Trail braking in a starlet

[jezza323]

Anyone tried trail braking in a starlet when driving on the limit? especially a starlet with a rear swaybar?

Im a bit worried it will just spin on me (as its a bit taily when u get off the throttle, so id imagine its worse when on the brakes)......but i will give it a go next week when i am at the track again anyway, just wanted to know if others have tried it

[ivan]

im buessing a brake bias would help here quite a bit! but whats trail braking exactly?

[jezza323]

trail braking is when u continue braking as you enter a corner, right up to the apex, when u change from braking to acceleration. obviously you dont brake as hard while turning as u would in a straight line.

the idea is 100% braking in a straight line, and then if you are turning 5% you can still do 95% braking, and as you turn tighter, you reduce the braking amount until it is all turning, no braking, and then you gradually apply accelerator on the corner exit.

[HardcoreEP]

I do it, but with the normal panhard rod I find it upsets the car.

[jezza323]

well i gave it a go (in slower corners) was no worries except that i kept overbraking cos i was starting braking only a little later, but carrying the braking right into the turn

will get used to it soon

[ivan]

how did you find the rear end to react?

[jezza323]

well i was only doing it in slower corners, so the tail came around a bit more than normal, but was perfectly controllable. and as i said, definately able to brake a decent amount later.

[jezza323]

just another thing to note for ppl wanting to give this a go....do everything smoothly....turn the steering smoothly, apply and release the brakes smoothly

anything that causes a sudden weight shift will result in loss of control

[Enzo]

do you ever heal and toe or left foot brake when your on the track?

[jezza323]

i heel and toe everywhere all the time, track or not

left foot brake i dont do, dont have the control in my left foot just yet