High speed cornering - approaching the limit?

[Frimley111R]

The biggest challenge I face on track is high speed bends. I am just not sure where the limit is or what will happen when I get there. Will I lose the back, just understeer or what? Its worrying as whatever happens it'll be at high speed and will I be able to cope with it or simply go flying off? How do you cope with this?

[Frimley111R]

CraigyMc said:

Hi (remember me?)

Walshy will do this sort of stuff with you on a carlimits day, usually from >80mph and under braking so as to destabilise the car as much as possible in an environment where losing it costs nothing.

Well worth the dough.

Sorry, no? I did do a proper Walshy day but I din't think it helped much tbh.

[Frimley111R]

upsidedownmark said:

2 thoughts on this one:

Firstly, when ................

..........corner. It's when you're too keen with the 'oppo' and flick it into spinning away from the corner that it all goes wrong..

Thanks, some good stuff there.

At Bedford I piled into a corner about 15mph too quickly (90 degree) and the car spun amazingly quickly and I suppose the chance of doing that at 90mph makes me a bit nervous but I take your point about less aggressive inputs on high speed bends although I'll have to ensure if I understeer that I only slightly release the throttle!

[Frimley111R]

DiscoColin said:

What will happen depends on the car and how you approach the limit. If you can't feel it at all then it is often the car's fault - most modern cars have exceptionally numb feedback and insulate the driver far too much: might that be your real problem here? Most cars with an off switch for stability control don't really turn it off after all. If you learn the sensations in something raw it is much easier to feel what is going on than in less communicative cars, so perhaps your real solution is to by an older mildly shed-ish car to practice tuning your senses in? Or is this problem despite having something agricultural?

But if you have something like a current generation FWD hatchback (your profile shows the Renault of choice for people crashing at the 'ring last year, so I assume that is what we are talking about here) - you won't feel much but the stability system will usually give you wash-out understeer somewhere short of the laws of physics for your tyre grip.

My problem is that I am scared of pushing to the limit as I am not sure what will happen if I cross it (at high speed!). Yes, I have a Megane RS265 but had an Elise before that. The feedback isn't an issue yet. I am also due to acquire an MG ZS V6 soon so that I can avoid damaging a £15k car!

[Frimley111R]

upsidedownmark said:

Start by working on consistent, controlled arrival speed; 15mph is quite a lot of too fast. One thing that tends to result in a pretty sharp spin is turning in with significant brake on - there's a reason the numpty brief says brake in a straight line With practice, you deliberately carry a little brake through turn in, but it's subtle, and less pronounced for fast corners.

Slightly ironic story with that one. I was a Bedford and doing fine but took some instruction and then went out again. My memory let me down. On the far part of the circuit there are two left handers close together. I remembered the instructor saying "Dab the brakes, turn in" and then the same again. What he had said in reality was "Dab the brakes, turn in, Brake, turn in." Ooops and...(below). Even more scary is that they have since build a huge bank there that I would have hit at about 40mph!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qZPNhT]

Edited by Frimley111R on Tuesday 2nd February 08:46

[Frimley111R]

Bertrum said:

You are obviously struggling with steering feel, first bit of advice to get better steering feel push with your outer hand don't pull with your inner that will help you feel where the grip is.

.....

When it all comes together you should be able to go through the fast ones with only steering input on entry and the wheel pointing straight all the way through. Nothing feels better.

Ok, sounds good too. Lessen the braking. I tend to improve lap times at the moment by leaving it later and later but I am a little confused about the first part of the corner/corner entry. I brake in hte braking zone but do I get off the brake and then accelerate through it once I have turned in or do I slightly trail brake and then accelerate through the corner? (I really need to be track doing this now! )