I got in touch with the guys at Miller and asked if there were any openings for me to get in a class during our week in Utah. They asked if I'd like to do their Boss Track Attack 2-day program. With no twisting of my arm whatsoever I conceded to their peer pressure. The Boss Track Attack is for customers who bought one of our Boss 302 Mustangs (basically our race-ready car that's known for beating cars twice it's cost at the track; you can see it here). These customers are given an opportunity to go to Miller Motorsports and take a 1 day racing class that shows them what their cars are capable of; they then have the option of paying for a 2nd day of class if they like. I had the option of bringing a guest - as long as they were willing to pay for their own way. Luckily my father-in-law is a big car racing enthusiast!
The first day we were there was spent about half in a classroom and half out on the track. We started by learning what kind of line we should take on the course. The basic idea is to enter a turn from the outside edge, make your way to the apex, and then exit to the outside edge again. It sounds easy but in reality it takes a lot of practice.
The first day we were there was spent about half in a classroom and half out on the track. We started by learning what kind of line we should take on the course. The basic idea is to enter a turn from the outside edge, make your way to the apex, and then exit to the outside edge again. It sounds easy but in reality it takes a lot of practice.
The instructors each jumped in a Mustang and we followed them around the track a few times to see what lines they took. They slowly got faster as we got more comfortable, but I'm sure it was pretty slow for them.
The next thing we learned was how to brake and accelerate. The idea here is that you only brake and accelerate when going straight. In reality you break before a turn, then as you turn the wheel you let up on the break, and then as you turn the wheel straight again you accelerate. To teach us this they had us get in a funky Ford Fusion. The Fusion was attached to 4 castor wheels (1 on each corner). The castors were hydraulically controlled and could lift the car enough to take away enough traction, so it felt like driving on ice. It taught us what happens to our traction if we aren't braking and accelerating properly. Carl and I jumped in our car with the instructor then another instructor jumped in the back. The entire time we were locked in that car together the two instructors just grilled me for insider information on the next Mustang. Luckily since I'm in the marketing group right now I know exactly what information I can give out. Then I just played ignorant to the other things.
The last mini lesson was about heel-toe clutching. This is the proper way to shift gears while braking. To do this you have your right foot on the brake, your left foot pushes the clutch, you shift gears, then while keeping your right foot on the brake you also use it to push the accelerator to rev the engine while letting out the clutch to give a smooth shift. If you don't heel-toe clutch then when you let off the clutch the car jerks, because the engine speed doesn't match the wheel speed. This causes you to lose traction in the middle of a turn.
At the end of the day we spent some more time on the track. This time the instructors sat in the passenger seat to give us pointers as we drove. By pointers I mean they were shouting "GAS GAS GAS GAS GAS!!!; NOW BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE!!!!, GO GO GO, HARD BRAKE, ETC." I'm pretty sure my lap was pretty slow from being self conscious, but it was definitely helpful.
The last thing we got to do was ride along with an instructor while they went really fast around the track. It was super fast compared to how any of us were doing it earlier, which was funny, because a few people had some big ego's going into it thinking they were great or something. Even though the instructors were going super fast they still seemed relaxed. In fact, one of the instructors was checking his text messages while driving.
By the end of the day we were exhausted. The next day we spent more time on a higher speed track. I won't go into too much detail, but I learned a ton from the entire experience and on the drive from Utah to Michigan I found myself trying to keep our minivan on the ideal line on the freeway.
My cool trophy and shirt.
Here's an article Motor Trend did about the Boss beating out the BMW M3 and Audi A8 Attack: http://www.motortrend.
4 comments:
Oh wow- when I was in drivers ed many years ago, my teacher taught me that stuff about braking going into a turn, then letting off during the turn, and accelerating coming out of the turn. I didn't know I was getting professional driving tips in high school. I've always driven that way. Look at me!
Holy crap - my husband would be SO JEALOUS. That looks super cool!!
Wow-Wow-Wow. You have an amazing, fun job. It made me smile to think of going from a cool rev-ed up Mustang to a family minivan & keeping it in the line. I want to know more. My only fun when driving is going over the DeNio pass in Nevada and straightening the turns (BTW: this makes your Dad nervous.) Awesome blog---thanks for sharing.
I think I would crash if I tried doing that clutch thing. That's way more than my mind can process. So did the minivan perform as well as the boss?
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