nshanny

Hi there,

This is an interesting topic to bring up, but I am trying to figure out how to overcome tentative braking, e.g. braking too early. The car is just fine, it is just me trying to overcome this "mental" issue.

Anytime I am out with an instructor, the standard feedback I receive is the following: "trust your car more - brake later and get on the accelerator sooner". If I have an instructor in the car, I am pushed more, but when alone, I am finding that I revert back to a more tentative style.

I know some may say "grow some", but unfortunately that is not working for me. (Big Smile).

Have others had similar problems, and if so, how did they overcome it? I am finding it frustrating that I cannot convince myself to trust the car further and overcome this mental block.

Thanks
Nick

mrbill_fl

try to break the brake peddle off. (stand on it). (its actually what I say to students... its not going to break. )

but waaaay early in the brake zone, and a turn that has a run out area.

Then when you are at maximum braking, start moving the beginning point of your braking further towards the turn in. (apex).

there are finer techniques to squeeze the brakes, but you need to know your car will stop in a very short distance if you actually use them.

or, let the instructor drive for 2 laps and show you how much brake you have.

M758

I did that my driving a slow car. Seriously... my 944 NA is so slow down the straights and has so little hp that I can't bear to slow down. So when I overslow the car is painful get out of a corner. If don't slow down the car not too bad.

One way to replicate this is by using 1 gear too high. It will make it painful to exit a corner with less speed and when you do have 5 mph more speed the car will feel so much faster.

Now on the way into the corner I don't believe in superlate braking. It is very easy to outbrake yourself and be slow. What I believe in is braking early, but lighter. Meaning you brake less for each corner, but in a more gradual fashion. Once you have the right apex speed (which should much faster than now) you wil get good exit speed and only then can try to brake bit later to shorten the brake zone, but also maintain apex and corner exit now that you know what that feels like.

jaje

I did a FAAST school years back and one session when we are on the track we were not allowed to brake in any corners on the track - we'd drive 75% speed and then try to make the corner. Of course we did this at MAM where there is plenty of runoff room. I was amazed I could make all the corners carrying so much speed.

RickBetterley

Muscle memory makes your right foot want to press that brake pedal sooner or harder than you might need to.
One technique is to let your foot wander over to the pedal BUT DON'T push down (or push down as hard) as normal. If you still had enough braking room, you'll get more comfortable and need to brake less/later.
Rather, rinse, repeat, of course always being careful!

Mike in Chi

+1

This is a great exercise. It will help you with overbraking. Just make sure traffic won't be a problem.

Crazy Canuck

We do a no brake exercise at Tremblant now and again. It's great.

nshanny

Thanks everyone. A great set of responses. I had never heard of FAAST so this is certainly worth checking out. I wish they had more events on the east coast though.

Dave 86 930 Fl

Nick,

I fairly new to this hobby, but I have been working really hard to become a better "braker" ... What helped me a a lot was to ride along in my instructor's car and witness how freaking late he could brake, how much freaking speed he could carry through the corners and how freaking smooth he was doing it ... My lap time @ Sebring dropped 10 seconds. Trust the car, take small bites and be SMOOTH!

Regards, Dave

utkinpol

it is really funny in retrospective as you start braking too early, then you learn how to brake late, then even later, then you need to unlearn how to brake too late and just use them to keep car from flying off track... you listen to your instructors, then get in the car with pro folks and listen to them how they call all those PCA methods 'pure crap' and go figure what is it right thing for you to do after all that. especially considering you are the sole 'team sponsor' who will pay all the repair bills if anything happens...

mark kibort

You will soon understand the tremedous braking force of the turn itself. it gives a lot of confidence to know that you can turn and slow the car down, almost like having a second set of brakes waiting to be used.

mark kibort

who is that Avitar! wow!!

Ricky Boo-Boo Johnson

Well, a couple of suggestions:

1. Get data...compare data between drivers. You will see where you can brake later, etc.
2. Everytime you want to lift or start braking - COUNT "One-One Thousand" then brake by STANDING ON IT. Continue to do this until you get comfortable.

3. (Optional) Wait until you see God, then wait 1/2 sec and brake... That's my motto...

GT3 Techno

For me it was difficult until I started racing. When you need to pass under braking, you learn much more where is the limit than in DE or lapping.

The thing I beleive helped me the most wasn't really to test the limit braking later and later, but instead to master the proper braking technique with coaching. Braking harder initially then decrease the pressure on the brake pedal as the car is slowing down instead of the other way around as most do as a beginner.

Veloce Raptor

Now that right there is some funny stuff.