Experience driving on ice at Yachiho Lake again

2nd ice driving experience

Exactly one year ago, I had the opportunity to experience driving on ice for the first time in my life by driving a car on a frozen lake.

Click here for that time:First ice driving experience in my life: Driving on Yachiho Lake ice with BMW M3

One year later, I was able to experience driving on ice again this year. I'm so happy. thank you! !

This time, we will be experiencing the ice again at Yachiho Lake, and we will be participating in an ice driving session with Porsche Center Utsunomiya, where we usually practice steady circles, and another group.

Warm winter with almost no snow

Due to the mild winter this year, there was no snow on the road to Yachiho Lake.

As we got closer to the lake, there was finally some snow left on the roadside.

In fact, the week before I participated, the winter conditions were so mild that ice driving at Yachiho Lake was cancelled.

The snow situation on the road to Yachiho Lake is like this↓

Arrived.

Last year we were blessed with good weather, but this year the weather was even better. In front of me was an icy lake, a blue sky, the sun...and cars.

Some people are participating in Porsches. On the ice in a Porsche. I admire you~^^

Experience driving on ice with BMW M3

This time, our home was not a Porsche, but a BMW M3, as was the case last year.

The reason why Porsche is not participating is mainly because they are stingy with preparing studless tires for Porsche... (lol).

If you are going to get studless tires, I think it would be better to get an M3 that the whole family can ride, so that it will come in handy during everyday life, such as when it snows in Tokyo (our family has 5 tires). Since we are a family, M3 is the only one we can all ride together.

We started driving on the ice after carefully listening to the precautions for driving on ice.

We are allowing the animals to play in an environment created by nature, so we will listen carefully to the precautions given by those who manage this environment and understand and judge various situations, and we will follow them carefully.

It's time to start driving. We were divided into two groups and each took turns for 30 minutes.

My family had two drivers, my husband and I, driving one M3, so we each took turns driving for 30 minutes, so the M3 felt like it was on the ice the whole time.

Running on ice for the second time in my life after a year.

During the first one or two laps, I could feel the power going through my whole body, to the point where I thought all my muscles from my head to my toes were stiff. I was nervous.

I felt like there was no way I was going to let the car slide on my own, so for the first lap or two I was just sluggishly cruising as normal, and when it slipped on its own, I was hurriedly making corrections.

Driving on ice where you can learn a lot

But by the third lap, I was gradually starting to remember the sensations and was able to drive a little more calmly.

At the same time, I somehow started to create my own kicks in the corners and the car started to slide.

However, at first I was overdoing it (too fast, pushing the accelerator a little too hard) and couldn't get it to slide as cleanly as I wanted.

"Drifting is not a brute force"

After remembering this, I changed my mind to focus on ``the moment when the rear of the car comes out'' instead of forcing it to slide.

It is a miraculous growth for me that I am now able to understand the moment when the rear of the car comes out and the moment when the rear starts to itch.

At the same time, this time, I was able to practice drifting in a steady circle on normal ground, and from what I learned, I was able to improve my understanding of ``wait for the rear'' to come out. To.

For me, it felt like a state of enlightenment, and I was able to slowly move forward at low speed, endure, and wait for the rear to come out.

When entering a tight corner, you endure, endure, endure, and when you get that slight feeling of "Oh, here we come!", you start to slide the car, and continue to drift at extremely low speeds. It was really fun to be able to go.

The course is said to be designed like a 1,500 meter mini-circuit, with lots of corners, and you'll be sliding slowly around the course, so just completing one lap will give you a sense of fulfillment.

As a result of the day, I was also able to realize that my running was completely different between the first lap and the last lap.

It was a truly educational experience driving on ice, as we were able to practice sensing and responding to the car's behavior at low speeds, and the low speeds allowed us to better understand ``this is how (cars) move.''

Abandoned making snow ducks

That's right, when I went on the ice experience last year, I brought along a duck-making machine and had fun making ducks out of snow.

This (from last year)↓

I brought my duck-making machine with me this year as well (and the Porsche ducks (lol)), but unfortunately there was almost no snow due to the warm winter, and the ice at the edge of the lake is thinner. I gave up trying to make ducks because it was too dangerous to get close to them.

It's unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do in the face of the natural situation, so safety comes first.

This time, I could hear the sound of water coming from under the crack in the ice, and the ice made a "splat" sound, and sometimes a low "ding" sound, and now the crack had appeared! I was hearing a lot of similar sounds.

It's quite scary (lol). When I was standing on the ice and a car passed in front of me, it was shaking...!

In the end, the race was originally scheduled to run until 4 p.m., but the person in charge decided to end the day at 3 p.m.

You can rest assured that we will carefully assess whether or not it is dangerous.

On this day, the sun was shining so intensely that I needed to wear sunglasses, and the weather was such that I could even go without a coat if I was just going outside the car (it was probably around -1 to 4 degrees Celsius during the day).

Still, I was grateful that I was able to run until 3pm.

Some people were running again the next day, so they stayed overnight, but since we were participating in the race for the day, we went straight home after the race was over.

This is how much snow we saw on Mt. Asama on the way home.

Once again, I had a very enjoyable experience.

It's no wonder that after trying ice driving once, many people want to do it again. fun. And you can understand the movement of the car better.

After experiencing this on the ice a year ago, I feel like I was able to further deepen my understanding by practicing steady circular drift (skid control) on the ground.

And now that I'm able to do a lot more in a steady circle on the ground (than I was in the past), having this experience on the ice again has helped me understand more and more, ``Ah, this is what it's like.'' I feel like the portion was bigger.

Anyway, it was fun! !

Thank you for letting me participate ^^

Related article:First ice driving experience in my life: Driving on Yachiho Lake ice with BMW M3

Steady circle practice record at Tsukuba Circuit Gymkhana field (event sponsored by Porsche Club Utsunomiya):
1: September 2021 Drift practice of Porsche 911 at an event hosted by Porsche Club Utsunomiya
2: February 2022(Visit only) I went to Porsche Club Utsunomiya's regular circle turning practice event.
3: June 2022 Participated in the regular circular turning practice event of Porsche Club Utsunomiya (second time)
4: February 2023 2023 Steady circular turn start
5: June 2023 Finally achieved the goal! I was able to do one lap of the drift with the Porsche 911 (crying)
6: September 2023 Steady circular drift in Porsche 911, finally able to do 3 laps ~
7: December 2023 For the first time in a Porsche 911, it is now possible to perform steady circular drifts in fixed 2nd gear! ...and a crazy car wash
8: February 2024 Porsche 911, I was able to drift about 3 laps with 2nd gear fixed ~
9. June 2024 Visit to Tsukuba Circuit to see steady circle practice...

Other:
1: January 2023 First ice driving experience in my life: Driving on Yachiho Lake ice with BMW M3
2: January 2024 Experience driving on ice at Yachiho Lake again