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Ayrton Senna - Inverse ABS


twobone

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I want to learn more about Ayrton Senna. I came across this video after watching some other ones that show his skill at driving on the edge.

 

What I find interesting is that just like in ABS where the brake is pulsed to release the locked wheel, Ayrton pulses the throttle to keep the car on the bleeding edge of traction.

 

Man, does he ever hammer this NSX-R.

 

 

I think I will have to find more 80s footage. I wish I had paid more attention back then....but I was only 12 years old.

 

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Trust me. I'm not worthy to carry Ayrton's helmet bag. I think Ayrton was one of the best drivers ever. I'm sure had he survived Schumacher would have a lot fewer World Championships!

 

I can't wait to see the documentary that is coming out this year.

 

However....... Am I the only one who wonders what he was doing with that first upshift they show?

 

And I'm not sure about the whole blipping of the throttle deal, I'm sure it's a carry over from go-karts.

 

I'd love to see pedal/steering cams from other great drivers. Like maybe Gilles Villenueve, Alain Prost, Niki Lauda etc.

 

I'd love to hear some other opinions

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[quote=BMW RACER;51115

 

And I'm not sure about the whole blipping of the throttle deal, I'm sure it's a carry over from go-karts.

 

 

 

The whole blipping of the throttle is the reason for doing a heel-toe driving. It matches engine speed to transmission main shaft speed so that you don't get a sudden engine brake effect when you are setting up for the turn. The engine brake effect disrupts the balance of the car and when driving on the edge will cause you to spin out as if you pulled the parking brake. It also increases transmission life because the transmission syncros dont get banged up so much.

 

There are hundreds of examples on youtube

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The whole blipping of the throttle is the reason for doing a heel-toe driving. It matches engine speed to transmission main shaft speed so that you don't get a sudden engine brake effect when you are setting up for the turn. The engine brake effect disrupts the balance of the car and when driving on the edge will cause you to spin out as if you pulled the parking brake. It also increases transmission life because the transmission syncros dont get banged up so much.

That's true for downshifts, but Senna is doing it while in gear, accelerating in the corner.

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I think he is throttle steering by using the pulsed throttle to unsettle the car just enough with a corrdinated steering input to get the attitude of the car pointing right as he progresses through the corner. You could back off and have the rear inertia bring the back around but that is slower than continue to being on the throttle and continuing to accelerate.

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I was lucky to catch the documentary "Senna" at Sundance about two weeks ago. It's a great film. A member of the audience asked the director how we could help assure a U.S. cinematic release. He replied that letters to the producer would be the best way. (It's a Universal/Working Title production.) Regardless of any potential cinematic release, the movie will be available on Blu Ray, but probably not until later this year. They still have to get through the rest of the openings in other countries.

 

Anyway, the in-car video scenes are phenomenal. It's far more raw and engaging than any of the current in-car videos, and really shows off Senna's driving talents. I'd highly recommend this film to anyone.

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That's true for downshifts, but Senna is doing it while in gear, accelerating in the corner.

 

Maybe he is modulating the throttle because he feels the car start to slip?

 

I did notice it seems like the cars LSD wasnt working very well. He had 1 tire spin leaving the pit and you can hear the inside wheel spin in many of the corners. It didnt appear the back was stepping out when the tire spun.

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I've ridden with a couple of instructors on the track that did the same thing. Get the car up on the edge and use little jabs of the throttle to keep it there. That's a level of car control way beyond my abilities.

 

The second video in the first post shows a graph of both Senna and Herbert doing the same thing. Senna did it much better than Herbert.

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I wonder what they were chatting about. It didn't seem like she was giving him course notes, he did most of the talking.

 

The talking is voiceover. Making a somewhat educated guess, I am assuming this aired on one of the popular Japanese variety shows where they show footage of various things and the TV personalities discuss it

 

The driver, Juha Kankkunen, is Finnish and doesn't speak Japanese. It appears to be some sort of closed course demonstration ride. Despite the annoying voiceover, it is a really good vid that shows some of the footwork of a Rally driver. You'll notice that he also stabs at the throttle to unsettle the car. Interestingly, Juha doesn't left foot brake that much, many rally drivers rely heavily on LFB'ing

 

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