How to Trail Brake: A Step-by-Step Guide
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- Trail braking is an advanced driving technique that we’re examining in today’s whiteboard tutorial, #10 in our driver’s University series.
The brakes of a track car are so much more than just a deceleration device - they allow a driver to manipulate and alter the pitch of the car as they enter a corner and this is trail braking.
New content weekly! Subscribe here:
th-cam.com/users/driver61?sub_...
In today’s tutorial I’ll cover:
- What is trail braking
- How to trail brake
- Why trail braking is faster
- When to trail the brakes
- Using trail braking to cure balance issues
What is Trail Braking?
Trail braking is a term used to describe the technique of lightened, yet continued braking while turning into a corner.
It is a term commonly used around the paddock, but one I rarely see being carried out properly or completely utilised on track. So, I’ll start with the basics.
To trail brake is to blend braking and turning at the same time. It enables a driver to brake slightly later, but more importantly, manipulate the car’s mass to aid corner entry.
This technique is not the ‘racing school’ method of braking in a straight line, releasing the brakes and then turning into the corner. Nor is it necessarily braking all the way to the apex - although that is a possibility.
Find my free 25-part in-depth tutorial series (including how to trail brake, understanding weight transfer and tons more): goo.gl/rteGhu
★ 1-2-1 COACHING! Want to be faster on track? Let me teach you the practical side of these tutorials during my 1-2-1, highly-efficient training days: goo.gl/dX4q9H
★ F1 LOVERS! My F1 reaction videos (including my reaction to incidents throughout the season and classic races such as Senna v Prost, Schumacher v Hill and tons more): goo.gl/9EjGB8
★ SIM RACERS! Take a look at my other sim racing videos: goo.gl/DFzvxP - also be sure to watch the Driver's University to improve your technique.
This video is part of a Driver61's "Driver's University" series. Got an aspect of racing you'd like me to explain? Ask in the comments!
======================================================
★ Got racing technique questions? Ask in the comments!
★ Say hi on Facebook: ➜ / officialdriver61
#DriversUni #Tutorial10 #HowToTrailBrake - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Could we just take a moment to appreciate how clear is this explanation? Amazing channel, thank you very much !
I always appreciate when someone can get through an entire section in a single take, rather than the modern style of video editing where you just do 100 cuts because people can't utter a single sentence
Jackie Stewart ("last of the late-brakers") used to say that his best asset was the gradual way he came off the brakes.
The best part was explaining when to use trail braking. I have not seen anyone explaining this part. Good job!!
This is quite literally the best video or explanation I've ever seen on trail braking and car techniques in general
I'm a new motorcycle rider. This video is the best explanation on the principles of trail braking on TH-cam. Thank you!
Wow - thanks for that comment, much appreciated. Cheers, Scott.
@@calvinlynch5014 Aside from the fact that it allows you to tuck into the corner later getting better visibility when you do; sets up the geometry of your bike so that it is better ready for cornering which also increases your traction and gives you many more options if you have taken the corner too fast rather than simply laying the bike down or continuing straight. That aside - it is a well made point that you should strive for low entry speed into the corner in the first place.
Watch trail braking videos on canyonchasers TH-cam channel, and Nick Iesnatch videos on grip and trail braking..!!
This video hit the sweet spot. No more 10+ minute videos that leave me more confused than I already was and no getting too nerdy with the theory/mathmatics. Enough theory and a good thorough explanation that didn't make me fall asleep along with visual diagrams. Perfect. Thanks a lot.
Was having trouble understanding how trail braking worked, this totally helped for sure!
Hi Alex, glad you can understand trail braking now! Please help me out and share the video if you can! Cheers, Scott.
I’ve been practicing this sim racing. What a difference it makes to your lap time when you can hit it right!
Consistency is key though and that’s where I struggle 😂 practice makes perfect I guess.
Thanks for the knowledge!
I really like the way you explaining the tech details! Best quality I could find on the internet in sense of explaining it right and making it understandable for amateurs! Keep doing it!
Thanks for watching! Check out the rest of the Driver's Uni series including how to trail brake (bit.ly/2PypIMK)
Find out your driver level by taking our scorecard test: bit.ly/2LmYNBA
Have been looking for long time up such kind of tutorials and then I came across this series which is top quality in terms of content, structure, language, diagrams, etc.
Good job
Spectacular lessons. Very well explained such a difficult thing like this and very well vocalized for me, since I am spanish. Congrats for the channel, I haven't seen anyone else explaining this stuff so well. Best regards!
Sorted! That was so well explained - especially the bit about using trail braking on tighter slower corners. Made me realise how little I know. Thank you!
What a great series of tutorials! Thank you! What a great quality!
Excellent explanation. Thank you!
This is so useful, thank you very much for these videos!
your channel needs more views! great stuff
Brilliant Explanation as Ever! Keep up the Great Work Sir!
You helped my a lot with your tutorial. Thank you for that!
Thank you for these videos!
This video illustrates perfectly why I do not understand how anyone can use a console controller to drive a racing sim.
Hahaha good
Recon.777 exactly why I picked up a wheel!
Readon is : no space in my small apartment. GT Sport for me is unplayable (DS4 Triggers just have to little feel and travel) On PC and Xbox I use the standard Xbox which has quite a lot of trigger travel.
I do it for 2 weeks. Cause i got the simracer game purchased but my G29 need 2 weeks to be delivered. To learn the tracks i drive wth controller meanwhile
I've seen guys using the R3 and L3 sticks on DS4 with far better consistency than the g29 would allow.
Well-informed and well-explained, cheers!
Thanks a lot for all the info. Perfectly explained. 👍
perfect and easy understandable explanation, thank you
Great video and presenting technique. It's quite useful with that graphics.
Great explanation. Thanks!
One of the Best channel on TH-cam
Excited to start practicing this :)
GREAT EXPLANATION...THANK YOU
So after just 10 minutes of practice applying the principles in this video and I’ve just improved my f1 sim racing lap time by over a second. In 10 minutes!! Imagine what I could do in 20... 😬. Thank you!!
Greg Meade To me it was the opposite. I've improved my laps by 1 sec / 1min lap average by trying to brake as straight as possible. Maybe I can further improve laptimes by trail-braking again :)
Much appreciated, so helpful!
Thanks, professor. Was really helpful.
thanks for the knowledge!
Great information
This is one reason why for simracing a good set of pedals is, imo, way more important than the quality of the wheel :)
This is one of the best explanations of trail braking I've ever seen. I'm working to get my lap times faster in sim racing and learn better car control and while I am aware of this technique, having a detailed explanation will help me get better at it. Thanks!!
awesome vid man
Perfect vieeo, thanks a lot
Thank you.
Seems like this video is so inspiring.
Great videos! I went to a driving school and your videos are a great refresher and even have more info than I learned at the school!
nice to see activity on this channel again!
Thanks very much! Remember to check out our other Driver's Uni videos!
Driver61 Definitely. it would be nice to see more videos on track lines though.
Thanks bro ✌
Youre awesome, thankyou
Some of us know this as 'Brake to the apex'.
Another is to softly brake allow to balance the weight then already on throttle at corner entry, which allows you to accellerate sooner than a trailbrake style
Would you guys be able to do a specific video on brake bias adjustment on the fly?
I understand the premise of it but I think you’d provide myself, and all of us, the best explanation on the methodology and execution. Cheers.
Thanks again, another great video, one question, how about trail braking into a chicane like 1st turn at Monza?
man i do love you
Unknowingly I believe I've done this technique quite a lot? One occasion in my FWD hot hatch coming into a tight hairpin like corner I wasn't expecting to be as tight far too fast for it up in the Welsh valleys. I had no choice but to stay hard on the brakes and turn in I can remember at the time feeling on the absolute limits, I could feel exactly when I needed to start easing off the brakes and always felt on the verge of oversteer/understeer but not once lost any traction I just shat myself afterwards, got adrenaline dumped gave myself a talking to and wondered for the rest of my journey and until to this day how I ever managed that corner. Gotta thank you man love learning and you present and teach very well I've liked and subscribed you have a brilliant channel top notch content and you have brought me a lot of understanding. Every point on that board I did exactly even though at the time it felt completely wrong unnatural to me and yet naturally I did it!! Well maybe not naturally I will call it forced as I had no other option but either way I felt it and its like no other feeling taking a corner in this way as If all the energy that went into braking and turn in gets given right back to you when you start easing back off or at least it seemed?? Like momentum is channeled around the corner rather than lost into it?? dunno. Good stuff any mate.
Thanks!
Thank you!
AMAZING
great video! makes me want to race now!
Thanks very much. Yeah, get out on track! Best, Scott.
You also need to cover trail braking in combination with engine braking to remain in the max torque band to accelerate out of the corner for maximum exit speed
I discover your channel while looking for some tips to manage weel lock up.
On F1 game you get a dynamic line that goes from red to green depending of your speed.
Would trail braking enter the corner while the dynamic Line is still on orange or red ?
i would be interested in a video explaining the differences in trailbreaking and progressive acceleration on corner exit - in relation to a either rear engine car (porsche 911) and front engined car. so how does the static weight and grip difference affect the inputs throughout the whole corner.
i've heard a rear engine 911 basically doesn't need any trail breaking. is that so? i would like to hear a comparison of the different car setups (front engine, rear engine) from an expert like you.
thanks in advance
Daniel
Thank you for the video. And, how about ABS, it sould be on or off for trailbraking?? Thanks, again.
When to and when not...that is helpful. Where does the downshift occur though? During the hard, initial straight-line braking, and before beginning the gradual lift?
To be applied in FWD too ☺ allows to have less understeer but it's dagerous
Racing is dangerous :D
@@mantasm9744 and fun
Based on this guide and your racing line guide, on a slower corner a combination of trail braking with late apex may be ideal
Love Like a Hurricane depends on your car. In a light but grippier car with close to 50/50 balance, your apex will most likely be earlier than with a heavy tank like a muscle car. The key is to use all the available tire grip.
Trailbraking can be really, really useful. We used to do it every time when karting..
at least something like that
would it be accurate to say with a fwd car with a weight distribution bias towards the front end, that it would be better to come off the brakes a little earlier and very lightly onto the throttle to get a better balance to allow the car to turn at the tightest point and then as the car is pointing towards the apex or exit to start increasing the throttle to max as the grip allows out of the corner? as allways get tutorial
Been simming now for four years and still don't have it right...it's why I am here....
Very nice tutorial sadly i cant share this becase none of my friends dont even know how breaks work not to mention what trail breaking is
I dont know if im right before when im turning i use tail break first then front break softly while entering corner then releasing tail break asap ....
Question: As an amateur driver, I was usually brake first soft and then hard. After I heard about trail braking , I started push hard first and then soft. But in that case, usually car lost balance before coming to apex. What is my problem exactly ? What possible mistake am I doing ? btw i'm using a rwd automatic BMW. Sorry for my English. Thank you!
Would love to see videos in the future on car setups. Toe, camber, rake, roll bar etc. Effects and how it feels
What's considered "Slow speed corners" in your "recommendation" to trail brake into (MPH wise).
Where would you come off the brakes when someone is doing a hair pin turn while using late apex on the hair pin turn?Most of these guides just mention to completely get off brakes and onto the throttle once you hit apex. This is understandable when using the Ideal line. But when using Late Apex line how would trail braking work? Do you start putting throttle the moment your steering angle decreases, regardless of whether you hit the late apex point or not?
hi. I got the csl elite with the load cell brake. But the brake is to "short". I cant remove the presure of the pedal gradualy.
You know how i can configure it so i can do the tail brake?
Thanks
So does your braking point change. I'm learning this but does my initial brake point change when applying the new technique?
question for anyone willing to help with sim racing (Iracing specifically), I have tried trail breaking and sometime I can make it work but other times I tend to get loose at the back end, is this because I am releasing the pressure of the brake too quickly throwing the weight of the car off or is it because I have turned too suddenly, or is it something else ? like I said sometimes I can get it spot on but other times I'm not sure what happened, I have tried to look at replays to see what I did different but I cant see it, or is the best thing too do is go through specific practices to find out the different effects of turning to quick and releasing the brake too sudden.
Going to own in forza after these tutorials
In the very fist diagram, with the blue,orange, red and green portions of the line, What does the blue portion signify??
What's a good drill to practice this?
I presume you're talking rear wheel drive cars only? And what about left foot braking to be able to apply throttle prior to the last bit of braking coming off?
regarding the diagram at 6:45, doesn't trail braking mean you can hold a higher speed before you reach the corner ? Because you actually get more braking done into the corner
Hello i'm new here and english is Not my language i have a questions: i'm right go with Full pressure on the Brake's and before i hit the apex i go slowly of the brakes and go with a tippy toe on the gas?
thanks guys
If the car is oversteering then how not to trail brake or to less trail brake is the solution?? 10:35
We want to transfer weight to the rear then we should trail brake earlier isn't it??
I didn't know this technique exist. I always only do this when I accidentally braked too late and am forced to do this.
Is the typical race school method to put on the break.. then lift off.. then turn?
Is it ever better to just lift and coast or trail brake always?
So trail braking is really useful in front wheel drive?
Daniel Riccardo is probably watching this video right now.
I always use this kind of brake when drive my road car 😅
How to practice/learn this technique. Should I learn some other skills before this?
Sim racing of course is a great tool to practice.
The later the apex the better to practice and see differences on your laps time as the trail braking part will represent a greater part of the turn. Thus tracks like Spa or Brno are great to train to trail break as you will see big differences when you succeed to do and immediately realize if you are doing it right or wrong. La source, les combes, Brussel / Rivage, Fagnes and Campus are great turns to train at Spa as they are long and smooth (except for la source).
It's really important to have a good and well balanced setup, so if you are not familiar with setting up a car I advice or to get a setup from a friend you know is good or to get familiar on how to balance a car setup.
Hope this helps.
So does your braking point change when trail braking?
In the example its a bad situation. Trail braking is a really good technique in 180 degree corners. In his example, you would lose WAY to much speed coming out of the corner.
Trailbraking works best in corners where you have totate the car more than 90 degrees. Yes, your braking point should be later because in order for traibraking to work properly your entry speed needs to be higher. If your entey speed is the same and you try to trailbrake, you will overslow the car, therefore you brake later which will inherently yeld higher entry speed.
Will this help keep weight on the front tires in FWD?
Creeperboy and friends really useful in front wheel drive cars to get the car rotated. It keeps weight off the rear of the car as you turn, so you'll experience a little bit of oversteer on turn in which can really help.
Chris Holloway I figured that out too- pretty fun even though I’ve only pulled it off in simulators
Combining that with a downshift, I once managed to DRIFT (not powerslide) around a turn in a Honda in the game once
What would you say is the best way to learn to trail brake more frequently for those who aren't doing it? I am a sim racer and know that it is something that I need to do More effectively, but it is seeming hard for me to get used to it and use the technique as effectively as possible, any other learning tips?
braking later is probably crucial for this to work. And turn in sooner than you normally would as you're gently releasing the brake. Hope this helps. (It's been a year since you commented, how's it going for you?)
Yes, brake later but don't turn in sooner. Turn in the same way and if you trailbraked successfully and have pavement left at the exit then try to get on throttle as soon as possible after trailbraking. If you still have pavement left (assuming you unwinded the steering wheel), then turn in slightly sooner.
I think I’ve been doing this for years as I’ve become a more experienced driver, could it be that trail breaking just comes natural as one “feels” the car better over time?
Same here - I just thought I was "getting away with it" not actually doing a known technique!
Hamilton could write you a book about trail breaking.
So, is this just to basically brake later, holding a higher speed through the corner?? Sorry, it's a bit hard to follow...
I've unintentionally been doing this for years just by feeling out the weight-shift of the car.
Never heard of trail breaking. But sounds similar to how I drive natively. Though, not at racing speeds...
When do we downshift? Only during max braking?
Sometimes (depending on the situation) I end up downshifting after brake release and turn in has initiated, and it is very unpredictable. :(
Nick Amarit. Personally I would downshift while braking. I select the gear I think is best for the corner, match the revs before initiating the turn and then just accelerate away. Has worked for me for 40 years. I have to say that trail braking is an advanced technique that has virtually no place on public roads. Ride safely.
Yes, I am trying to trailbrake and heel-toe. It's tough for me on a manual because I learned to trailbrake on an auto using my left foot to trail while my right foot accelerates to steer with the gas pedal.
Now I can still trailbrake in my manual car, but only if I still use the same technique - my left foot to trail and right foot to steer. But it doesn't work for corners where I have to heel-toe because being in the right gear usually means being at a speed that's almost too slow to trailbrake (at least for the corners that I do it at). So, I end up being in 3rd for a 2nd gear corner so I can have the brakes trailed through turn in, but corner exit accel is slow. Or should I downshift again (to 2nd) after trailing?
drifting is better in tight corners
Still can't get the hang of left foot braking. Freaks me out still
Ok so you are turning and braking and this is what people do instictively to solve the problem in a real car where they can feel the grip
Cause the why part just sounds like school
Its a sound byte you can regurgitate but you can't transfer the theory to feels
But you can enter the corner faster if you use all the grip for turning. Plus you can press the gas sooner so that the car doesn't loose speed through the corner.
Is this technique that was used in the late 90s and early 2000s by the likes of Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher?