How professionals drive

[NoirX252]

I noticied in some videos, a different pro sometimes clutches out his upshifts/downshifts fast, but then sometimes they ease it out or ride the clutch, especially on the downshift

Which is the better way? I've been letting out my clutch quick on downshifts, upshifts, but I can never get the "perfect" drive. I'm bounde to mess up sometime during the day.

[Nychold]

First of all, stop watching the professionals. Professional race car drivers DON'T drive for smoothness. They drive for speed, and I'm betting they're not all too smooth. Accurate, probably, fast, definitely. But smooth, probably not.

The best thing you can do for driving smooth is the "License to Drive" trick. Get a very picky passenger, and drive. And listen to what they say. Experiment a little...short of anything incredibly stupid, you won't hurt the car much, if at all. And when they stop complaining about the ride, you'll have hit smooth status.

[Ecmslee]

Well said Nychold. To add to this, we can say that you either drive for performance or for comfort. You have to trade one for the other.

[MicroXcorp]

First of all, stop watching the professionals. Professional race car drivers DON'T drive for smoothness. They drive for speed, and I'm betting they're not all too smooth. Accurate, probably, fast, definitely. But smooth, probably not.

The best thing you can do for driving smooth is the "License to Drive" trick. Get a very picky passenger, and drive. And listen to what they say. Experiment a little...short of anything incredibly stupid, you won't hurt the car much, if at all. And when they stop complaining about the ride, you'll have hit smooth status.

I don't know about you, but I learnt a lot from Best Motoring, especially the footage where they show the footwork of the driver. I disagreed on the drive for speed and not smooth part. They drive for speed so it's essential for them to not upset the balance of the car in order for them to accquire speed. Therefore, they're driving fairly smooth. Perhase, smoother and more accurate than any of us on here.

NoirX252, I noticed that too. They sometimes ease out on the clutch when downshifting, in my opinions, because they feel that the rev is too high to let the clutch out quickly so they ride it a little to prevent jerking.

[jomotopia]

First of all, stop watching the professionals. Professional race car drivers DON'T drive for smoothness. They drive for speed, and I'm betting they're not all too smooth. Accurate, probably, fast, definitely. But smooth, probably not.

The best thing you can do for driving smooth is the "License to Drive" trick. Get a very picky passenger, and drive. And listen to what they say. Experiment a little...short of anything incredibly stupid, you won't hurt the car much, if at all. And when they stop complaining about the ride, you'll have hit smooth status.

I don't know about you, but I learnt a lot from Best Motoring, especially the footage where they show the footwork of the driver. I disagreed on the drive for speed and not smooth part. They drive for speed so it's essential for them to not upset the balance of the car in order for them to accquire speed. Therefore, they're driving fairly smooth. Perhase, smoother and more accurate than any of us on here.

probably depends on the driver, the type of race, and exactly what you mean by driving smoothly. for example, upshifts in a straight line are probably not smooth at all if going for all out acceleration. however, downshifts for corners must be smooth to avoid upsetting the balance of the car.

NoirX252, I noticed that too. They sometimes ease out on the clutch when downshifting, in my opinions, because they feel that the rev is too high to let the clutch out quickly so they ride it a little to prevent jerking.

i think that's probably it. they realized that they were off on the rev-match and so let the clutch out slower to absorb the difference and remain smooth to avoid upsetting the car's balance getting into a corner.