Lesson
Lesson
73
of
of
Inputs That Make the MX-5 Fast
Lesson by
Suellio Almeida
Lesson by
Suellio Almeida
Mark as Finished
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
Brake Application Signature
The MX-5 wants a firm initial brake application but not a violent spike because the suspension is soft and the car needs a moment to transfer the load forward and fully load the front tires. You can't stomp on the brake extremely quickly and reliably extract maximum grip.
ABS is Not the Target
A common really bad habit is using ABS as a reference for the limit. In reality, ABS is already over the ideal limit for rotation. If you turn in with the front's over the limit and the ABS is active, you will always get understeer and the car will turn way less than you expect. Because of that, the chain of repair is react: an abrupt brake release to make the car turn and then corrections with the steering, missing the apex. It goes on and on. That's why you should avoid using ABS. Don't rely on it. Pretend the car doesn't have it.
Brake Pressure Percentage
The actual limit depends on temperature, track surface, bumpiness, camber, tire state, speed, and so on. But on a flat straight line braking zone, around 65 to 75% is a good baseline peak pressure target. Because there's no arrow and the longitudinal grip changed relatively little with the speed compared to arrow cars, the brake pressure can actually be pretty consistent through longer straight line braking zones. Meaning, you can stay at those 65% or 75% as long as the car is still on a straight line.
Rotation Initiation
Once the straight line braking phase is right, the next question is how do we actually begin to turn into the corner? As long as you are not in the ABS before turning, the brake pressure at initial turning can still be relatively high, actually quite close to peak. The MX-5 relies heavily on mechanical grip and the soft suspension means the car can be manipulated a lot with the pedals. So to help the car rotate, you need to keep the rear light enough to rotate. If you release the brakes too early, the weight will go all the way back to the rear too soon and the rear tires gain grip. The front's loose grip and the car becomes harder to rotate. The rotation starts from how you carry and release the brakes into the turning face, not from adding steering.
Trail Brake Style
From here, it becomes a question of how the release continues in the braking. The brake release should be relatively linear with the speed of release adjusted to the car balance needs. If you release at the right time and you re-initiated the rotation well, releasing too slowly can create oversteer while releasing too quickly can make the car lose rotation and understeer. If you release slowly and you still understeer, actually there's a good chance you were in ABS to begin with in the previous phases. A useful rule is this: Release the brakes as slowly as possible while still avoiding oversteering or over-slowing. But not to 0% though. Once you get to around 10% brake and butt, you can carry that slight trail all the way to the MRP. If you don't know what the MRP or maximum rotation point is, watch the level 2 and 3 of the car handling courses.
Steering Signature
Steering angle in the MX-5 is a guide rail. It's not the main tool for rotation on the initial entry. You literally need to use only a few degrees to initiate the rotation. Ideally, on initial entry and brake release, the wheel will actually stay pretty close to zero steering. As the corner develops and the rotation that comes from braking and engine braking starts to fade, then the steering naturally becomes more and more important through mid corner and towards the apex, especially once the trail is very light. This is a kind of delayed string theory. The steering input doesn't actually match the release of the brake at first, but only later in the entry towards mid corner and minimum speed. Do not forget that.
Hand Speed: Fast or Slow?
Once you place the steering in the right row, the next question is how quickly your hands should move. The steering is actually much lower and more progressive than people expect. This soft suspension and tires need time to load, right? So a rushed steering input often creates scrub instead of rotation. Soft suspension generally means slower, more progressive hands on entry in general. And this is extreme here in this car. That said, you still need fast hands as a recovery skill, as a correction skill. You need them available for real quick balance corrections, not as your default driving style. So in a very, very good corner, everything is gonna look very smooth, but maybe with a few quick corrections to get you back to your main smooth objective. In this case here, on turn in, that's a very common trap: turn in too quickly and asking for grip before the car was even loaded. This car will not accept fast turn in ever, especially under braking.
Understanding Corrections
From here, it's very important to understand what a correction even means in this car. Smooth driving does not necessarily mean smooth looking inputs. It means smooth weight transfer. That's very different. That means rapid inputs can still be correct if their purpose is to keep the car balanced and the weight transfer smooth. Ideally they should never happen, especially when we are perfectly on the limit 100% of the time. But nobody is perfect. And especially in this car that's very easy to rotate, you will need to do corrections. The question is not whether you correct, but how much and how often. Corrections back to zero steering is generally fine. A few degrees of countersteer, meaning turning past zero and into the other direction, is not perfect, but still good. The problem though is when you get into 30 plus degrees of countersteer. That means you're not smooth in the line. You're actually saving oversteer and oversteer is slow. The frequency of the corrections also matter. One correction or two is fine. A few small moments are acceptable, but constant rapid countersteer usually means that you're getting in too much rear slip angle and too much rear scrub.
Common Trap: Confusing Active Hands with Fast Driving
Repeated catches on corner entry and mid corner prolonged opposite lock. The car feels exciting, but the latter time is not there.
The Secret: Light Hands
Light hands matter more than most people realize. Light hands are extremely important in the MX-5. The steering is already light and the useful feedback window is very subtle, right? So you need relaxed hands and relaxed shoulders to feel the details, especially around braking, ABS and front grip. A common coaching issue is drivers saying they cannot feel the ABS or they cannot know whether they even are using the ABS. And a lot of the time, that is actually not just the car. It's because you're death gripping the steering wheel, and tensing the shoulders, which blocks the information sensing. Relaxed grip means more feel, fewer forced inputs and cleaner corrections. In the next lesson we're going to get into even more detail about finding the limit and driving the perfect corner in the MX-5.
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
Brake Application Signature
The MX-5 wants a firm initial brake application but not a violent spike because the suspension is soft and the car needs a moment to transfer the load forward and fully load the front tires. You can't stomp on the brake extremely quickly and reliably extract maximum grip.
ABS is Not the Target
A common really bad habit is using ABS as a reference for the limit. In reality, ABS is already over the ideal limit for rotation. If you turn in with the front's over the limit and the ABS is active, you will always get understeer and the car will turn way less than you expect. Because of that, the chain of repair is react: an abrupt brake release to make the car turn and then corrections with the steering, missing the apex. It goes on and on. That's why you should avoid using ABS. Don't rely on it. Pretend the car doesn't have it.
Brake Pressure Percentage
The actual limit depends on temperature, track surface, bumpiness, camber, tire state, speed, and so on. But on a flat straight line braking zone, around 65 to 75% is a good baseline peak pressure target. Because there's no arrow and the longitudinal grip changed relatively little with the speed compared to arrow cars, the brake pressure can actually be pretty consistent through longer straight line braking zones. Meaning, you can stay at those 65% or 75% as long as the car is still on a straight line.
Rotation Initiation
Once the straight line braking phase is right, the next question is how do we actually begin to turn into the corner? As long as you are not in the ABS before turning, the brake pressure at initial turning can still be relatively high, actually quite close to peak. The MX-5 relies heavily on mechanical grip and the soft suspension means the car can be manipulated a lot with the pedals. So to help the car rotate, you need to keep the rear light enough to rotate. If you release the brakes too early, the weight will go all the way back to the rear too soon and the rear tires gain grip. The front's loose grip and the car becomes harder to rotate. The rotation starts from how you carry and release the brakes into the turning face, not from adding steering.
Trail Brake Style
From here, it becomes a question of how the release continues in the braking. The brake release should be relatively linear with the speed of release adjusted to the car balance needs. If you release at the right time and you re-initiated the rotation well, releasing too slowly can create oversteer while releasing too quickly can make the car lose rotation and understeer. If you release slowly and you still understeer, actually there's a good chance you were in ABS to begin with in the previous phases. A useful rule is this: Release the brakes as slowly as possible while still avoiding oversteering or over-slowing. But not to 0% though. Once you get to around 10% brake and butt, you can carry that slight trail all the way to the MRP. If you don't know what the MRP or maximum rotation point is, watch the level 2 and 3 of the car handling courses.
Steering Signature
Steering angle in the MX-5 is a guide rail. It's not the main tool for rotation on the initial entry. You literally need to use only a few degrees to initiate the rotation. Ideally, on initial entry and brake release, the wheel will actually stay pretty close to zero steering. As the corner develops and the rotation that comes from braking and engine braking starts to fade, then the steering naturally becomes more and more important through mid corner and towards the apex, especially once the trail is very light. This is a kind of delayed string theory. The steering input doesn't actually match the release of the brake at first, but only later in the entry towards mid corner and minimum speed. Do not forget that.
Hand Speed: Fast or Slow?
Once you place the steering in the right row, the next question is how quickly your hands should move. The steering is actually much lower and more progressive than people expect. This soft suspension and tires need time to load, right? So a rushed steering input often creates scrub instead of rotation. Soft suspension generally means slower, more progressive hands on entry in general. And this is extreme here in this car. That said, you still need fast hands as a recovery skill, as a correction skill. You need them available for real quick balance corrections, not as your default driving style. So in a very, very good corner, everything is gonna look very smooth, but maybe with a few quick corrections to get you back to your main smooth objective. In this case here, on turn in, that's a very common trap: turn in too quickly and asking for grip before the car was even loaded. This car will not accept fast turn in ever, especially under braking.
Understanding Corrections
From here, it's very important to understand what a correction even means in this car. Smooth driving does not necessarily mean smooth looking inputs. It means smooth weight transfer. That's very different. That means rapid inputs can still be correct if their purpose is to keep the car balanced and the weight transfer smooth. Ideally they should never happen, especially when we are perfectly on the limit 100% of the time. But nobody is perfect. And especially in this car that's very easy to rotate, you will need to do corrections. The question is not whether you correct, but how much and how often. Corrections back to zero steering is generally fine. A few degrees of countersteer, meaning turning past zero and into the other direction, is not perfect, but still good. The problem though is when you get into 30 plus degrees of countersteer. That means you're not smooth in the line. You're actually saving oversteer and oversteer is slow. The frequency of the corrections also matter. One correction or two is fine. A few small moments are acceptable, but constant rapid countersteer usually means that you're getting in too much rear slip angle and too much rear scrub.
Common Trap: Confusing Active Hands with Fast Driving
Repeated catches on corner entry and mid corner prolonged opposite lock. The car feels exciting, but the latter time is not there.
The Secret: Light Hands
Light hands matter more than most people realize. Light hands are extremely important in the MX-5. The steering is already light and the useful feedback window is very subtle, right? So you need relaxed hands and relaxed shoulders to feel the details, especially around braking, ABS and front grip. A common coaching issue is drivers saying they cannot feel the ABS or they cannot know whether they even are using the ABS. And a lot of the time, that is actually not just the car. It's because you're death gripping the steering wheel, and tensing the shoulders, which blocks the information sensing. Relaxed grip means more feel, fewer forced inputs and cleaner corrections. In the next lesson we're going to get into even more detail about finding the limit and driving the perfect corner in the MX-5.
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
Brake Application Signature
The MX-5 wants a firm initial brake application but not a violent spike because the suspension is soft and the car needs a moment to transfer the load forward and fully load the front tires. You can't stomp on the brake extremely quickly and reliably extract maximum grip.
ABS is Not the Target
A common really bad habit is using ABS as a reference for the limit. In reality, ABS is already over the ideal limit for rotation. If you turn in with the front's over the limit and the ABS is active, you will always get understeer and the car will turn way less than you expect. Because of that, the chain of repair is react: an abrupt brake release to make the car turn and then corrections with the steering, missing the apex. It goes on and on. That's why you should avoid using ABS. Don't rely on it. Pretend the car doesn't have it.
Brake Pressure Percentage
The actual limit depends on temperature, track surface, bumpiness, camber, tire state, speed, and so on. But on a flat straight line braking zone, around 65 to 75% is a good baseline peak pressure target. Because there's no arrow and the longitudinal grip changed relatively little with the speed compared to arrow cars, the brake pressure can actually be pretty consistent through longer straight line braking zones. Meaning, you can stay at those 65% or 75% as long as the car is still on a straight line.
Rotation Initiation
Once the straight line braking phase is right, the next question is how do we actually begin to turn into the corner? As long as you are not in the ABS before turning, the brake pressure at initial turning can still be relatively high, actually quite close to peak. The MX-5 relies heavily on mechanical grip and the soft suspension means the car can be manipulated a lot with the pedals. So to help the car rotate, you need to keep the rear light enough to rotate. If you release the brakes too early, the weight will go all the way back to the rear too soon and the rear tires gain grip. The front's loose grip and the car becomes harder to rotate. The rotation starts from how you carry and release the brakes into the turning face, not from adding steering.
Trail Brake Style
From here, it becomes a question of how the release continues in the braking. The brake release should be relatively linear with the speed of release adjusted to the car balance needs. If you release at the right time and you re-initiated the rotation well, releasing too slowly can create oversteer while releasing too quickly can make the car lose rotation and understeer. If you release slowly and you still understeer, actually there's a good chance you were in ABS to begin with in the previous phases. A useful rule is this: Release the brakes as slowly as possible while still avoiding oversteering or over-slowing. But not to 0% though. Once you get to around 10% brake and butt, you can carry that slight trail all the way to the MRP. If you don't know what the MRP or maximum rotation point is, watch the level 2 and 3 of the car handling courses.
Steering Signature
Steering angle in the MX-5 is a guide rail. It's not the main tool for rotation on the initial entry. You literally need to use only a few degrees to initiate the rotation. Ideally, on initial entry and brake release, the wheel will actually stay pretty close to zero steering. As the corner develops and the rotation that comes from braking and engine braking starts to fade, then the steering naturally becomes more and more important through mid corner and towards the apex, especially once the trail is very light. This is a kind of delayed string theory. The steering input doesn't actually match the release of the brake at first, but only later in the entry towards mid corner and minimum speed. Do not forget that.
Hand Speed: Fast or Slow?
Once you place the steering in the right row, the next question is how quickly your hands should move. The steering is actually much lower and more progressive than people expect. This soft suspension and tires need time to load, right? So a rushed steering input often creates scrub instead of rotation. Soft suspension generally means slower, more progressive hands on entry in general. And this is extreme here in this car. That said, you still need fast hands as a recovery skill, as a correction skill. You need them available for real quick balance corrections, not as your default driving style. So in a very, very good corner, everything is gonna look very smooth, but maybe with a few quick corrections to get you back to your main smooth objective. In this case here, on turn in, that's a very common trap: turn in too quickly and asking for grip before the car was even loaded. This car will not accept fast turn in ever, especially under braking.
Understanding Corrections
From here, it's very important to understand what a correction even means in this car. Smooth driving does not necessarily mean smooth looking inputs. It means smooth weight transfer. That's very different. That means rapid inputs can still be correct if their purpose is to keep the car balanced and the weight transfer smooth. Ideally they should never happen, especially when we are perfectly on the limit 100% of the time. But nobody is perfect. And especially in this car that's very easy to rotate, you will need to do corrections. The question is not whether you correct, but how much and how often. Corrections back to zero steering is generally fine. A few degrees of countersteer, meaning turning past zero and into the other direction, is not perfect, but still good. The problem though is when you get into 30 plus degrees of countersteer. That means you're not smooth in the line. You're actually saving oversteer and oversteer is slow. The frequency of the corrections also matter. One correction or two is fine. A few small moments are acceptable, but constant rapid countersteer usually means that you're getting in too much rear slip angle and too much rear scrub.
Common Trap: Confusing Active Hands with Fast Driving
Repeated catches on corner entry and mid corner prolonged opposite lock. The car feels exciting, but the latter time is not there.
The Secret: Light Hands
Light hands matter more than most people realize. Light hands are extremely important in the MX-5. The steering is already light and the useful feedback window is very subtle, right? So you need relaxed hands and relaxed shoulders to feel the details, especially around braking, ABS and front grip. A common coaching issue is drivers saying they cannot feel the ABS or they cannot know whether they even are using the ABS. And a lot of the time, that is actually not just the car. It's because you're death gripping the steering wheel, and tensing the shoulders, which blocks the information sensing. Relaxed grip means more feel, fewer forced inputs and cleaner corrections. In the next lesson we're going to get into even more detail about finding the limit and driving the perfect corner in the MX-5.
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
Brake Application Signature
The MX-5 wants a firm initial brake application but not a violent spike because the suspension is soft and the car needs a moment to transfer the load forward and fully load the front tires. You can't stomp on the brake extremely quickly and reliably extract maximum grip.
ABS is Not the Target
A common really bad habit is using ABS as a reference for the limit. In reality, ABS is already over the ideal limit for rotation. If you turn in with the front's over the limit and the ABS is active, you will always get understeer and the car will turn way less than you expect. Because of that, the chain of repair is react: an abrupt brake release to make the car turn and then corrections with the steering, missing the apex. It goes on and on. That's why you should avoid using ABS. Don't rely on it. Pretend the car doesn't have it.
Brake Pressure Percentage
The actual limit depends on temperature, track surface, bumpiness, camber, tire state, speed, and so on. But on a flat straight line braking zone, around 65 to 75% is a good baseline peak pressure target. Because there's no arrow and the longitudinal grip changed relatively little with the speed compared to arrow cars, the brake pressure can actually be pretty consistent through longer straight line braking zones. Meaning, you can stay at those 65% or 75% as long as the car is still on a straight line.
Rotation Initiation
Once the straight line braking phase is right, the next question is how do we actually begin to turn into the corner? As long as you are not in the ABS before turning, the brake pressure at initial turning can still be relatively high, actually quite close to peak. The MX-5 relies heavily on mechanical grip and the soft suspension means the car can be manipulated a lot with the pedals. So to help the car rotate, you need to keep the rear light enough to rotate. If you release the brakes too early, the weight will go all the way back to the rear too soon and the rear tires gain grip. The front's loose grip and the car becomes harder to rotate. The rotation starts from how you carry and release the brakes into the turning face, not from adding steering.
Trail Brake Style
From here, it becomes a question of how the release continues in the braking. The brake release should be relatively linear with the speed of release adjusted to the car balance needs. If you release at the right time and you re-initiated the rotation well, releasing too slowly can create oversteer while releasing too quickly can make the car lose rotation and understeer. If you release slowly and you still understeer, actually there's a good chance you were in ABS to begin with in the previous phases. A useful rule is this: Release the brakes as slowly as possible while still avoiding oversteering or over-slowing. But not to 0% though. Once you get to around 10% brake and butt, you can carry that slight trail all the way to the MRP. If you don't know what the MRP or maximum rotation point is, watch the level 2 and 3 of the car handling courses.
Steering Signature
Steering angle in the MX-5 is a guide rail. It's not the main tool for rotation on the initial entry. You literally need to use only a few degrees to initiate the rotation. Ideally, on initial entry and brake release, the wheel will actually stay pretty close to zero steering. As the corner develops and the rotation that comes from braking and engine braking starts to fade, then the steering naturally becomes more and more important through mid corner and towards the apex, especially once the trail is very light. This is a kind of delayed string theory. The steering input doesn't actually match the release of the brake at first, but only later in the entry towards mid corner and minimum speed. Do not forget that.
Hand Speed: Fast or Slow?
Once you place the steering in the right row, the next question is how quickly your hands should move. The steering is actually much lower and more progressive than people expect. This soft suspension and tires need time to load, right? So a rushed steering input often creates scrub instead of rotation. Soft suspension generally means slower, more progressive hands on entry in general. And this is extreme here in this car. That said, you still need fast hands as a recovery skill, as a correction skill. You need them available for real quick balance corrections, not as your default driving style. So in a very, very good corner, everything is gonna look very smooth, but maybe with a few quick corrections to get you back to your main smooth objective. In this case here, on turn in, that's a very common trap: turn in too quickly and asking for grip before the car was even loaded. This car will not accept fast turn in ever, especially under braking.
Understanding Corrections
From here, it's very important to understand what a correction even means in this car. Smooth driving does not necessarily mean smooth looking inputs. It means smooth weight transfer. That's very different. That means rapid inputs can still be correct if their purpose is to keep the car balanced and the weight transfer smooth. Ideally they should never happen, especially when we are perfectly on the limit 100% of the time. But nobody is perfect. And especially in this car that's very easy to rotate, you will need to do corrections. The question is not whether you correct, but how much and how often. Corrections back to zero steering is generally fine. A few degrees of countersteer, meaning turning past zero and into the other direction, is not perfect, but still good. The problem though is when you get into 30 plus degrees of countersteer. That means you're not smooth in the line. You're actually saving oversteer and oversteer is slow. The frequency of the corrections also matter. One correction or two is fine. A few small moments are acceptable, but constant rapid countersteer usually means that you're getting in too much rear slip angle and too much rear scrub.
Common Trap: Confusing Active Hands with Fast Driving
Repeated catches on corner entry and mid corner prolonged opposite lock. The car feels exciting, but the latter time is not there.
The Secret: Light Hands
Light hands matter more than most people realize. Light hands are extremely important in the MX-5. The steering is already light and the useful feedback window is very subtle, right? So you need relaxed hands and relaxed shoulders to feel the details, especially around braking, ABS and front grip. A common coaching issue is drivers saying they cannot feel the ABS or they cannot know whether they even are using the ABS. And a lot of the time, that is actually not just the car. It's because you're death gripping the steering wheel, and tensing the shoulders, which blocks the information sensing. Relaxed grip means more feel, fewer forced inputs and cleaner corrections. In the next lesson we're going to get into even more detail about finding the limit and driving the perfect corner in the MX-5.
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