Testing 
Introduction
All top athletes, sports teams, race teams and business leaders practice.
Why? Because they want to improve their performance.
Lapping is not testing
Many recreational racers and driver's ed participants are quite happy to load
up the car, head to the track, have a great time and come home. Their goal
is to have fun and they are not terribly concerned about their overall performance.
For these participants, testing is not terribly important.
For many of us, taking part is not good enough. We are competitive and we want to achieve our maximum performance each and every time we are at the track. For us, effective testing is essential.
Why test?
understand
create knowledge
-brake bias
-tire compounds and pressures
-alignment settings
-sway bar settings
-shocks and springs
-engine performance
Effective testing always starts with a plan.
Step 1: List your requirements
-What do you want to learn?
-What are your expected results?
-How do you want to see the data? Tabular, Graphs
Step 2: Create a test plan
-Layout a detailed plan for the day
-If you have 4 sessions, define exactly what you are going to do in each session
-Make one change at a time (there are ways to test multiple changes during
a session but keep it simple at first)
-Define a base line set up that can be used as a test control
-Be realistic: How much can you achieve during your test time
-Create contingency plans: weather, track conditions, damage etc
-Assign tasks to your crew, make sure they know what to do when
-one crew member should be in charge of the test (not the driver)
-one crew member should be responsible for data analysis
Step 3: Identify the tools needed to
execute the plan
-Chassis adjustment tools
-Measurement tools
-Data Acquisition System
Step 4: Prepare the car before leaving
for the track
-establish the baseline set up
Step 5: Dry run before arriving at the
track
-ensure you know what you are doing before going to the track
-prepare your tools
-ensure your team members know what they are expected to do
Step 6: Track Testing
-testing is not lapping
-drive the program, don't get distracted
-your first test should include establishing a baseline
-be prepared to modify the plan if weather or incidents affect your track
time
-drive consistently (an inconsistent driver will make data analysis very difficult)
-at the end of the test, drive the baseline again to ensure that the control
parameters have not changed.
Step 6: Analyze the data
-one person should be responsible for analyzing the data
-if you are a one man show, you will not have time to analyze the data at
the track (do this in your hotel room later at night)
Step 7: Record your results and establish a baseline for future reference
