I tested at AMP this past weekend and mainly focused on braking. I read somewhere that threshold braking is where you brake to the limit of a lockup (where the tires are screeching) and is the fastest way of slowing down. I think that I was doing it because I heard the screeching of the tires, especially into turn 5 at the end of the long straight. I was mainly focusing on braking late, so I missed apexes here and there, so that isn’t so much a concern for me at the moment. Any braking tips and help is welcome.
Hi Max,
Looks like you’ve gone over the limit here a bit on your braking. I think you misunderstood threshold braking a bit.
Threshold braking should be braking the absolute limit of traction just BEFORE locking up. Ideally, you want to just hear a slight, quick chirp of the tires on initial braking and then quickly unlock that so you’re getting maximum traction for slowing down. What you are doing here is completely locking the brakes and sliding the rear into the corner. Locking up the tires is actually going to slow you down LESS effectively than not doing it. You’re exceeding the traction limit of the tires and therefore not utilizing all of the grip the tire has to offer. Not to mention overheating your rear tires.
Here’s a vid of me a few years back, pay attention to turns 1 and 4 where there are hard braking events:
You can hear the RPMs just drop slightly on initial pedal input, but as soon as I feel the rear tires start to lock, I release the pedal just like 1% to get maximum braking traction.
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Thanks for the help, I’ll watch your video soon. I figured this felt a bit wrong, but I thought I was doing more or less what I read online somewhere. They said the tire screeching was good throughout the braking zone. I did feel a difference between what I was doing and what a full lockup normally feels for me too. For me, when I fully lockup, I feel like I have almost no control and that the kart is going to spin out and this felt controllable, although it definitely seemed slower than how I was driving previously. Once again, thanks for the help and I’ll see if I can get better next time.
That is a really neat track. I have never seen elevation changes like that on a karting track.
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Yeah, the elevation changes are easily the most fun part of the track.