Cornering

**Carrie Tella** · November 25th, 2007 04:01 AM

Good morning. It was said that you avoid braking while cornering. Why? Recently, I found an advice which says that it is better to brake while cornering. Which is the better advice?
Thanks.
:tumbleweed:

**mbeige** · November 25th, 2007 06:49 AM

What kind of car? A FWD car can brake while cornering and have no problems, while a RWD car might spin out if it brakes while cornering. Some RWD cars even have lift off oversteer, done by just letting off the accelerator to induce oversteer.

**niky** · November 25th, 2007 06:51 AM

Where'd you find that advice? That guy should have his nuts chopped off and his license revoked. (oh, okay, revoking his license might be a little harsh).

It is always best to brake in a straight line. Braking while cornering can lead to lots of nasty situations:

1. Braking while the car is turning can lead to snap-oversteer (it'll spin). While this might help in an autocross, on the road, you want the car to maintain the same attitude. If your car is understeering (it's not turning through the turn), you can use the brakes to trim the line... but if you're understeering, that means you're driving too fast through the turn.

2. Turning under heavy braking can lead to one of two things:

a. On a non-ABS equipped car, the extra angle of the front wheels can lead to reduced braking efficiency, heavy understeer, and a very long stop (you'll stop when you've hit whatever it is you were trying to avoid.

b. On an ABS-equipped car, it is possible to spin out or run off the road... See... when you're in an emergency, you panic... you hit the brakes, you steer. The brakes lock, so steering does nothing, you steer more... then the ABS kicks in... suddenly, the car shoots off in the direction you're steering to... but since you've added more steering, you veer off sharply to the side and possibly off the road.

Newer ABS algorithms may prevent such catastrophes, but you shouldn't rely on them... You should always... always brake first, then turn. While it's perfectly safe to brake lightly into a turn on a dry road... any amount of braking in a turn on a wet or dusty road is dangerous.

**niky** · November 25th, 2007 06:55 AM

BTW: any car can oversteer on lift-off or in braking into a corner... I've done it myself... and I've seen quite a few people spin on their first trip to the Batangas Race Circuit because they didn't know enough to not trailbrake on those bends.

It's just that on cheap, original equipment tires, most modern cars tend to understeer more.

**drey** · November 25th, 2007 09:17 AM

Yup, not unless if your car is equipped with ABS, EBS, TCS etc. The tendency to oversteer would be lessened. But take note, you can't bend the law of physics. So it is better to brake in a straight line before entering a curve. This is what racer's do... But I am exempted in computer games. :lol:

**ghosthunter** · November 25th, 2007 01:01 PM

You can practice your cornering with safety in the latest driving games. They can simulate the driving physics pretty accurately. Just get a car model as close to the one you normally drive.

**ghosthunter** · November 25th, 2007 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by Carrie Tella

Good morning. It was said that you avoid braking while cornering. Why? Recently, I found an advice which says that it is better to brake while cornering. Which is the better advice?
Thanks.

If entering the corner at high speed, you brake while cornering, you have two possible scenarios:

1. you can possibly loose control of your car since it will understeer. You will skid off the road, hit the tree beside the road and then you die.

2. you can possibly loose control of your car since it will oversteer. You will skid off the road backwards, hit the tree beside the road and then you die.

So, in that light, it is best to brake BEFORE the corner. Even with all the electronic aids like anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, electronic traction control, etc cannot out-perform a driver who will take proper precaution when entering a corner.

Also when going through a corner, it is advisable to be as smooth with your steering and throttle inputs to maintain the car's balance through the curve.

**Horsepower** · November 25th, 2007 03:43 PM

I don't know if this is right but I normally brake upon approach of the curve and step on the gas moderately inside the bend then flat out when i get to the straight...

**niky** · November 25th, 2007 04:17 PM

Tama naman.

Brake on the approach, only initiate turning once the weight has shifted and the car is already slowing down...

Step on the gas at the apex or just after, then floor it once straightened out on the exit.

On the racetrack, as you get more comfortable with the turns and your car, you can start to brake later, experiment with trimming your line with the brakes, experiment with getting on the gas a bit earlier, correcting oversteer with gas (FWD) or correcting understeer or inducing a drift with the gas (RWD)... or experiment initiating a neutral four wheel drift with some trail-braking to overcome understeer (any kind of car).

But it's not something you should play with on the road if there's a possibility of killing someone besides yourself...