Recommended Reading


How Can I Learn More About High Performance Driving?

Check out the Physics of Racing website at http://members.home.net/rck/phor/

[AW, MS]

Title: Race Car Vehicle Dynamics

 Author: Milliken & Milliken 
 Cost: $90 for non-SAE members, $75 or so for members
 ISBN: 1-56091-526-9
 Notes: THE definitive reference book on the subject. Highly mathematical. 

Title: Ayrton Senna’s Principles of Race Driving

 Author: Ayrton Senna
 Cost: Hardcover List: $22.95 -- Amazon.com Price: $20.66. Softcover at Borders for  $19.95. 
 ISBN:1874557403
 Notes: Published by Hazelton. Publication date: October 1,1993. Dimensions (in  inches): 8.24 x 7.47 x .67. It's probably not the best race driving tutorial book since it  goes into very little detail (I guess it just seemed so obvious to Senna) and a lot of it  is not really relevant to us ("...generally a car with a 1000 rpm power band is  considered flexible..."), it is nevertheless an interesting read. The best thing  about the book is that it is 208 full color pages showing Senna in his Formula 1  McLaren-Honda, and since it is written in the first person you get a feel for Senna's  thought process before and during a race. 

Title: The "…To Win" series: Tune To Win, Engineer to Win, Prepare to Win, Drive to Win

 Author: Carroll Smith 
 Cost: About $25, or you could just borrow a copy from any racer
 Notes: Written for racers. Not much math, just a lot of solid info. Some books were  written in the mid-70s, so some of the information is out of date. It doesn't matter,  though. If you're at all serious about racing, you should have this book. If you're a real  Carroll-phile or plan to be involved in the upper echelons of pro motor racing, you should  buy them. Start with Tune to Win. Otherwise, you won't be missing much. 

Title: How to Make Your Car Handle / Brake Handbook

 Author: Fred Puhn
 Notes: Decent 

Title: Race Car Engineering and Mechanics

 Author: Paul van Valkenburgh 
 Notes: Excellent, but a bit outdated. 

Title: Inside Racing Technology

 Author: Paul Haney
 Notes: Gives only a superficial overview of the subject matter -- but if you've  never touched a racecar or met any racers, it should give you a bit of a feel for what  it's all about.

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