Content Wrapper

[MechaniX_034]

Well, haven't done one of these write-ups for quite a while so I decided to put this up for referance.


~Basic cornering technique:

Obviously this has little to nothing to do with drag racing, which would be the regular passtime. It has even less to do with street-racing, as it's not possible to predict the condition of the surface that you happen to be "racing" on [ie. a spot of gravel on the road shoulder could take away what little tractio you have left while corntering at the limit.] This is compounded by the problem that our cars are FWD, and the front wheels are handling both the braking/drive as well as the lateral loading[sideways centrifugal force] Also, not everyone on the public road is aware of proper race-craft. Thus, it's best to keep it to the track, or sanctioned events.

What's gonna be discussed here are the basic elements of getting a FWD car to turn both quickly AND safely. There are several other things you can do to agitate the chassis and rotate the car towards the corner apex, but since this requires a certain degree of traction loss and agressive weight-shifting, it will not be discussed here.

~Here's a few things that should be kept in mind when reading this:

• This article assumes that, for purposes of minimizing time, you are accelerating towards the corner at WOT on either the front or rear straight.
• The article will assume that you are wearing the essential safety gear, ie. helmet, suit, gloves, boots and associated fireproof underwear. It will also assume that you have a fire extinguisher in the car and that trackside assistance is availible.
• The article will assume that your brakes are working at 100% efficiency, and that your chassis has been set up properly for motorsports events.

~A few things about FWD that you need to know about:

• The weight of the car is primarily at the front of the chassis; it is safe to assume a weight distribution of 65/35 front-to-rear for a sedan and even up to 70/30 front-rear in a normal production hatch.
• The front tyres handle pretty much everything. They handle both braking and accelration forces, and as mentioned before they also handle the majority of lateral loads. This means that the front wheels handle drive, cornering AND braking chores while the rears follow along for the ride.
• The above means that there is far less traction left over for the turn, compared to RWD.
• When accelerating, the weight of the vehicle is shifted towards the rear. And thus, pressure on the front tyres is reduced. That means, traction[grip] is also reduced upon acceleration at the corner exit. Accelerating too hard ut of a cirner will result in the car going wide, or understeering.
• When braking, the weight of the car is shifted onto the front wheels, so the inverse to the above occurs. However, this uses up a great deal of the traction availible from a given set of tyres, so you will not be able to turn in as harshly on the brakes as you would be able to in a RWD car. Attempting to do so will result in "plow," or understeer.
• While doing either of the above, you will also be trying to do one of two things: either you will be trying to enter the corner, or to leave it as quickly as possible.

~Now, let's get down to it: There's not much of a point to descrive every concievable type of corner that you're going to encounter. Thus, I'll be telling you only what you should be looking out for, and what you'll need to feel the car and the tyres doing. Every corner is different, every one has its own little naunces that you'll have to become familiar with. Every track has a different rhythm, and it's something that you'll need to familiarize yourself with over time and practice. Let's first break it down into steps followed by actions, and then the feedback of those actions. The final part will be drills that you can do in order to get better.