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 Some books were written in the mid-70s, so some of the information is out of date.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Notes: Excellent, but a bit outdated.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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