Originally Posted by RussinStk

Who watches the hood of their car during a slalom?

Originally Posted by ShoelessJoe

Yo Damon B,
Did Dr. Woods give you a "driver training" lesson or somethin?

Originally Posted by redrotorR1

The secret of the slaloms (tm: Andy Hollis) ---> By taking a slightly wider entry on the first cone of the slalom, you can begin turning in earlier ... thus allowing wider arcs and less steering input. As a result, this allows you to carry more speed through the slalom.

A lesson that I always remind myself of ... there's not a lot of time to be made up in a slalom, but there's plenty to be lost in a slalom.

Originally Posted by Alex

Talking about running over the base of cones, this is a pick from last year. If you look closely, you can see the cone is actually hovering in the air 1in off the ground after knicking it with my front tire. No penalty!

Originally Posted by DamonB

This is an easy question. It depends ;)

If the slalom is evenly spaced ideally you carry a nice even speed and just go through it while working the wheel (no course designer worth a sh*t would let that happen though). You get through any slalom quickest by doing the least amount of steering. This means you turn immediately behind the cones as you pass them. Imagine the rear tires just missing the cones by fractions of an inch. The sooner you move the car over the broader you can make your arc between each cone. This is the key to slaloms.

Depending on where the slalom is you may find yourself needing to accelerate through the slalom or slow down. In those instances you have to be balancing your hands with your feet. If you need to use more of your hands (steer) you should be using less of your feet (brake or gas). This is why the key is to turn so early behinds the cones: by not needing as much steering you can automatically carry more speed without sliding. Most newbs get behind in the slalom; they turn later and later as they progress through and this leaves them needing big steering inputs to round the last cone or two. If they don't slow the car this will leave the car slow at best or sideways/backwards at worst.

Entry speed is the part you have to get right. If you come in too hot it's very difficult to slow the car down while also weaving back and forth because you're asking so much of the front tires. If you come in too slow and try to speed up then you're unloading the front tires and making it harder to change direction again. The keys to slaloms are to turn as soon as you can and to keep all your inputs smooth, even while slowing or speeding up. You can make some adjustments in the slalom but you can't make big ones without it hurting you in some way.

When walking look closely at the slalom and figure out where you want to be on the way out. Many times you can drive the slalom as if the last cone was not even there because you're headed somewhere else anyway. I often see newbs drive right up to the last cone of the slalom and then veer off to the next part of the course. Regardless you should find yourself with your foot to the floor as you pass through the last gate of a slalom. You should accelerate while you're still in it and not wait until after you pass the last cone.

Remember that the front tires take a moment to make the car change direction. This means you need to steer the car before you actually want it to turn. The faster you're going the earlier you need to be with the wheel.

There really is no correct way to drive a slalom. There is only the correct way for the way that slalom is setup and its location on the course.

Originally Posted by Alex

Talking about running over the base of cones, this is a pick from last year. If you look closely, you can see the cone is actually hovering in the air 1in off the ground after knicking it with my front tire. No penalty!