darock
9 November 07, 13:32
What brake bias values have you been trying?
Do a couple of things. Make sure you know where the brake bias keys are. I've got mine on the UP/DOWN keys. Those arrows just seem right for moving the bias to the FRONT/REAR.
Start with the brake bias at 50/50 and go run an easy lap at the track you are most comfortable. It works great if it's got a long straight into a hard turn. The 1st turn at Monza works good. The hairpin at Magny-Cours is another.
Do straight line braking coming into that highspeed, hard braking turn. If you've not tried bias setting far from the SimBin setup, or tried changing far from the default setup, you're going to have a surprise when you brake. The SimBin setup at one track for the Peugeot is a case in point. The brakes are set at 85% and are 59/41. Not much change from the default's 60/40. Try 50/50 and 95% and see how your car brakes with that.
FWD cars really work the front tires. Overwork them if you don't know how to drive that layout. When the brakes are really working hard, and you try to turn in, the tires have too much demand on their traction and your car plows like a tractor. Won't turn worth spit.
Move some of the braking off the fronts and what happens? Better braking for one thing when you move away from trying to do most of it with just 2 tires. And best of all, the fronts now have less traction being taken by the braking task and can put that traction into the turning task.
So..........................................
You're on the track with this new bias setting and you come HOWLING into that hard braking turn. How do you test to see if the bias is good? Stomp the brakes. No finesse. You're simply seeing if you've obviously gone too far. Straight line braking will show you when you're really too far to the rear on bias. Because the car gets squirrely. And really bad rear bias will bring the rear around.
And once you've gotten the bias ok on that test, do some trail braking. BTW, notice how much more turn-in you're getting with the steering? You're still not there, but LOTS closer.
I find that 50/50 isn't quite correct for most FWD. And that going back to the garage to reset the brake bias takes way too much time. You can find the sweet setting with one run of a couple of consecutive laps. Use the brake bias keys during the laps.
It might take you a couple of tries to get your mind to accept the 50/50 start setting, but what the heck, you ain't getting hurt in any of those wrecks are you. And if a bias setting sounds wrong to you, then don't do it. Start the testing with whatever you wish, but if you start with that 60/40 crap look for this.....................
How do you tell if the setting is too far forward? The rear doesn't come around on maximum straight line braking. Yup. But you don't want it to, do you. So work the bias keys, moving the bias aft until you do get some twitchy, rear coming around feeling. NOW, look at what that setting is on the screen (it shows every time you change with the keys). Ain't even close to 60/40 is it? Nah.............
Hey, you don't get hurt in the wrecks..... so just try it.
If you been screwing around that 60/40 balance, the change may just scare the devil out of you. You're not going to be prepared for how good your steering works when you get away from that lame balance and you're going to be FLYING through turns you had to Granny-drive before.
so just try it
Do a couple of things. Make sure you know where the brake bias keys are. I've got mine on the UP/DOWN keys. Those arrows just seem right for moving the bias to the FRONT/REAR.
Start with the brake bias at 50/50 and go run an easy lap at the track you are most comfortable. It works great if it's got a long straight into a hard turn. The 1st turn at Monza works good. The hairpin at Magny-Cours is another.
Do straight line braking coming into that highspeed, hard braking turn. If you've not tried bias setting far from the SimBin setup, or tried changing far from the default setup, you're going to have a surprise when you brake. The SimBin setup at one track for the Peugeot is a case in point. The brakes are set at 85% and are 59/41. Not much change from the default's 60/40. Try 50/50 and 95% and see how your car brakes with that.
FWD cars really work the front tires. Overwork them if you don't know how to drive that layout. When the brakes are really working hard, and you try to turn in, the tires have too much demand on their traction and your car plows like a tractor. Won't turn worth spit.
Move some of the braking off the fronts and what happens? Better braking for one thing when you move away from trying to do most of it with just 2 tires. And best of all, the fronts now have less traction being taken by the braking task and can put that traction into the turning task.
So..........................................
You're on the track with this new bias setting and you come HOWLING into that hard braking turn. How do you test to see if the bias is good? Stomp the brakes. No finesse. You're simply seeing if you've obviously gone too far. Straight line braking will show you when you're really too far to the rear on bias. Because the car gets squirrely. And really bad rear bias will bring the rear around.
And once you've gotten the bias ok on that test, do some trail braking. BTW, notice how much more turn-in you're getting with the steering? You're still not there, but LOTS closer.
I find that 50/50 isn't quite correct for most FWD. And that going back to the garage to reset the brake bias takes way too much time. You can find the sweet setting with one run of a couple of consecutive laps. Use the brake bias keys during the laps.
It might take you a couple of tries to get your mind to accept the 50/50 start setting, but what the heck, you ain't getting hurt in any of those wrecks are you. And if a bias setting sounds wrong to you, then don't do it. Start the testing with whatever you wish, but if you start with that 60/40 crap look for this.....................
How do you tell if the setting is too far forward? The rear doesn't come around on maximum straight line braking. Yup. But you don't want it to, do you. So work the bias keys, moving the bias aft until you do get some twitchy, rear coming around feeling. NOW, look at what that setting is on the screen (it shows every time you change with the keys). Ain't even close to 60/40 is it? Nah.............
Hey, you don't get hurt in the wrecks..... so just try it.
If you been screwing around that 60/40 balance, the change may just scare the devil out of you. You're not going to be prepared for how good your steering works when you get away from that lame balance and you're going to be FLYING through turns you had to Granny-drive before.
so just try it