driving positions

[xrw]

i have watched the videos where greg describes the proper driving postions, but when i do that it seems like i'm very close to the wheel and it seems like my body isn't in a totally relaxed positions, is that normal since i'm coming from driving a automatic where i like to be very far from the wheel. can you describe your driving positions thank you.

[PureLife]

i have watched the videos where greg describes the proper driving postions, but when i do that it seems like i'm very close to the wheel and it seems like my body isn't in a totally relaxed positions, is that normal since i'm coming from driving a automatic where i like to be very far from the wheel. can you describe your driving positions thank you.

mine is one click back from fully upright but at a point where i can still put my hand on top of the wheel without moving my shoulders. is it the most comfortable position i've ever sat in? not by any means, but it does provide a lot more control.

for extra long trips, i tilt the seat back a bit more ... like if im gonna be cruising on the highway in 5th for 4 hours or something ...

[jomotopia]

yeah i sit a lot closer to the wheel now than i did when i drove auto. the key is to just make sure you can comfortably reach all the controls. i'm pretty much set up like in the videos, a little further back. when i extend my arm to the wheel i can rest my hand, just below the wrist, on the top of the wheel. and for the clutch, with it fully floored, there should be a slight bend in your knee.

play around with the seat, find what's comfortable for you. but, when you do find that sweet spot, remember it! if somebody moves your seat you'll be driving like crap trying to get it back to where you used to it.

[Sypher]

yeah i sit a lot closer to the wheel now than i did when i drove auto. the key is to just make sure you can comfortably reach all the controls. i'm pretty much set up like in the videos, a little further back. when i extend my arm to the wheel i can rest my hand, just below the wrist, on the top of the wheel. and for the clutch, with it fully floored, there should be a slight bend in your knee.

play around with the seat, find what's comfortable for you. but, when you do find that sweet spot, remember it! if somebody moves your seat you'll be driving like crap trying to get it back to where you used to it.

I sit basically the same way

[TomCivic]

My friend puts his seat so far back you can see his head in the rear window, it's pretty pathetic looking.

[xrw]

thanx everyone, yea i have been recently playing with my seating positions and there is one position right now that i'm using that allows me to drive better. it was just weird to think that there is one position that i can drive well in and other positions i drive crappy. with this new closer driving position and can feel the clutch more and find that friction point where i was having trouble a week ago. oh yeah how do you guys memorize your driving positions do you have some special technique you use to memorize what exact position it was in if someone had moved your seat?

thank you

[jomotopia]

i just remember that i'm 1 click from all they way back, one pump from all the way down, and a slight lean from upright. the last part's the hardest and if anyone gets in my car i tell them not to move the back of the seat, but they can move the rest. forward to back is the most likely to be moved by someone else anyway.

[streetbreed19]

surprisngly my seating position is pretty tight to the steering wheel (but allows for best use of the clutch) wish my steering column would bump up some more though. I'll never forget learning how to drive manual with the seat aaall the way back n i was wondering damn this is F*&*$%ng hard and then after adjusting i felt like a pro/idiot

[Sypher]

i just remember that i'm 1 click from all they way back, one pump from all the way down, and a slight lean from upright. the last part's the hardest and if anyone gets in my car i tell them not to move the back of the seat, but they can move the rest. forward to back is the most likely to be moved by someone else anyway.

but wait a tick... you let others drive you car I would NEVER if I had an STi

[jomotopia]

i just remember that i'm 1 click from all they way back, one pump from all the way down, and a slight lean from upright. the last part's the hardest and if anyone gets in my car i tell them not to move the back of the seat, but they can move the rest. forward to back is the most likely to be moved by someone else anyway.

but wait a tick... you let others drive you car I would NEVER if I had an STi

well, i gave my girlfriend one lesson and i let my friend drive it in a parking lot. other than that it's just the people at the dealership.

[Sypher]

ah i see.... I wonder if the scooby mechanics think your a stingy owner or something

[Paolo300zx]

Just remember, you're not at home watching T.V. you're driving a 3 ton metal death machine capable of killing millions of people. you're not supposed to be 100% comfortable

[GarySheehan]

just don't do what I did when I started driving manual and try to adjust your seat as you're moving forward

Ha! Funny story here.

At Watkins Glen I was driving the Audi S4 in Grand-Am Cup GS. Grand-Am Cup is endurance racing and requires a driver change at some point during the race. To make the driver change faster, teams typically attach surgical tubing to the endpoints of the racing harness, so when the incoming driver unlatches the camlock, all the belts get pulled out of the way, so the incoming driver can sit down without sitting on the ends of loose belts.



My team put the surgical tubing on just prior to qualifying. Everything was fine on my out lap. On my first qualifying hot lap, the right side of my seat slipped one tooth in the first right hander of the esses (pretty high speed uphill corners). In the next left hander, the left side of the seat slipped one tooth. I started to wonder what was happening with my seat when I entered the next right of the esses. Just then, my seat slid all the way back on the sliders and it was all I could to to hang on to the steering wheel! My feet came off the pedals and and my arms were straight out in front of my with my back way off the back of the seat just to keep steering the car. This is close to 100mph, if I remember right.

On the following straight I was able to pull up the seat adjuster (in front of the seat) and slide the seat forward again. As soon as I let the adjuster go, the seat slid back again. I radioed into the pits to tell them the seat was broken and told them I was coming in. This was bad because there is a very limited time for qualifying, we'd been having red flags in almost every session, and we didn't have a qualifying time yet.

I was almost all the way around the track when I realized what the problem was. Whoever did the surgical tubing for the crotch belt actually tied the tubing to the seat adjuster lever! So, with my belts on, the tension of the tubing kept pulling the adjuster up! I ripped it off and adjusted my seat as well as I could. I couldn't get it all the way back to where it had been set before, because I keep my harnesses pretty tight, so I was 1 or 2 clicks back from where I usually sit.

I radioed into the pits to tell them I wasn't in the perfect seating position, but that it was very important I get a lap in while the track was green and that I was going for a hot lap. The team agreed and I continued on.

The seat felt fine through the esses that time and I was just getting confident that we'd set a halfway decent time. I hit the brakes at the end of the straight after the esses that leads into the Bus Stop and went for a wild ride at about 130mph. The back of the car snapped hard to the left and around I went, launching over the curbing on the right side, again over the left hander apex curbing and finally came to rest deep, deep, deep in the gravel trap, which brought out the red flag for our qualifying session!

In trying to get a fast lap in before a red flag hit, I caused the red flag, 2 laps into the session! I believe that I had a mechanical issue in the braking zone (we noticed one of the suspension links had come free when we pulled it from the gravel), but I also think that if I'd been in my normal, comfortable driving position, I would have been more "one" with the car and may have avoided that trip into the gravel.

My optimal driving position is when my elbow is slightly bent when holding the wheel at 12 o'clock and when my knee joint is slightly bent with the clutch or throttle all the way down. This prevents me from using any of my muscles at the end of their range and gives me better modulation of all the controls.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
http://www.teamSMR.com

[SupYo]

My friend puts his seat so far back you can see his head in the rear window, it's pretty pathetic looking.

HAHAHA Thats funny.

[SupYo]

just don't do what I did when I started driving manual and try to adjust your seat as you're moving forward

Ha! Funny story here.

At Watkins Glen I was driving the Audi S4 in Grand-Am Cup GS. Grand-Am Cup is endurance racing and requires a driver change at some point during the race. To make the driver change faster, teams typically attach surgical tubing to the endpoints of the racing harness, so when the incoming driver unlatches the camlock, all the belts get pulled out of the way, so the incoming driver can sit down without sitting on the ends of loose belts.



My team put the surgical tubing on just prior to qualifying. Everything was fine on my out lap. On my first qualifying hot lap, the right side of my seat slipped one tooth in the first right hander of the esses (pretty high speed uphill corners). In the next left hander, the left side of the seat slipped one tooth. I started to wonder what was happening with my seat when I entered the next right of the esses. Just then, my seat slid all the way back on the sliders and it was all I could to to hang on to the steering wheel! My feet came off the pedals and and my arms were straight out in front of my with my back way off the back of the seat just to keep steering the car. This is close to 100mph, if I remember right.

On the following straight I was able to pull up the seat adjuster (in front of the seat) and slide the seat forward again. As soon as I let the adjuster go, the seat slid back again. I radioed into the pits to tell them the seat was broken and told them I was coming in. This was bad because there is a very limited time for qualifying, we'd been having red flags in almost every session, and we didn't have a qualifying time yet.

I was almost all the way around the track when I realized what the problem was. Whoever did the surgical tubing for the crotch belt actually tied the tubing to the seat adjuster lever! So, with my belts on, the tension of the tubing kept pulling the adjuster up! I ripped it off and adjusted my seat as well as I could. I couldn't get it all the way back to where it had been set before, because I keep my harnesses pretty tight, so I was 1 or 2 clicks back from where I usually sit.

I radioed into the pits to tell them I wasn't in the perfect seating position, but that it was very important I get a lap in while the track was green and that I was going for a hot lap. The team agreed and I continued on.

The seat felt fine through the esses that time and I was just getting confident that we'd set a halfway decent time. I hit the brakes at the end of the straight after the esses that leads into the Bus Stop and went for a wild ride at about 130mph. The back of the car snapped hard to the left and around I went, launching over the curbing on the right side, again over the left hander apex curbing and finally came to rest deep, deep, deep in the gravel trap, which brought out the red flag for our qualifying session!

In trying to get a fast lap in before a red flag hit, I caused the red flag, 2 laps into the session! I believe that I had a mechanical issue in the braking zone (we noticed one of the suspension links had come free when we pulled it from the gravel), but I also think that if I'd been in my normal, comfortable driving position, I would have been more "one" with the car and may have avoided that trip into the gravel.

My optimal driving position is when my elbow is slightly bent when holding the wheel at 12 o'clock and when my knee joint is slightly bent with the clutch or throttle all the way down. This prevents me from using any of my muscles at the end of their range and gives me better modulation of all the controls.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
http://www.teamSMR.com

Another funny post.