The High Groove - Cornering 101

[TCrouch]

Jeff!! How have you been??

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Downey is the original author of The High Groove when I came onto OS in '99 or '00. Talk about time flying...

[Bahnzo]

I don't know about "completely" but I certainly have learned from all the sim racing that I've done that if you aren't braking, then you better be accelerating. Keep in mind I don't necessarily mean you should be on the gas all the way, but just enough to keep your speed in the corner. There are corners/track where it makes sense to "coast" in the corner (Martinsville comes to mind) but IMO they are few and far between.

And I also don't mean you should be braking hard all the way. You should do most of your braking before you enter a corner, but still using some brake as you continue into the corner entry.

One thing we do completely agree on however is the need to be smoooooth into a corner. Upsetting the balance of a car, either by letting up all the way on the throttle suddenly or braking really hard helps no-one. Smooth inputs between throttle, brake, and steering are crucial. How you get about to doing that may vary.

Some concepts work better for road racing than they do for NASCAR. With NASCAR your vehicle is so heavy that you generally need to do more braking earlier. With a high performance road car, you can do more braking deep into the corner because the car will allow it. And of course you want to balance the way you do it as far as "hot lap" vs "race". The real fast people are those that can find a medium between pushing the car to it limits, corner after corner, without over driving it to the point your gains are lost due to worn tires (or spinning the car).

[Steve_OS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeff_Downey

That's a catchy name for a racing column.

What's up Jeff! Hope all is well brother!

[kennytomson]

method has worked great for a newbie like me who's just trying to get through a race in one piece.

-tap the break 2-3 car lengths before the turn
-coast through the turn, or at least 55% of it
-slowly accelerate out of corner

eventually through the race you get more brave with your break spot, breaking later, and also with when to accelerate (though you almost always spin out when you get too aggressive out of the turn).

[ramenite]

Well, in a car you should NEVER press both the gas and brake at the same time.

He's the problem with games, and I'm not sure where Nascar 09 falls. It depends if they combine the axises on the throttle and brake. In other words, if I'm full on the throttle, and I hit the brake with the single axis--it's no different than if I just let off the accelerator. It also has to do with what pedals send as an axis. Some of the less expensive wheels only report one axis for the pedals, others such as the Logitech MOMO and G25 separate them.

If you separate them, and if you're in a realcar--you need to let off the accelerator fully before you press the brake. One or the other, but never both.

[RunN1st]

This article came just at the right time for me. I'm currently teaching my 6 yr. old boy and 8 yr. old girl racing 101.

Off topic:
They are currently playing Forza 2 and Mater National Championship racing. They enjoy Forza 2 more than the CARS game!