Rating: 
Summary: Great book for the racer wanna-be
Review: I bought this book after going to a racing school and it helped me to build on what I learned. Great book, real detailed, and real imformative
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Manual of a Beginning Competition Driver
Review: I couldn't "swallow" this book at once, it took me three sessions during a couple of months to figure out that amongst the good books on motor sports this one serves the role of a guidebook, of a manual of a beginning competition driver, best of all.
What do I mean by "good books"? Competition Driving by Alain Prost, The Technique of Motor Racing by Piero Taruffi, Driving in Competition by Alan Johnson, Sports Car and Competition Driving by Paul Frere, to name a few. All of them are wise and not overcomplicated, and have no buzz about the success stories of champions, the buzz which is useless for the reader interested in driving techniques.
I've found out that the definition of oversteer and understeer here is the most complete and most correct amongst the books that I've listed, yet without the formulas that may frighten somebody. It took the author 17 pages full of illustrations to explain these modes of car behaviour. This is the first big advantage of this book.
Another major advantage of this book is the serious attention of the author to the role of hardware, which is sometimes overlooked by the other writers, who claim that hardware is important, but do not write in-depth chapters about it. The book has may illustrations and explanations how the center of gravity, wheel base, and the suspension elements like springs, shock absorbers and the roll bars affect longitudal and lateral load transfer speed and motion, which occurs during acceleration, braking and cornering; how various adjustment affect the weight applied to each of the wheels, and how this affects car behaviour. He is the only author to mention the effect of download on coefficient of friction of the wheel, and why the total friction of the wheels is at its highest level when the download on each wheel is the same, i.e. the car is balanced. The other writers in this case did only mention that to keep the car balanced is important without a sound explanation.
The book has an appendix with the listing of racing resources, it has a good bibliography and a useful glossary and an index.
I highly recommend this book, although sometimes I had a feeling that more humour and liveliness would have made it even better. Please also consider buying "Skip Barber - Going Faster" DVD in addition to this book.
Rating:
Summary: A useful guide that falls short on the technical
Review: I have never raced cars but have developed an interest in the subject, so this is written from a layman's perspective. My background is in computer engineering; I've recently read "Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics", providing me with a basic background of the physics affecting cars.That said, my one area of disappointment relating to this book is in its treatment of technical subjects. The book strives to describe complex physical phenomena in terminology accessible to the least technically-inclined among us. This goal is worhwhile, and I could understand simplification of the subject matter. However, it's not just a matter of simplification: there are items that appear to me to be factually wrong. The claims seem "kinda right", and essentially correct conclusions are drawn, but it's a case of the ends justifying the means. A particularly worrisome example (for those who have already read the book) is the initial discussion of tire slip angles. Once the book settles into the primary topic of what a driver has to do when behind the wheel, I found the it to be an approachable and helpful introduction to the world of racing. Many of the techniques provided utilize heuristics rather than detailed analyses; while my logical mind was sometimes left wanting for a more rigorous treatment, the approach used is probably the only workable one given the length of the book, the target audience, and the highly-complex and constantly-changing nature of race driving.
Rating:
Summary: More information that most of us know what to do with!
Review: I picked up this fantastic book after a Skip Barber 2-day driving school at Lime Rock, CT. A perfect compliment to that course it expanded on the topics the instructors could only touch upon- and the numerous pictures, diagrams and graphs really help the reader understand the theoretical concepts. Nothing is better than seat time, but I have no doubt that I am a more capable and knowledgeable driver after reading, and rereading this book.
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Summary: Skip Barbers Drive Faster
Review: I race in AutoX and roadracing, and recently became an instructor in a racing license course. I bought and read several books about the subject of auto racing. The 'Drive Faster' book is absolutely excellent and definitely the most thorough read available on how to drive a racecar. It has the background, the theoretic part, the science part, the diagrams and is full of useful and detailed pictures. It's nicely laid out and written in a no-nonsense language. Every chapter is finished with a good conclusions part. As a bonus, there are separate pieces of useful and funny 'war story' experiences of several successful drivers, related to the subject of the chapter. Drive Faster covers the subject of race driving from the ground up. I would say it's a big mistake not to buy this book if you race cars. I've gone back to read and re-read chapters in this book and everytime I start to think and find something to apply on the track. Best and funniest result was finding 0.5 sec in an AutoX by saying loud to myself "feeding, feeding" like Danny Sullivan suggests in one of his war stories... Best money/performance spent on the car so far. If this sounds like a commercial, so be it. The bottom line is that, unless you're Michael Schumacher, it makes an enourmous amount of sense to spend $100 on a couple on books to unlock driver performance rather than buying that nice anodized alloy performance item to gain laptime... Top marks!
Rating:
Summary: Everything under 1 roof
Review: I read "Going Faster" from cover to cover before participating in a 3 day Skip Barber Racing School program at Laguna Seca Raceway (Monterey, CA). This book is not only one of the most informative accounts on the techniques of both fast driving and competition racing, but is an enjoyable read as well. The content has it all, from basic car control, to much more complex technical information regarding car setup, and physics of a race car. I found this book to be both informative AND inspiring, which speaks volumes in itself. Regardless of whether you are an armchair racer, gamer, autocrosser, club racer, or pro, this book offers something for everyone. I have also read many of the other standards on auto racing (Bob Bondurant's guide to high performance racing, and Carrol Smith's "Drive to Win"), and "Going Faster" offers the best of both worlds. If I had to choose one "Bible of Racing," this would most certainly be it! Worth Every Penny!
Rating:
Summary: Everything under 1 roof
Review: I read "Going Faster" from cover to cover before participating in a 3 day Skip Barber Racing School program at Laguna Seca Raceway (Monterey, CA). This book is not only one of the most informative accounts on the techniques of both fast driving and competition racing, but is an enjoyable read as well. The content has it all, from basic car control, to much more complex technical information regarding car setup, and physics of a race car. I found this book to be both informative AND inspiring, which speaks volumes in itself. Regardless of whether you are an armchair racer, gamer, autocrosser, club racer, or pro, this book offers something for everyone. I have also read many of the other standards on auto racing (Bob Bondurant's guide to high performance racing, and Carrol Smith's "Drive to Win"), and "Going Faster" offers the best of both worlds. If I had to choose one "Bible of Racing," this would most certainly be it! Worth Every Penny!
Rating:
Summary: Very thorough
Review: I've been hot lapping on road courses for about 6 yrs now, but I was still able to get a lot out of this book. They say Skip Barber's classes are among the best, so that's why I took a chance on this book. Money well spent! This book would be great for a beginner, but also has finer points that would benefit drivers of all levels. The photos were very clear and helped support the text well. Racing is really like anything, you need to understand the fundamentals. If you're going to go out on a course, or even just want to control your car better around city streets, this book can take you to the next level.
Rating:
Summary: One Great Book! Very detailed, very well written.
Review: If you are looking for a book that gets right down to the nitty gritty, this is it. Very well written, has tons of diagrams and photos. I soaked up the information in every chapter like a sponge and never felt like a topic wasn't covered thoroughly enough. And the author is right in that he doesn't just present his opinion alone. He is great at offering different pros take on various issues which I thought was great. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone serious about learning more about racing, whether it be karts, autocross, stock cars, open-wheeled Formula Dodge, Indy Lights, or Indy Cars....this book covers the techniques of line, braking,car control techniques, shifting and passing, as well as much much more that you will soak up! This book will be the new bible for racers. Period.
Rating: 
Summary: Going Faster! published.....finally!
Review: Re-named from "Think Fast" to "Going Faster", this book looks closely at the knowledge and skills contemporary racedrivers need to master to compete at the highest levels. Unlike other racing technique books, this is not one person's view of how race cars should be driven, but a collection of knowledge and experience gained from years of race-winning performance. While not an outline of typical Skip Barber programs, it draws on the experience of the Barber staff to lay out a thoughtful plan for driving race cars as fast as they will go. Flush with over 300 illustrations and photographs this is a book that both novices and professionals should have in thier equipment bags.
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