LAUREN BLIGHTONS MR2 DRIVING
TIPS
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF DRIVING YOUR MR2 - 1-
INTRODUCTION
The MK1 MR2 is well known for it’s great handling and precision on the limit.
But how do you get the most out of it? Well modifying the suspension and tuning
the engine is all very well and there is no doubt the car really benefits from
this but the degree to which you will be able to enjoy it is limited by one
factor that has nothing to do with the car. That factor is driver ability.
DRIVING TECHNIQUES 2 – HEEL AND TOEING
When driving on-track and equally on the road there are always tips and
tricks you can learn. Often mentioned but not always well understood is that of
heel and toeing. Before I explain what it is I am going to mention the benefits
and the reasons behind it. This technique is aimed at keeping the car on the
smoothest possible transition from braking before the corner onto corner entry.
It’s main aim is to help maintain the balance of the car whilst simultaneously
allowing maximum braking.
We are all good drivers, right? Well of course, but what is true of anything
is that the better you are at it, the more you enjoy it. This article is really
about how to get the most enjoyment out of your MR2.
As most of you know I
love driving on track. The main reason I enjoy this so much is that it gives me
an opportunity to hone my car control skills to a much finer degree than is
possible on the road. Let me explain why. It’s all very well ‘going’ for it on
the road, but there are just too many extraneous variables to consider to allow
me to drive at mine and the car’s limits. The proliferation of speed cameras
certainly doesn’t help, nor does pedestrians and cars coming the other way. Not
to mention street furniture! All this is taken out of the equation on-track and
you can simply get on with the task in hand. Don’t forget that track driving is
all about having fun. It’s not about who laps fastest and the intention of the
day is to simply enjoy yourself. We all have to start somewhere so for a novice
driver venturing out on track for the first time it can seem a daunting
prospect, but in reality it really isn’t.
A good place to start is with
tuition. This needn’t be horrendously expensive. Companies like Bookatrack offer
tuition for as little as £20 for twenty minutes. Tuition of this type though is
really aimed at giving you an idea of how to negotiate the track, pointing out
turn-in points rather than concentrating on how you drive the car. A short
tuition session is undoubtedly useful but if you are doing something wrong with
how you control the car then you will probably be doing it all day.
Another
option is to bag a ride with an experienced track driver. This can be a double
edged sword though. Firstly if the car is well driven you will be able to see
the lines that the driver is taking. This is useful and you can see how the car
is balanced and just how quick you could be lapping. The downside to this
though, is that it can feel deflating to watch someone else drive round with
more control and finesse. But don’t be disheartened. Learn from it rather than
trying to emulate it! Not long ago I remember driving a friends totally standard
MK1 round Donington in the wet. There wasn’t much grip so I just went for the
‘let’s go sideways and have some fun’ option. This wasn’t the fastest way round
the track but under the circumstances it was a lot of fun. After the session I
went out with the owner, this time as a passenger. We spun three times on the
outlap! It was entertaining certainly, but my friend was trying a bit too hard
to emulate my earlier shenanigans. Some good things though did come out of this
as after a few laps he settled down and lost his fear about the car ‘getting out
of shape’. As a consequence of this his driving did improve and nowadays he’s a
consistently quick driver.
Probably the best option though as far as tuition
goes is to have a whole day with an instructor as and when you need them. This
can be expensive, but there are a few options that needn’t break the bank. I
went to a Castle Combe tuition day for the cost of £135. the day was pretty
quiet and there were three instructors who you could grab when you needed them
to come and ride with you. After my first (ever) spin I was shaken up a little
and came straight in and grabbed an instructor. Lucky for me the instructors
weren’t terribly busy that day and I ended up having the chief instructor all to
myself for most of the afternoon. Not only did he teach me where to turn-in,
when to get off the power he also taught me how to ‘heel and toe’ and when to
change gear. In a word, brilliant and I have built on it ever since. A tip if
you are thinking of going on one of these days is to look for a day in
July/August when numbers will be lower. 1st Lotus also offer a good option. For
example for around £100 each you and a friend can share a day with an
instructor.
Be warned though, once you have had your first ‘fix’ you will
want to come back for more! Seriously though learning to drive at speed on the
track is an exhilarating experience and about as much fun as you can have with
your clothes on! What’s more it will make you a better driver on the road too.
Something I really learnt on track was to lose the fear of when the rear end of
the car steps out (oversteer). Before I would have been in a panic and lifted
off the power. Now I know to keep the car balanced and feed on the power.
This is really a taster and in further articles I would like to elaborate
more on driver skills and techniques. Expect ‘Heel and Toeing’ and
‘Under/Oversteer to be coming soon!
Lauren Blighton
Trackday Queen
What heel and toeing is, is essentially a ‘blip’
of the throttle to match engine revs whilst changing down a gear and braking.
All at the same time of course! Sounds difficult, but with a bit of practice,
not only do you get round corners more quickly, but you are also much kinder to
your car’s gearbox, clutch and engine.
Probably the easiest way to explain
it is to take you through a virtual corner. So here I am approaching Redgate at
Donington. I’m in 4th gear at around 105mph or so. To take the corner I need to
reduce my speed to 60mph and be in 3rd gear. I am still accelerating as I am
approaching the corner. At the braking I put the brakes on very hard to slow
down in as short a time as possible. Now timing is key to doing this well. As my
speed drops just below 70mph I push the clutch down and change into 3rd before I
let the clutch up, I roll my right foot (which is still on the brake) to ‘blip’
the throttle. This sends the engine revs up and as I let the clutch out the
engine speed matches the road speed in that gear. Next I turn in to the corner
and get back on the power easing the throttle on to balance the car for the exit
of the corner. Two main advantages here; firstly the car hasn’t been unbalanced
by me changing gear and braking. Secondly the net result is that I’m on the
power earlier and everything is that much smoother.
So what happens if I
don’t heel and toe? Well I enter the braking zone, brake hard, then as the speed
drops I change down and as I let the clutch up the engine revs suddenly soar,
which in turn unbalances the car as the rear goes light and I have to deal with
all this before I turn into the corner!
A year ago at Bentwaters I
experimented with not heel and toeing at a tight left hand corner. It was a
second gear corner and I found that if I didn’t heel and toe I actually locked
the rear wheels as the clutch came up!
So in effect when you heel and toe
you are pressing the brake and accelerator at the same time. This is the
trickiest bit by far, how to maintain consistent even braking and in the middle
of it blip the throttle? As I described earlier, I like to roll the outside of
my right foot onto the throttle. This is certainly the way to do it with the
most feel. But if you have standard pedals in your MR2 then you may find the
pedals too far apart to do this easily. I have a sexy Sparco pedal set in my car
for good reason and that is to put the accelerator and brake closer together so
that I can roll my (narrow) feet more easily.
If I’m driving a friends '2 I
use the ‘other’ way. Literally use the ball of your feet to press the brake and
kick the accelerator with your heel. It’s less easy to keep a constant pressure
on the brake doing it this way, but it gives the same results as rolling your
foot. It may be less exact but it works just as well.
One of the best things
about heel and toeing is that you can practice it every time you drive your car
on the road. Please remember though that the first few times you try it make
sure no-one is in front of you. Try it at slow speeds on a quiet road. Cruise
along in 4th then try the technique going into 3rd. Better still simply sit in
your car and look at your right foot on the brake pedal see how you can push the
brake and hit the throttle as you do it. Make sure that your foot is in no
danger of slipping off the brake. I was practising this a few years ago and
tried it approaching a roundabout. I wasn’t going overly fast but my foot
slipped right off the brake and I had to get on the brakes pretty quick to stop
in time! So be careful!
Lastly, in order to help heel and toeing, think
about getting a pedal set. You can buy a funky Sparco Aluminium set for under
£20! Make sure it is a ‘bolt on’ set and not one that clamps over the existing
pedals. What you need to do is to take the rubbers off the brake and clutch and
drill through the remaining metal pedal. Then it’s a matter of bolting the pedal
cover to the pedal. Make sure that the brake pedal cover is absolutely secure.
You don’t want this to come loose! The accelerator pedal is a pain on MK1s as it
is plastic. Leave the rubber on and drill through the pedal and bolt the cover
on. The accelerator pedal doesn’t come under anywhere near the strain of the
brake so having it bolted on really tight is not crucial. But is should be
secure. By law there is supposed to be 50mm between the brake and accelerator.
It’s very much up to you if you keep to this. You’re unlikely to get prosecuted
if they are closer than this distance and you would be pretty unlucky to fail an
MOT because of it.
One last thing. To heel and toe well and to drive well,
you need to have the maximum feel through the pedals as possible. A lot of
people drive in trainers and while this may be comfortable, because of the
thickness of the sole it literally robs you of feel and feedback through the
pedals. Okay the clutch isn’t all that important but the accelerator and brake
certainly are. Try to wear as thin soled shoes as possible. Best is of course
racing boots as they are designed solely for this purpose. They do cost, but in
my opinion they are worth it. Expect to pay around £30 or so for ‘clubman style
boots’. If you want FIA approved nomex boots you are looking toward £60 +.