Secrets of Solo Racing: Expert Techniques for Autocross and Time Trials
by Henry Watts
List Price:
Our Price: $3.98
You Save: $10.97 (73%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.71 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Henry WattsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1989-12
ISBN: 0962057312
Number of pages: 173
Publisher: Loki Pub. Co.
Book Reviews of Secrets of Solo Racing: Expert Techniques for Autocross and Time Trials
Book Review: Excellent Book on Solo Racing
Summary: 5 Stars
The author briefly and concisely covers every aspect of racing in general and solo in particular: the friction circle, correct line in turns, late apexes weight distribution and suspension compression in turns, acceleration and braking, optimizing the slip angle, left foot braking, trail braking, heel-and-toe with double declutch, and so on.
How to prepare yourself and your car for solo racing, as well as the basic rules, are covered here.
Hand position on the steering wheel here is explained better than in most books on competition driving. The author has devoted 9 pages to it, and exposed the "Shifty-Hand" and "Zaccone" methods.
The author writes that on higher-speed slaloms (series of pylons set in a line), you may need to be lifting the throttle or tapping brakes bit to get the car to do what you want it to do. I fully agree with the author. Someone can argue that constant throttle application is better to not upset the car. Throttle lift during slaloms is tricky to coordinate and will require practice to become expert. When you've found the limit with constant throttle application and cannot go faster, the throttle lift will give some additional mphs. For example, for a straight line of pylons at the distance of 25m (82 ft) the maximum speed of a FWD stock 1500 kg (3306 lb) car with constant throttle application is about 65 km/h (40 mph) and is around 80 km/h (49 mph) when using throttle lift. That's a big difference. When the car is at its speed limit, with constant throttle application, the front wheels tend to scrub, the car tends to understeer. With throttle lift, the rear wheels are sliding all the way around the slalom, but the grip of the front wheels are perfect, they always point to the direction of travel, that is what we need, the car overseers here, but it is OK.
Another important advise that the author gave is to hit the apexes. "Even if you are sure that the car will not go to the apex, turn in and hit the apex".
This is a very good book. It has a glossary, a bibliography and an index.
I would also recommend "The Front-Wheel Driving High Performance Advantage" by Jack Doo, Carroll Shelby in addition to this book.
Summary of Secrets of Solo Racing: Expert Techniques for Autocross and Time Trials
Expert Techniques for Autocross and Time Trials. Hands-on info for racing and car prepping. Lists clubs, tracks, rules and more.Racing Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Racing Books
Evel Knievel: An American Heroby Ace Collins
St Martins Pr; Published: 1999-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Little Racing Car (Vehicle Pop-up)Littlehampton Book Services Ltd; Published: 1994-09-15; Hardcover; Book
Hailwoodby Mike Hailwood, Ted Macauley
Littlehampton Book Services Ltd; Published: 1968-11; Hardcover; Book
Ayrton Senna: One Year onby Alan Henry
Weidenfeld & Nicholson; Published: 1995; Hardcover; Book
The Last Road Race: The 1957 Pescara Grand Prixby Richard Williams
Orion Publishing; Published: 2004-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Electric Model Car Racingby D. J. Laidlaw-Dickson
Museum; Published: 1965; Hardcover; Book
Hot rod doomby Robert Sidney Bowen
Criterion Books; Published: 1973; Paperback; Book
BEDSIDE WHEELS (Willow Books)by Murray Walker, John Jensen
HarperCollins Publishers; Published: 1986-10-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.95
Nobody But You: A Grayson Friends Novel (Grayson Friends Novels)by Francis Ray
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2009-03-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.48
Price in other shops:
NASCAR: The Thunder of America, 1948-1998by NASCAR, Andy Lewis
HarperEntertainment; Published: 1998-03-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.25
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Ultimate Speed Secrets: The Complete Guide to High-Performance and Race Drivingby Ross Bentley
Motorbooks; Published: 2011-08-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.05
Price in other shops:
Inner Speed Secrets: Mental Strategies to Maximize Your Racing Performanceby Ross Bentley, Ronn Langford
Motorbooks; Published: 2000-09-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Tune to Win: The art and science of race car development and tuningby Carroll Smith
Aero Publishers, Inc.; Published: 1979-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.04
Price in other shops:
How to Autocross (Sadesign)by Andrew Howe
S-A Design; Published: 2009-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $43.02
How to Autocrossby Andrew Howe
CarTech, Inc.; Published: 2009-02-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.86
Price in other shops:
Speed Secrets II: More Professional Race Driving Techniquesby Ross Bentley
Motorbooks; Published: 2003-04-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.83
Price in other shops:
How to Make Your Car Handleby Fred Puhn
HP Books; Published: 1976; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops:
Speed Secrets: Professional Race Driving Techniquesby Ross Bentley
Motorbooks; Published: 1998-08-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.02
Price in other shops:
Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Drivingby Carl Lopez
Bentley Publishers; Published: 1997-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.07
Price in other shops:
Winning Autocross Techniques (Speed Secrets)by Ross Bentley, Per Schroeder
Motorbooks; Published: 2009-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops: