4

You Take A Beating

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3

All Of Your Instincts Will Work Against You

Edge Addicts

It's easy to assume that the big difference between race driving and regular old driving is that the former requires faster reaction times and less of a sense of self-preservation. What newcomers are always shocked to find out is that at certain speeds, physics start playing some very weird tricks on you. Regardless of how often you drive on the street, you will do literally everything wrong your first time on a track.

For example, let's say you're going into a corner too fast. Your first response would be to let off the gas and brake, right? That's a normal, natural reaction, and on a track will produce a spinout worse than if you had been nailed by a blue shell. What you should actually do is go a little faster. You still might not make it, but speeding up shifts the weight distribution of your car in a way that gives you that greatest chance of success.

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Except in traffic court. Don't expect success there.

Oh, and you'll gain an appreciation for how incredibly forgiving your car is during your commute. Maybe your eyes will wander for a few seconds to glance at a billboard or something, and you still catch yourself with plenty of time to avoid those schoolchildren in the crosswalk. Well, that same lapse of concentration would be disastrous on a track, and to the schoolchildren inexplicably trying to cross it. You always want to be looking where you want to go. Always. And when you're going this fast, "Where you want to go" is quite a ways ahead on the track -- my mind's always a few turns ahead. New drivers take the track as it comes, which means they're waiting until the last moment to do anything. That's fine when you're trying not to miss the turnoff into Safeway. On a track, you're going to hit the wall.

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Hard.

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You Don't Need A Race Car To Learn This Stuff -- And It's Better Without One

Tom Martin / Winding Road Racing

So let's get into my specific line of work a bit. First, you'll be bringing your own car. If you're embarrassed that you'll be showing up in a 2005 Honda Civic instead of an Italian sports car, don't be. Not only will we welcome newbies driving lemons, but they are in fact preferable. Trying to start high-performance driving in a Ferrari is like trying to learn calculus before you've mastered arithmetic, if miscalculating a derivative could send you to a fiery death. Show up in a used Miata, easily the most underrated car in existence, and you'll learn far more than you would have if you spent two decades scrimping and saving to buy a Porsche.

free photos & art / Wiki Commons
You'll get far fewer "overcompensation" jokes flung your way, too.

I could beat that Porsche in a race with a rusted SUV. I'm not trying to brag; I simply have the experience. Your car is a tool, and the biggest thing you'll do wrong is not know how to use it. You may have been on the street with it a thousand times, but that's like going on a thousand first dates. Taking it on the track is a hardcore tantric sex marathon, followed by five hours of intimate conversation that will revitalize your flagging relationship.

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*Play for full effect.*

1

You Can Use Race Techniques In Daily Life

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While you'd think the guy zooming by you in a school zone spends his weekends racing, I've found that people who go to the track stop taking risks on the streets. I did some irresponsible street racing in my youth, but that wouldn't be fun anymore. You're too aware that it's not a question of if you'll hurt someone, but when. The track is safe and controlled, and it just feels better. So if you have a friend who takes your life into their hands every time you get into their car, take them to the track for your own sake.

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Grandma can finally do her sick donuts in a safe place, and not the mall parking lot.

And even if you couldn't possibly care less about racing, you can learn techniques that will make you a safer street driver. No one truly understands what their car is capable of until they take it on the track. And that's bad news if you wind up in a situation on the streets where you have to test those limits.

For example, given the choice between taking a corner at more than 0.5g (that is, having more than half your weight pushed to the side) or slamming into a tree, most drivers will take the tree with the assumption that trying to turn that hard would send the car spinning out of control and into some even worse fate. On the track, you learn otherwise. I've lost count of the number of students I've taken into corners, asked for more steering, and after being told it was impossible, casually reached over and turned for them. With practice, you'll find yourself capable of making turns you never dreamed of. God forbid you ever need it, but if a kid runs in front of your car or giant robots start rampaging through the streets, you'll be prepared.

Paramount Pictures
"Yeah yeah, whatever, assholes. I got a pizza to pick up."

Or let's say you swerve to avoid a collision and find yourself starting to spin out. You're taught to counter-steer, and that's accurate, but what you're not taught is to also add a little more gas. It's the same as the lesson earlier about going around turns: That acceleration shifts weight to the back of your car and straightens you out. But you have to recognize that you're in a spin quickly -- once your car has gone horizontal, you have to brake and ride it out. If that sounds complicated, it is ... unless you've done it a few times. That's the point.

So the best thing you can do to prevent accidents is learn to keep your head about you when the unexpected happens. People don't react the right away to skids and swerves because they don't have a lot of experience doing either, so they panic. Go out on a track and make those mistakes in a controlled environment. Learn what it feels like when your car gets a bit out of control. Learn what it takes to get it under control again. It's the most fun you'll have learning how to not die.

Jack instructs for Edge Addicts and is the co-founder of Petrol Lounge, a premium car storage and concierge service for people whose collections have outgrown their garage. Mark has a story collection and a website.

For more insider perspectives, check out 4 Horrifying Things I Learned Drunk At Work As A Stunt Man and 5 Reasons Doing Movie Stunts Is Harder Than You Think.

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