[ydd]

Originally Posted by BigDawg

Now I know that on straights, you can theoretically go a limitless speed, and you won't spin out.

But when it comes to corners, with Newton's Laws of Motion & Centripetal Forces, etc... you can only go so quick, before your tyres will lose grip.

So I'm wondering: how do you know how quick your car can take a corner?
What do you use as a reference to work how fast you can go, and where the limit is? (or at least, when you're getting close to the limit!)

Thanks for any responses

Are you familiar with the concept of the "traction circle" ?

You can express tyre "grip" in terms of lateral or longitudinal acceleration (commonly known as "g-force").

If you imagine your race car has a certain capacity to generate g-forces but only up to a limit.

To go as quickly as possible, your job as a racing driver is actually simply to keep your car at the limit of its acceleration potential - i.e. to keep your car at the cars maximum possible g-force limits.

To work out if you are doing this, you can measure the g-forces in the car, using a data logger, and see if you are maximising the cars potential.

There is a bit more to it, and it does take a bit of getting your head around but essentially that is how you can work out how quick your car can take a corner.