Tracking a Porsche with Pfaff

Pfaff Automotive invited me to Mosport for a track day… in one of their day-lease Porsches.  Yes please!

It was my 2nd track time ever, bit spoiled huh, because here I go around in a Porsche Cayman.

Learned how executing a proper corner feels…. effortless?! Huh.

And did you know you can steer the car using only the throttle?  I did that once… accidentally.

That’s Brad Meise of Apex Driver Training you hear coaching me; thanks Brad! Liked your style: precise and non-stop.

My mistakes: I brake way too late, and enter the corners with too much aggression :|

That’s the thing though: so what I can fly around with a Brad in the passenger seat.

How about when it’s just me, and there’s no cones around the track to guide me, now add the pressure of competing in a race…

You can do this too.

Day-lease a Porsche or Audi from Pfaff and spend the day driving the above track, with coaching if you’d like it.

All information found here: Pfaff Track Days

A Porsche 911 is $1,699 +HST for the day rental at the track, and the other vehicles available are the Porsche Cayman, the Audi TTS and Audi S5.

Or track your own car.

That’s $449.00+HST for the DDT Track this 2014 season with the use of your own vehicle. Because the goal is not to learn how to go faster, but to better understand the physics behind driving.

And that’s what I wrote about for that week’s ‘Keri on Driving’ column.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

It’s best to explore the limits of your car in a contained environment instead of a real life situation. This way, when your car gets away from you and starts to drift down an icy on-ramp, for instance, it’s not the first time you’re experiencing how that feels.

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Let’s Go Car Camping

A preparation list for a one-night car camping awesome experience.

Food, shelter and entertainment are covered, then add a little “just wing it,” because when was the last time you did?

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

Bring a tarp to wrap around the open rear hatch of a crossover, now you have a veranda. When you grow tired of the view, change it by turning the key.

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Put a Monk in a Race Car

Can’t concentrate? Can’t race.

Because really, all the tech, tires and money are for not if the driver drops their focus for one fast moment. Because that moment turns into seconds lost.

I’m speaking with Honda IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe. He’d just coached me around the DDT at Mosport (watch here)

We talk about his mind while racing, how he stays hyper-focused for 2 straight hours. It’s an almost-meditative state, he says.

That’s why my idea to put a monk in a race car –
their concentration is outstanding.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

If winning comes down to a driver’s level of concentration, how about putting a monk behind the wheel?  Trophies ahoy!

 

Thanks for taking the time James! Best of luck this season.

Watch James coach me around my first track time here.

How he fared in this years Toronto Indy here.

Blog tag = the Mind (13)

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Features I Wish Were Mandatory

I drive a different car every week, and been keeping a list of features I’d like to see in more vehicles.

This is that list.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

Not all features need to be high tech. How about a proper dead pedal, and a handle on the inside of the trunk lid?

That’s my big items, what did I miss? Add yours to the list at Autonet.

Had help composing this list… Dan, Michael and Brian, thanks guys!

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How Ford Tests its F150 (& uses Men from Craigslist)

From inside the factory – how Ford tests its F150 pickup truck before putting it into final production.

From the robots to the dynos, actually Ford’s toughest test involves men it hired off Craigslist – the ‘Big Man Test’.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

One of the toughest tests Ford has created doesn’t involve robots, or any tech at all. Instead they used 6’7″ 300 lbs men they hired from Craigslist, and called it the “Big Man Test”.

Fun fact: Ford’s PR team said this is the first time the ‘Big Man Test’ story has ever been published in Canada.

YES to my story finding skills.

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From when I travelled with Ford to their proving grounds and factory last week.

Torque test.

Seat test for rattles.

That’s Mark, a 165 lb fake-human.

The tests run 24/7 for days.

There are robots everywhere.

This robot tests the fabric wear on the seats.

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