good for experienced drivers, but what about the best track car if you are a first timer?  I thought it would be good to do a write up on what the best novice track car would be.  If you are interested in really honing your skills so that you can drive a car at or near its limit on a track or would like to get into racing, then please sit down with an open mind and let me explain my philosophy before you just peruse the list to see where your car falls.

Whenever I talk to someone about tracking a car they always assume that a car needs to be modified.   Why?  I guess many assume that when taking a car out onto the track it should be prepped for the track with power and suspension mods, but most cars that you would want to take to the track will be just fine in the stock form.  Adding power and suspension modification only adds another layer of complexity and obscures the skills a novice driver should be focusing on.  Watching track and race videos can be very deceiving since you really don’t get a good feel for how fast those corners seem to come at you, how hard to turn, and then there are the walls, the little bumps, and the slip angle of the tires.  A friend of mine summed it up in one word: scary.  It’s a fun scary, but you won’t really know what I mean until you have done it.  Even now you are probably thinking “I am going to tear the track up!”  Basically if you really want to be a skilled driver then put on the training wheels.  It seems that every hobby I have pursued, there are the foundational skill sets that when mastered will make it easier to concentrate on practicing the advanced skills.  So with this in mind, I have a few suggestions on what is the best way to learn to drive a car at speed on a track.  Of course, always be safe.  You aren’t going to become a great driver if you crash and burn.

Try AutoX (pronounced auto-cross) first.  Not glamorous, but it is fun.  One benefit is that the courses are set up to try and limit the possibility of you wrecking your car if you spin or otherwise make a fool of yourself.  But really the best part of autoxing is that you can get a feel for the car in a relatively safe setting.  Don’t make excuses that the events are “confusing with all those cones” or some BS like that.  Try it.  When you do, really push the car.  Try and make it spin.  Try and brake really late and hard.  Practice threshold braking.  Feel how hard you can corner.  What does the car do when you take it into a corner to fast?  What happens when you give it to much throttle in the middle of the corner?  There shouldn’t be any hard obstacles or people out there to hit if you totally push wide in a corner or spin.  When I make new significant modifications to my car I like to thrash it around at an autoX first just to see how the car feels and it gives me more confidence when I got to the track that if I do spin I have some idea what I need to do to recover.

I will assume that you probably already have a car, and that is the car you intend to track.  However, if you don’t have a car yet or want to buy another car, I have compiled this list of cars from Ideal to Terrible.  Now I wish that I could have driven all these cars, but I haven’t so some of this is based on the tech sheets or second hand knowledge but I wanted to list most of the popular models.  It’s important to note that one assumption I made with this list is that the cars are NOT MODIFIED or have minor modifications such as intake, exhaust, sway bar change maybe some newer slightly adjustable suspension.  So no turbo upgrades, no coilovers, no aero.

Ideal Cars - These cars will all share common characteristics; front engine, rear wheel drive, low powered. Why these characteristics?  Most high powered race cars are going to be rear wheel drive and since those cars are going to be prone to oversteer, you should learn to control it and use it.  Sure a lot of high power cars are going to be mid-engine, but mid-engine cars can be difficult to learn in because when they start to spin, they spin fast where a front engine car has more progressive oversteer, that’s easier to detect, correct for, and recover from.  Now, the most important part is you want a low power car so that you can concentrate on fundamental driver skills such as racing lines, smooth down shifts and car control without having to do it at 100+ mph.  Trust me, like I said earlier, it may seem like the faster the better, but once you actually do it, it’s better to start slow, learn the fundamentals and then step it up to the fast cars.  Remember, training wheels before the ten speed.

Mazda Miata (base model, no forced induction)
Mazda RX-7 (old models that aren’t turbocharged)
Toyota Corrolla (83-87 AE86, RWD car)
Pontiac Solstice (no turbo or supercharger)
Saturn Sky (non-tubro of course)
Nissan 240SX, 300Z
Porsche 944 (non turbo)

Good Cars - These cars are fun and will help the novice driver learn to drive a track, but may not have handling characteristics that emulate the typical race car or higher end sports cars.

Honda Civic, Accord, Fit, CRX
Dodge Neon (DOHC or SOHC versions, not the SRT4)
Acura Integra (not the Type-R)
Nissan Sentra (normal or SE-R)
VW Golf, Scirocco, Corrado, GTI (no VR6 or turbos)
Ford Focus, Escort, Fiesta
Chevy Cobalt (not the SS of course)
Subaru 2.5RS, Legacy, regular Impreza
Mini Cooper

Marginal Cars – These cars are rated as such mostly because they are a little fast to make the Ideal or Good list, though a couple mid-engine cars made the marginal list since they have well tuned suspension or low power so that they aren’t to much of a handful.

Ford Mustang
Chevy Cobalt SS
BMWs
Dodge SRT-4, Challenger, Charger
VW R32, VR6’s
Toyota Supra (Mark 2&3), MR2 Spyder (’00-’05)
Nissan 300ZX (non-turbo)
AudiA4, TT
Porsche Cayman, Boxter, 944 Turbo
Fiat X1/9
Nissan 350Z & 370Z

Mazda RX-8

A Little Scary – Handling characteristics are tricky or speed is just getting to fast to make them a good novice car. For instance, the mid-engine layout has some very solid advantages, but they also can be very “snappy”, meaning that when the tail end breaks loose and starts to spin, it will do so quickly and the driver needs to be very attuned to the car to be able to catch it.

Chevy Corvette, Camaro
Toyota MR2, Supra (Mark 4)
Lotus Elise
Subaru WRX or STI
Mitsubishi EVOs
Porsche 911 (non-turbo)
Nissan GT-R

Terrible – Keep in mind this is for a novice driver.  Don’t misinterpret this list; all of these cars make great track cars but not if you are trying to learn.  Basically, take all the super cars and lump them into this class, but here are some particularly difficult to drive:

Porsche 911 (especially the older ones)
Dodge Viper
Ariel Atom

What is a Driver's Car?

 Photo by RUD66, Flickr, apart of the creative commons

It was 1964 when Porsche began to sell the 1965 model year 911, the car that has been described as the ultimate driver’s car.  Besides the unique styling, the car had a few other features that set it apart from most cars of its day such as independent rear suspension, four wheel disc brakes and decent power from the 2.0L flat six that utilized overhead cams instead of the more common pushrods.  However the most notable characteristic is the rear mounted engine that gave the car a 40-60 (meaning 40% of the weight is on the front tires, and 60% on the rear tires) weight distribution that gave the 911 interesting handling characteristics.  Because of its relatively affordable price point, refined suspension, and power the 911 became popular in all sorts of motorsports, from road track and autoX to hill climbs and rallys and its popularity exploded from there.

What is it about this car that sets it apart as being the preeminent driver's car?  The rear engine lay-out seems nothing more than some dressed up VW Beetle with some extra power, but that oversimplifies things and doesn't do the car any justice.  It would be like calling a Viper a dressed up truck. Sure, some of the suspension and the engine of the early models were based on a truck, but that doesn't make it a truck. The 911 is strapped with a more sophisticated suspension, and the brakes to handle the extra power. Having the engine in the back means the car has shorter braking distance, is more stable under braking and makes the car very oversteery.  If you didn't know it, drivers prefer oversteer to understeer, and this car has extra helpings. But with the weight hanging out behind the rear axle, if the driver looses the back end, it can come around very quickly. A driver has to be very vigilant and in tune with the car or it will spin, and because of this it reputation of killing many a rich yuppie who thought they were driving some godly car that couldn't possibly spin off the road into a tree and kill them.  Perhaps in defense of the 911 or maybe another car that had similarly dangerous reputation, the 911 was labeled as a "driver's car". I can't say for certain when the term was coined or why, but the 911 has become the poster child for the ultimate driver's car. 

What does this tell us about what makes a driver's car?  If we distill out the features of the Porsche that makes it unique, we can sketch out an accurate definition for what a driver's car actually is.  The 40-60 weight distributions gives the car great braking performance, helps keeps the weight on the drive tires for better traction, and gives it the famous twitchy back end.  Besides that, it is also mixed with some decent power and a well tuned suspension that makes the 911 a very capable car at negotiating road track.  Challenging, yes, but also rewarding and that is really what makes the car worth it.  A Reliant Robin is a challenging car to drive around a track in anger, but its' three wheel layout and weak motorcycle engine doesn't give it a competitive advantage.  Herein lies the essence of the driver's car; it is fast, it shreds corners, and it pushes the driver as much as the driver pushes the car.

If you go looking for the definition of a driver’s car online you would likely see a blog post talking about the car being “fun” or perhaps that it has a good cockpit, a steering wheel that feels good in teh hands or help give the driver confidence in a corner.  But based on what we know about the Porsche, this is all wrong.  In fact a true driver’s car would probably be bat shit scary to the new or lightly experienced driver.  The key is that the car is challenging to drive because if it was easy, the true driver would be bored with it.  For instance, I would consider a Formula 1 car to be a true driver’s car, but I doubt that I would be able to really drive one very effectively.  If you haven’t see Richard Hammond try and drive the Renault R25 Formula 1 car, I would suggest you watch it (here).  The F1 car is the most challenging car to drive that I know of, and it is driven by the most respected drivers in the world.  So for those who think that an Acura Integra Type-R is a driver’s car, I would say you are wrong.  Though I haven't driven one, I assume that its fun, and fast, but its but because its FWD, it can't be a driver's car.  I hate to broadly define cars based solely on drive train configuration, it is pretty safe to say that all FWD cannot be a true driver’s car for two reasons. One is they tend to understeer, which isn’t helpful in racing, and its also a more benign handling response than oversteer, and second is the front wheels perform two functions, steering and acceleration.  This is fundamentally weaker than a RWD layout that has the front wheels dedicated to steering and the rear wheels dedicated to accelerating the car forward.  So in a turn, a rear wheel drive should be able to put more power down to accelerate out of the corner.  All wheel drive is a whole other animal, and it isn’t so easy to categorically praise or denounce them since some are very raw with a rear wheel bias and mechanical diffs, while others are highly tricked out with yaw sensors, traction control and electronically controlled center differentials. 

For perspective I have listed the weight distributions, and stopping distances of some popular race/super cars. 

Car	Weight Distribution	Braking Distance
Formula 1	46/54	Unkwn
Indy Car	45/55	Unkwn
Dodge Viper GTS*	48/52	60-0 in 139’
2005 Corvette	53/47	60-0 in 114’
Lexus LFA	48/52	60-0 in 94’
2010 R8 V10 5.2	44/56	60-0 in 104’
2003 Ferrari Enzo	44/56	60-0 in 106’
2004 Porsche Carrera GT	41/59	60-0 in 101’
2007 Lamborgini Mercielago LP640	48/52	60-0 in 107’

*I believe this is the stat for the first generation Viper and later models had improved their braking distances considerably.

Why I Won't Buy A GT-R!

They haven't built a new car here, they've built a new yard stick. 

-Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear, season 11, ep 4

Would I buy a GT-R?

There is a whole sack full of words that can be used to describe this car; words like awesome, brilliant, superb, cool.  It is most certainly a very competent car that is amazing not just for its driving capabilities but also the price.  There is only one other car that I would classify as a super car that wasn’t also super priced, and that was the early generations of the Dodge Viper.  Of course, affordable is a relative term, but in this regard I mean that this car is within the grasp of the middle class, of which I belong.  So if I returned by bottles and cans, and stopped eating out so much, I could buy one.  One huge benefit of the GT-R over the Viper is that with all of its gee-whiz gadgets, and magical traction control, it won’t kill you if you make a mistake.  It is almost like the Mitsubishi EVO 10, except better looking, a ton more power, and electronically controlled suspension.  The concepts between the two are the same; take a car with an extra helping of horsepower, plop it onto an all wheel drive power train, then tie it together with sensors and computers and then turn it loose.  For the driver, the car offers thrills that are hardly matched since you can push the cars right up to the very edge of their limits and then dance there all day long.  Not that you can’t exceed its’ capabilities, I have seen to many Youtube videos of EVO drivers stuffing their cars into walls. But to wreck the car they committed some very grievous errors.  Compare this to the Viper, all you have to do it look at the corner wrong, and the car will punish you.  It is to easy to give the engine just a little to much air coming out of a turn and suddenly the wheels spin, the car spins and your head spins just before you hit the wall.  Don’t misunderstand me, I am not criticizing the Viper, and I am exaggerating a bit, but the Viper requires more from the driver and because of that, a driver, especially a less experienced one, would be more timid to explore the cars limits. 

If you haven’t heard the specs by now, then you have been living in a cave, and if you have been living in a cave here is a quick summary of its stats.  This car is strapping a hand assembled 3.8L six shooter, with twin turbos that push a minimum of 480 horses to all four wheels.  I say minimum because the engine is hand assembled and there is some variation among the cars; some testing at well over 500 from the factory.  0-60 time is around 3.5 seconds, and with the new launch control (the first iteration of the launch control would apparently destroy transmissions after 5 or 6 launches) it may even do it as quickly as 3.1 seconds.  Large 6-piston Brembo calipers are ready to grab the 15” two piece drilled and slotted rotors, and bring the stout 3800 lb car to a stop in 104 feet when traveling at 60 mph. The transmission is a 6 speed semi-auto paddle shifter deal with dual clutches, feeding the 50/50 power to the front and rear wheels when at low speeds or accelerating hard, but normally it will feed 70% of the power or more to the rear wheels.  This is all well and good but the stats I am more interested in are lap times.  Nissan claims a lap time of 7:26 around “the Ring” (Nurburgring, if you don’t know what it is, look it up) on stock tires, which is very impressive.  On the Top Gear test track, the car posted a time of 1:19.7 which is .7 seconds slower than an Enzo and in front of the likes of the Carrera GT, C6 ZR-1, and the Audi V10 R8; all cars that are priced well above $100,000.

Quick List; 4 Reason to Buy the Car:

One, the car is stupid fast.  480 horse power!  0-60 in 3.5 seconds!  Come on!

Two, you can drive the car quite tamely on the street as a daily driver.  The leg room in the back isn’t enormous, but it is functional.  It also has a trunk you can put groceries into.  It is all wheel drive, so in snow, wet weather or other low traction scenarios the car will be fun; I mean safer.  Four wheel power slides in a parking lot covered in fresh snow is one of my favorites!  So, getting back on subject, you could buy the car to drive to work and on weekends take to the track to play.

Three, for the weekend warrior, this car offers a lot of thrills.  You don’t have to be a Mario Andretti or Lewis Hamilton to be able to drive the car at 9/10ths it capability since all these little computers and sensors will help keep you pointed in the right direction even if you try to take a corner too fast. 

Four, it is not a common car.  Here in Michigan it would be more common to see a Ferrari Modena then a GT-R.  Many people may not agree with me on this, but I want a car that is at least some what unique. 

What it comes down to, is the car worth it?  With a price tag of $80,000 USD, car far surpasses anything else out there in terms of speed, corning capability, practicality and thrill, so it seems like the car is perfect.  Now that I have sung the cars praises and given you four reasons to buy is there any reason NOT to buy it?  I thought it would be interesting to contrast the four reasons to buy the car with 4 reasons not to buy the car but I could only think of one; it is not a driver’s car.  It is a fun car on the track and it is definitely a new yard stick in performance and price, but the car is too good!  Really, too good?  Does that just sounds like the words of an irrational hater?  What I mean is that it doesn’t challenge the driver.  When I was at an open track day (in NASA speak, I was at an HPDE), the running joke was that you can just program in your lap time and then hit the “go” button.  A car that is “too good” is a car that does all the hard thinking for you.  Miss the braking point and turn into the corner carrying a little extra speed and the car steps in to figure out how to save your sorry butt.  The novice drive continues on down the track thinking he is godly as he passes the Vette and the Ferrari not realizing that if he did that in any other car he would have spun or taken an off-roading adventure.  If you like the thrill of the track and you want something fast that won’t try to kill you, this is the perfect car.  If you a very experienced driver and are looking for something you can drive to the track, spank Porsches and Ferraris, then this car is for you.  But, if you are a road racing beginner and you want to become the best driver you can then DO NOT buy this car.  It won’t teach you.  You would eventually get to the point where you could drive this car close to its limits, but once you got into something with more teeth, you will find yourself wrapped around a tree or in the wall.  A Miata, Solstice/Sky (non turbo), RX-7 (non turbo), an old E30 (mid-late eighties BMW 3-series) or anything comparable, would be a far better teacher, and much cheaper.  The GT-R is an amazing car, and I would love to own one, but only if I can also have a good drivers car.