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Summary: I have improved substantially my skills
Review: Although some physical concepts are not detailed of a way very scientist, they are explained of the suitable way to understand them. It is detailed and complete. It arrives at the bottom in all the subjects. I drive exclusively in simulators and I have improved substantially my skills, understanding many things that before I did of automatic form. In spite of not having the English as my first language, it is a book easy to read.
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Summary: Next "Classic" for anyone interested in racing/going faster
Review: As a long time SCCA/PCA/Skip Barber racer(25 years at Lime Rock) and Chief Driving Instructor for the local chapter of the BMW Car club, I can highly recommend this book. I will use it often to review concepts and keep me "on course" . This will be the new classic in the industry for high speed driving/racing. Amazing detail and diagrams not found in any other book on the subject.
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Summary: The gateway to real performance
Review: For most people performance is something you read on the tach. If you are among those few people who think that a Fiat 500 at 99,995% of its potential is going faster than a McLaren F1 at 98% of its potential, then you cannot miss this book, unless you've already won a world championship... maybe.Pros:
1) it assumes you initially know nothing. And for most of us, even car fanatics, it is damn true. Actually 99.99999% of people don't know the difference between oversteer and understeer! the explanation given by most websites and magazines is absolutely incomplete and useless for a pilot. Did you know that a car whose rear is visibly leaning outside the trajectory is *NOT* necessarily oversteering? (actually it can be understeering!)
2) this books covers every possible aspect of racing, including insights in the world of racing, psychological aspects, preparation for the race, chassis setup, the role of hardware, limiting the damage in case of accidents and spins etc.
3) it's far from the useless belief that car control is a skill you're born with. It's a brutal demystification of the reality of racing
4) it's full of anecdotes and pearls of wisdom from the Skip Barber Racing School Instructors, which makes it more complete and more enjoyable to read. It's recommended even for the general motorsport enthusiast, and at the same time for the professional pilots, I didn't think this was possible...
5) it comes from multiple inputs. Far from the inevitably distorted theories of individuals, this book is very objective about where lap time comes from. If you talk to individual pilots, they tend to emphasize the importance of the aspect of racing which is most challenging for THEM, instead of emphasizing the objective importance of, say, higher corner exit speed vs. shorter braking distance. I heard more than one real pilot stressing the primary importance of perfect threshold braking... read this book and you will find out that for a good percentage of corners you DON'T use threshold braking (in order to speed up the turn-in phase) unlike everyone thinks, and anyway optimized braking zones are the least important thing for lap time. It goes to the extent of showing the output of data acquisition monitors of professional racers and apprentices, to point out the mistakes and to QUANTIFY them. I don't think other books do this. Every line of text made me discover new things.
6) other qualities that I cannot think about right now :-) Cons: 1) for the most technically oriented, of course this book won't answer all the questions (it isn't an encyclopedy). For instance, many of you will want to know more about tire technology in order to exploit their potential better (which is a crucial skill). To satisfy any further curiosity, you should read technical books (indicated in this book, anyway). This one focuses on driving, but it does not overlook car technology which influences driving techniques and concepts. You simply may want a deeper "engineering" insight. Impossible to include everything...
2) it stresses the importance of the hand-eye coordination, but non soon enough. I would have put it in the first chapter. It is the source of so many mistakes, people tend to look at the car instead of looking forward. You must look at where you want to go, not at your car.
3) it doesn't replace a stage on track, nor days of practice. An instructor will do what this book can't. The problem is that an instructor (and a lot of practice) is needed to do what *ANY* book cannot do. Bottom line: this book is absolutely a must read, it's the ideal first step to enter a new performance dimension.
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Summary: The Technical Approach to Competitive Driving
Review: Going Faster approaches race driving from a very technical perspective. The book investigates racing lines, techniques, and some preparation subjects by paying attention to the underlying physics. The writing is crisp and clean without coming off as childish. Peppered with quotes from real drivers, this book is very approachable and readable. The result is a wonderful book that you can read from cover to cover, or flip open to review something that's giving you trouble. What's lacking? There's nearly no treatment of the driver himself. There's no way to learn what to think about before the race, how to mentally prepare yourself. Or how to achieve consistent results, or deal with mistakes. For that, you'll want a Ross Bentley book.
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Summary: Best racing book ever!
Review: Going Faster is one of the greatest books that I have ever read on the matter of racing. It covers all aspects of the sport and most importantly gives important information on the techinical side of race cars. It is a very valuble asset that all up and coming drivers should purchase.
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Summary: The best, most readable, most up-to-date racing text!
Review: GOING FASTER is simply the best, most readable, and most up-to-date racing textbook around! Although no amount of classroom instruction, principles or theory will ever replace seat time and on-track experience when it comes to developing racing skills, a book like this is a great way to enhance and help assess what you're doing (or not doing) out on the track. Plus its balance between a scientific approach and conversational language and anecdotes from well established drivers make it the most readable "how to" racing book I've ever read. Good for the beginner and seasoned "expert" alike. Congratulations to Carl Lopez on a fine job!
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Summary: Do You Need to Improve Your Lap Time?
Review: Going Faster tells us exactly how to go faster. And it does so in a scientific manner, using both theories and actual practice. What's really great about this book is that it's like a text book. While that might turn some people off, that's exactly the strength of this book. It teaches you, step by step, what you have to do to minimize your time around the track. It tackles subjects such as the Racing Line, Turning, Braking and Entering, Accelerating off the corner... and it does so in a methodical manner. It not only teaches you HOW to do what you're supposed to do in a racecar, it also teaches you WHY. And that deepens your understanding, and consequent practice, of the techniques of racing. If I had a list of 5 books on racing, this one would definitely be in that list.
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Summary: Helped me post a new pesonal best lap at Laguna Seca
Review: I am an amateur racer competing in SCCA regional racing. I found GOING FASTER to be a very useful textbook. The organization is excellent, allowing me to skip some basic information and go directly to the areas which concerned me the most. The clear an detailed description of exactly how a racing car is driven through corners helped me analize my own driving and improve my performance. The description of each aspect of racing starts with a technical foundation and then builds to a description of how to do it in the car. I am an engineer by traning, so this combination of a theroetical treatment with practiacl advice is excellent for me. I found the descrption of how things are in racing to be right on, and I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to try racing, as well as to the racer who wants to improve his or her perforamnce.
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Summary: More information that most of us know what to do with!
Review: I am currently reading this book along with Speed Secrets, and they are the perfect pair. Speed Secrets introduces you to the concept, and gives you a little information on it to familiarize you with it, and then, the next day, I read over the same material in "Going Faster", and it has more extensive information to hammer home the point, and to give you more of the how's and why's.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT book!
Review: I am currently reading this book along with Speed Secrets, and they are the perfect pair. Speed Secrets introduces you to the concept, and gives you a little information on it to familiarize you with it, and then, the next day, I read over the same material in "Going Faster", and it has more extensive information to hammer home the point, and to give you more of the how's and why's.
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