Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Rockford
He found it faster to do some of the final braking during the initial turn in.
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That technique is well known as trail braking (and I mentioned it in my earlier post).
The first thing that I want to say is that there is no single "best" way to take a corner in a Boxster (we all have roughly equal cars) because so much depends on the skill level of the driver. Jay and Perfectlap's points are both valid - the technique employed depends entirely on the driver skill level.
Once a driver gets the basics down, then trail braking and several other advanced techniques are quite useful and probably faster.
For example; one of my favorites is to enter the turn faster than the turn can be executed. The innate understeer at turn in will scrub some speed; then completely lift off of the throttle to purposefully upset the balance - this will put weight onto the front tires and unweight the rear tires. At the same time as lifting the throttle, give the steering a big input. The rear will literally slide as the car rotates in mid-corner.
What you've done is purposefully created the start of a spin. The trick is to drive out of it.
As soon as the car
starts to rotate (this happens FAST in a mid-engined Boxster so if you wait until its already rotated, its too late and you will spin), jump back on the throttle hard; this will shift weight to the rear tires and they will hook up. Done properly, you can then drive the car out of the corner at full throttle.
Fast in - fast out.
This and many other techniques should be in every performance driver's toolbox and this is one thing that I love so much about performance driving and racing - no matter your skill level, there is always more to learn to improve your capabilities.
The important takeaway is to get good instruction so you properly learn the basics and then work your way up to more advanced techniques. And the best place to learn is on the race track where the cost of a serious mistake is minimized.
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