Autocross Columns

Give Me a Brake!

This herd of four “orange deer” was saved by trail-braking skills, which provided the weight transfer needed for super turning. (photo by Charles Letouzey)

QUICK! You only have two more days to be part of the fun on August 6th at CVR’s next AutoX. Registration closes Wednesday! We return to our favorite site, the smooth and fast Lime Rock Park B-Paddock. The course has been specifically designed to help you refine one of the most critical driving skills…Braking. No matter how “good” of a driver you are, having the safety reserve of great braking skills is vital. Don’t count on using those skills on the street unless you have actually practiced them beforehand in a controlled environment. Decades of experience shows that even the best “enthusiast” will likely under-utilize, or over-utilize, their brakes in a panic. This event will be the perfect place to master: threshold-braking, trail-braking, stopping faster than ABS can, and braking to impart maximum weight transfer and super-turning, which might be your only chance for missing that deer, car, kid!   

This ”green deer” wasn’t so lucky, but practice makes perfect and its offspring were untouched on the next run. (photo by Charles Letouzey)

Click on the CVR AutoX web page (https://cvrpca.com/autox/ ) for the link to register before Wednesday evening and scroll down to see the course for yourself. Carefully designed to be visually easy to follow in person (we use orange and green cones, large florescent arrows and other eye-catching landmark features), the course will give you a wide variety of braking scenarios and plenty of empty run-off room to encourage you to explore your braking limits. You are guaranteed to drive home a better driver.    

Avoiding soft vinyl “deer” may be the goal, however, the fun is unavoidable. Just ask these July AutoX participants. (photo by Pam Kudra)  

Insights and techniques to help you learn advanced braking skills faster will be included in the morning AutoX-University program, as will practical ways to apply those on the course. CVR AutoX driving instructors are there to help you refine those skills throughout the day. Having the camaraderie of 50 friends cheering you on makes the progress even more fun.  

See you at the August 6th Lime Rock AutoX for Better Driving…Faster!  

…Really, fun is unavoidable! (photo, Charles Letouzey)

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