trail braking
 

how is this accomplished? other than using the e-brake...which what i hear is a bad idea on an AWD car because it damages the central diff.

same as any other car... ease out of brakes as you enter the corner.

I believe you're really asking how to do a tight U-turn though. there is no other reason you would mention the handbrake.

The handbrake is to be used only for line adjustment. You should not use it any other time except for correcting a mistake in your approach/line/rotation.

isnt trail braking when u dab the brake during a turn so the car turns even more?

remond:

Trail braking is a technique use in racing or high performance driving that allows you to modulate the weight transfer of a vehicle entering a corner and while turning.

It can best be accomplished with the left foot.

Hope this helps.

JS

so trail braking is the same thing as "left foot braking"?

only reason why i mentioned the e-brake is that I thought that trail braking meant to brake with only the rear brakes. the only way i could think of accomplishing that is the e-brake.

left foot braking is a technique used so you are in a higher rpm coming out of the turn, although this could lead to trail braking if im not mistaken. Brian should be able to clear things up :)

When you enter a turn, beginning racers are taught to never touch the brakes. If you brake in a turn, you entered that turned too quickly.

You're taught to brake and gear down in the braking zone. Turn the car at turn-in in gear. Then power down at the apex through the exit. This is the kosher way to take a turn, and it teaches new drivers to focus on picking the line. Usually a lower entry speed will help your ability to pick the line.

Trail-braking means to continue braking after you have entered a turn. This is a delicate technique, and you have to be very comfortable with controlling oversteer before you consider it.

You also have to be extremely good with brake modulation because you will have to progressively decrease pedal pressure as the car turns in more.

You drag the brakes slightly into the entry of the turn. This is done primarily for 2 reasons:

1. You entered the turn too quickly. You need to scrub off some speed, but you don't want to run wide. So you brake with decreased intensity after the entry.

2. Your car oversteers by nature. By trailing the brakes a little bit, you set some of the weight on the front tyres, and especially the outside front, to get a little more steering traction.

You'll need to be very good with catching the rear end because trail braking is a sure way to ask for oversteer. You need to power down and ease off the brakes just right.

You can trail the brakes with either left or right foot. You need to have the car in gear when you trail because you need to power down and correct immediately. So you cannot coast through a corner. You shouldn't be coasting through any corner. You can trail with the left foot and keep the turbo spooling with the right you if need it.

And then there's a technique called the braking-induced drift. This is accomplished by turning the car in slightly. Then you give the brakes a good dab. It will lock up the tyres and the rotational inertia will spin the car into the turn. You have to get off the brakes and steer and power down immediately, or the car will whip the rear end around very quickly. It's a hard technique to get right because the car will oversteer too much. This is a very advanced technique used by highly accomplished drivers. Most beginning drifters just do handbrake or clutch dump shockloading.


But everything I've said is just for fun. The best way is to brake and gear down BEFORE you enter the turn. Enter the turn slowly and in a gear that will give you enough revs to go through the turn. Pick your turn in line, apex late for maximum visibility into the turn, and come out under slight power to set the chassis.

You could do this to keep the car from overpowering the rear, but usually it's best to come out under power and correct the car with steering inputs. Grabbing the brakes at the corner's exit will hurt your speed down the straight.

The only time you would do this is if you're trying to set up for the next turn.

Don't you brake first hard before you turn? I usually brake hard on 2nd gear at 6000rpm then punch it. You could do all sorts of things, like ass slide, drift... You could do that with throttle control...

I think you could left brake and throttle at the same time. That give you a better control, but it's really difficult to accomplish, I think.

I've seen a few FWD cars use trail braking to induce oversteer if I'm thinking of it properly. The driver would purposely continue braking into the corner just a little, sometimes locking up the brakes to get the rear wheels loose. I did it by accident in an S turn once because I went into the corner too fast (as q6civcx said) and it caused me to spin out. But when used properly, it can be a great way to get otherwise push-happy FWD and AWD cars around sharp corners.

one word DON'T
The EVOs weight bias already overloads the outside front and braking while cornering just ADDS to this imbalance...After me: 1 Heavy Brake in a straight line 2 start rolling the throttle on THEN 3 turn. (this also has the advantage of spooling the turbo quicker) Look at the sig. Me and the Buschur West car must be dong something right on the local road courses.

"one word DON'T"

That's pretty easy to do - Thanks.

Gotta love when things are that simple - from what I am reading, this guy knows what he's talking about!

Trail braking can also be used for passing on the inside where you have less radius to complete the turn and you beat the other guy to the turn by braking later.
The idea is to get the car to rotate faster by transfering more grip to the front tires.
I have known about trail braking for ten years and have not used it yet.
Wait till you have at least ten more years of experience before you try it.
It is an advanced maneuver.

word