Coaching Tips for High Horsepower Cars
Slideshow: With great power, comes great responsibility... and the need for adequate driving skill. The following are some helpful guidelines for beginners.
Start by gaining driving experience in slow cars.
If common sense was common, then everyone would start in slow cars and work their way up. Unfortunately, the possibility to jump straight into high-power monsters is very tempting. But don't jump the gun and skip the necessary training required to handle powerful vehicles. There is no shortcut to getting faster. Start slow and work your way up.
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Know when and where to use the power
Power matters, but not as much as you think in the corners. The limit of your tires can be exceeded in the middle of a bend without ever touching the throttle. High horsepower cars are more about maintaining small amounts of throttle in the turns and then using the power to pile on speed down the straights.
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Make sure the chassis is set up correctly
Let's not overlook how important chassis setup is. If a car’s suspension can move freely and correctly and is set up well with good balance, then power only becomes a function of how sticky the tires are. It’s not intimidating to drive a car with a high power to weight ratio if everything else is on the money.
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Don’t get on the throttle until you're SURE
One of the biggest pieces of advice I give any aspiring racer or enthusiast is to not open up the throttle until you KNOW you can. Maintaining throttle in the middle of a turn is one thing, but opening up the throttle earlier than you should can cause the back end to slide out. And if you don’t catch the back end or countersteer just slightly out of sync you will find yourself in a tank slapper. This is often the reason people who crash fast cars.
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Cross Train
2-stroke karting, drifting and low friction exercises are all great training tools to master car control. By driving machines that require faster reaction times (karting) or over exaggerate certain handling characteristics (drifting), you will become comfortable with the extremes. In doing so, a high horsepower car that others describe as “twitchy” or “a handful” might become docile to you.
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In Conclusion
By practicing all 5 of these tips, you will begin to master the challenge of a high horsepower car. It will become less intimidating and easier to handle with more practice. Always practice in a safe environment while remembering your own limits and the limit of your equipment. Have fun and get faster. Cheers.
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If you need help with your big Dodge/Ram truck, check out the how-to section of DodgeForum.com