illmatic_si

alright so ever since I got initial D and installed NFSU part 2 I've been messing around with how I brake and turn..

trying out this 'trail braking' thing. you're supposed to start braking at the start of your turn and let go at the apex.. but I'm always too chicken and start to brake earlier. and even when I try, the car loses traction..

before my technique was to brake early, roll thru the first half of the turn and then slam the gas just after the apex-- probably not so great for speed.

I'm asking cause I'm working on my suspension over winter so in the spring I can get into lapping and stuff.. squeeze out the best lap times for my car

just wondering if theres any other different cornering techniques out there?

imported_gatherer

best way to learn is in a stock car at an autocross. when you can go fast in a stock car then you know what cornering is...

ok trail brake is not braking at the turn in point to the apex. that won't work and if you try it in real life I hope you put a lawnmower blade on the front of your car so that you can cut the grass while you end up driving on it.

ok so trail braking what is it?

standard race line around a corner has a braking zone up to the turn in point after you trun in your on the throttle just enough to maintain speed. at the apex you start going back to full throttle and should be at full throttle by the exit point.

now imagine you take all that and run it through winzip on your computer. what happens? you crompressed the time frame.

so now your braking zone (which still starts way before the turn in point) goes all the way to the apex. you brake hard right up to the turn in poinmt this puts more wieght on the front tires allowing them to have more grip and therefore turn in at a higher speed after you've turned in you start letting off the brake . by the time you reach the apex your foot should already be over the accelerator which you should depress as you come out of the corner.

trail braking is very very hard to master.

illmatic_si

thanks for the info Jason. I gather you know what ur talking about (ha ha)

in experimenting I have actually modified my turn style to exactly what you described.. and it feels GREAT b/c I've tuned out a lot of the body roll that used to occur. a lot of grip on the front wheels, braking thru the turn and gassing 1% after the apex. I have an SiR swaybar in the garage.. what effect will it have? even less body roll? or tendency of the rear to swing out..?

and about heel-toeing.. how does it tie into all of this? do ppl use it to downshift at the apex point? i.e. between braking in-to and accelerating out-of the turn?

imported_gatherer

lol if you shift during a turn (either up or down) please put the lawn mower blade on the back of your car ... it's the end most likely to go off first... (and it will go off if your at 10/10s then lift off the throttle or disconnect the drive train by pressing the clutch or moving the shifter through neutral. there are some corners at Dunnville and such where you have to enter in one gear go through the turn and by close to the exit need to shift.

anyways heel and toe is just to down shift while braking. everyone thinks it has something to do with cornering but it doesn't you down shift when you brake. why the misconception? simple you only brake on a track when entering a corner.

anyways you should have both hands on the wheel at turn in point and so therefore you should have your shifting done before turn in. any upshifting will normally be done at corner exit.

as for swaybars... big then stock in the rear= more oversteer bigger then stock in the front = understeer

as for if they are useful they do some nasty things. they transfer wieght from the inside to the outside of the car. what this means is with a larger rear sway bar you'll have less grip on your inside front tire and the result will be more slip when acclerating out of the corner. the end result is a slightly lower exit speed. swaybars should be the last step in the tuning process. tune with shocks and springs first .. and if you like one set buy others try others Eibach ERS springs on coilovers are an amazing bang for the buck cheap and linear spring rates.

anyways body roll is ok. don't be afraid of body roll till you have a corner worker say to you "dude in that corner you go 2 wheels off the ground" then start to worry