Lesson
Lesson
72
of
of
Where the Lap Time Is
Lesson by
Suellio Almeida
Lesson by
Suellio Almeida
Mark as Finished
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
The Car's DNA: Where the Lap Time Is
Understanding the MX-5 Stability Profile
The MX-5 stability profile depends heavily on the driver. Some drivers experience it as an understeerie car and stuck while other drivers find it extremely oversteerian difficult to drive, so who's right? That difference is usually the driving style and habits, not the car itself. That's why the MX-5 is great as a beginner car. It amplifies whatever you bring to it. Massive technique or bad corner structure can feel unpredictable either way towards oversteer or towards understeer.
Downforce Versus No Downforce: V-Shape Versus U-Shape
A useful starting point is this: low downforce cars often suggest more of a V-shape line than arrow cars, which often need more of a U-shape line. But the MX-5 sits in an awkward middle ground. It has no downforce, which points one way, but it also has low power, strong momentum dependence, and very, very soft suspension, which all point the other way. Because the power is low, you can't afford to kill momentum with an overly sharp and aggressive V-shape corner. If you overslow the car or creating a scrub, that loss carries all the way to the next straight. And because the suspension is soft, you need to introduce load and weight transfer smoothly. So you cannot throw the car around, make sharp line changes or rely on abrupt inputs the way you might in a stiffer, more responsive car. This car needs time to take the load properly. So while the car has no downforce and is not as naturally U-shape as an arrow car, in practice, it often rewards a smoother, more flowing corner shape than people expect. The corner usually needs to stay linked together, not extremely V-shape, but not exaggerated long and passive either. Always momentum protecting, because minimum speed matters more than late braking in this car.
Minimum Speed Matters More Than Late Braking
Once that racing line shape is clear, the next idea follows naturally. In this car, minimum speed matters more than late braking. Overcommitting the corner entry does not only hurt the entry, it kills everything: the entry, mid corner and exit. So stop trying to break as late as possible with the goal of just hitting the apex. Hitting the apex does not automatically mean the corner was successful, because the apex is not the main goal. It's just a checkpoint. The exit is the result. Exit is the priority in most cars, but in the MX-5, exit really is king. Most cars reward a good exit. The MX-5 depends on it. It does not have the power to fix a bad exit. So that's why the throttle timing and being able to open up this steering matter more than almost anything else. And because this is a low power car, the straights will amplify everything. Imagine you have a bad exit into a long straight. If you scrub two kilometers an hour mid corner, that loss compounds forever all the way down the next corner. In a drive train, you will get eaten up by other cars. Or you will never get overtaking opportunities because you will never be able to build more momentum on exit than the other drivers that are carrying that extra two kilometers per hour.
What the MX-5 Punishes the Most
ABS Abuse
ABS is extremely prohibitive in this car. If you trigger ABS while committing to turn in, it will kill your rotation. You will get forced into bad outcomes. You will either miss the apex or you compromise your technique and your corner structure just to make it work. And both always will create more problems right after that. Either way, the technique breaks down and you lose a lot of time. ABS abuse also overheats the tires. So if you lean into ABS too much under straight line braking, even if you correct yourself before turn in, the temperatures and therefore the grip level they have through the corner will be worse. Yes, just overheating the tires under braking in ABS kills the grip and the performance during the corner, even if you get off the ABS before you get into the corner.
Early Throttle
The other big punishing trap is early throttle. With the MX-5 soft suspension, early throttle will transfer all of the weight to the back and unload the front tires to a more extreme degree than other cars. And the result of that is heavy understeer, which forces a lift or even some brake to help the car rotate again, which will definitely destroy your exit speed. In this car, early throttle often feels like stability, but it's just you killing the front tires grip. Obviously this is a useful tool to safely find the limit of the front tires for beginners, but it has to be intentional with a knowledge and conscious plan behind it. This is literally what we call inducing understeer in the car handling course, and it's extremely useful when you're learning a car and you're learning a track, but you're not supposed to do that when you're looking for lap time.
How It Rotates
Once you understand what the MX-5 punishes, the next thing is to understand how it actually wants to rotate properly. The MX-5 does not use one rotation tool all the way through the corner. The rotation blends as the corner unfolds due to the extremely soft suspension and the aggressive engine braking that this car provides.
Straight Line Braking to Early Corner Entry
As you transition from straight line braking to early corner entry, that very beginning of the turning phase, your primary rotation will actually come from the brake release with the downshift timing and engine braking as a powerful secondary tool. This is where the car should have its rotation initiated without needing big steering inputs. In fact, you will need an extremely low amount of steering input, like extremely low.
Early Entry
Then we get into early entry as you release the brakes, the car gains stability, but you also lose a major rotation lever. At this point, you have done most of your downshifts, the speeds are dropping, the engine revs are dropping, so any downshift you still have available become less useful. This is where the steering gradually takes over as the primary tool, as you get deeper into the corner, because the other tools, the braking, the engine braking, are no longer or are less available.
Mid Corner (Just Before the Apex and at the Apex)
Then we get to mid corner just before the apex and at the apex. At this point, you are mostly only using the steering. The goal is still efficiency, so minimal steering, minimal corrections, and a line that allows you to start unwinding the steering as you get on the throttle. At this point, the steering is the main tool of rotation, but still don't abuse it. Find a point where you feel that you're starting to guide into front scrub, and as soon as you get to that point, adding more steering actually doesn't do anything with the rotation. As soon as you feel that, that's it. Don't add more steering. That's probably a point where you would start to get less rotation if you force it too much.
Exit Phase
Then we get to the exit phase. As you unwind the steering, the throttle becomes productive. What is productive? It means pushing the car forward and out of the corner, shooting the car out of the corner. The throttle is not a rotation tool here. It's the acceleration tool once the car is pointed and placed correctly, and it's designed to push the car out of it. It's a point and shoot approach. You are not going to use the throttle too much when you're really on the limit to adjust the balance. You are going to throw the car, you're going to be efficient with the rotation, and then you shoot the car out of the corner with the throttle.
The Limit Language
Understanding Tire Sound
A common misconception beginners have is that tire sound means bad, but we want some tire sound. In iRacing, the tire sound is a universal cue that can give us a lot of information, but it's harder to read in the MX-5. Unlike the other cars, the tire sound is similar across the whole range, from not really on the limit, all the way to being too much over the limit, and the ideal window is actually narrow, but you can still hear it get louder or quieter relative to straight line braking the limit, so you have to train your ears. The goal is a controlled steady scrubbing sound, not a sustained screaming or constantly changing levels up and down. There's a very good workshop about tire sounds that was presented by Corner Bell, and you can see that in the workshop recordings on our own Middle East Academy website, so go check that out if you're more curious about this sound.
Steering Unwind at the Apex
A clean corner has a clear signal. You should be able to unwind the steering wheel at the apex as you apply the throttle. If you cannot unwind at the apex, that means you're understeering.
Throttle Shape on Exit
On exit, the throttle shape gives you another very clear piece of limit language. The throttle should be one clean application, because the power is low, you can be aggressive, but it should still be one smooth motion without inducing unnecessary oversteer. So the progression is simple:
Bring the throttle in earlier and earlier until it can no longer be a single clean application, or when you start going over the limit of the rear and oversteering slightly
Then, step it back and rebuild it
And also remember, the exit shouldn't feel too easy. If the car doesn't want to use all the track on the exit, you're not going fast enough, or you're not accelerating early enough. But wanting to use all the track on the exit doesn't mean having to destroy your front tires. You get back on power earlier and find the nice limit, but you still need to respect the front slip angle limit and unwind the steering progressively, so that this scrub never gets too exaggerated. Remember that as you gain speed, less and less steering is accepted in the front tires.
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
The Car's DNA: Where the Lap Time Is
Understanding the MX-5 Stability Profile
The MX-5 stability profile depends heavily on the driver. Some drivers experience it as an understeerie car and stuck while other drivers find it extremely oversteerian difficult to drive, so who's right? That difference is usually the driving style and habits, not the car itself. That's why the MX-5 is great as a beginner car. It amplifies whatever you bring to it. Massive technique or bad corner structure can feel unpredictable either way towards oversteer or towards understeer.
Downforce Versus No Downforce: V-Shape Versus U-Shape
A useful starting point is this: low downforce cars often suggest more of a V-shape line than arrow cars, which often need more of a U-shape line. But the MX-5 sits in an awkward middle ground. It has no downforce, which points one way, but it also has low power, strong momentum dependence, and very, very soft suspension, which all point the other way. Because the power is low, you can't afford to kill momentum with an overly sharp and aggressive V-shape corner. If you overslow the car or creating a scrub, that loss carries all the way to the next straight. And because the suspension is soft, you need to introduce load and weight transfer smoothly. So you cannot throw the car around, make sharp line changes or rely on abrupt inputs the way you might in a stiffer, more responsive car. This car needs time to take the load properly. So while the car has no downforce and is not as naturally U-shape as an arrow car, in practice, it often rewards a smoother, more flowing corner shape than people expect. The corner usually needs to stay linked together, not extremely V-shape, but not exaggerated long and passive either. Always momentum protecting, because minimum speed matters more than late braking in this car.
Minimum Speed Matters More Than Late Braking
Once that racing line shape is clear, the next idea follows naturally. In this car, minimum speed matters more than late braking. Overcommitting the corner entry does not only hurt the entry, it kills everything: the entry, mid corner and exit. So stop trying to break as late as possible with the goal of just hitting the apex. Hitting the apex does not automatically mean the corner was successful, because the apex is not the main goal. It's just a checkpoint. The exit is the result. Exit is the priority in most cars, but in the MX-5, exit really is king. Most cars reward a good exit. The MX-5 depends on it. It does not have the power to fix a bad exit. So that's why the throttle timing and being able to open up this steering matter more than almost anything else. And because this is a low power car, the straights will amplify everything. Imagine you have a bad exit into a long straight. If you scrub two kilometers an hour mid corner, that loss compounds forever all the way down the next corner. In a drive train, you will get eaten up by other cars. Or you will never get overtaking opportunities because you will never be able to build more momentum on exit than the other drivers that are carrying that extra two kilometers per hour.
What the MX-5 Punishes the Most
ABS Abuse
ABS is extremely prohibitive in this car. If you trigger ABS while committing to turn in, it will kill your rotation. You will get forced into bad outcomes. You will either miss the apex or you compromise your technique and your corner structure just to make it work. And both always will create more problems right after that. Either way, the technique breaks down and you lose a lot of time. ABS abuse also overheats the tires. So if you lean into ABS too much under straight line braking, even if you correct yourself before turn in, the temperatures and therefore the grip level they have through the corner will be worse. Yes, just overheating the tires under braking in ABS kills the grip and the performance during the corner, even if you get off the ABS before you get into the corner.
Early Throttle
The other big punishing trap is early throttle. With the MX-5 soft suspension, early throttle will transfer all of the weight to the back and unload the front tires to a more extreme degree than other cars. And the result of that is heavy understeer, which forces a lift or even some brake to help the car rotate again, which will definitely destroy your exit speed. In this car, early throttle often feels like stability, but it's just you killing the front tires grip. Obviously this is a useful tool to safely find the limit of the front tires for beginners, but it has to be intentional with a knowledge and conscious plan behind it. This is literally what we call inducing understeer in the car handling course, and it's extremely useful when you're learning a car and you're learning a track, but you're not supposed to do that when you're looking for lap time.
How It Rotates
Once you understand what the MX-5 punishes, the next thing is to understand how it actually wants to rotate properly. The MX-5 does not use one rotation tool all the way through the corner. The rotation blends as the corner unfolds due to the extremely soft suspension and the aggressive engine braking that this car provides.
Straight Line Braking to Early Corner Entry
As you transition from straight line braking to early corner entry, that very beginning of the turning phase, your primary rotation will actually come from the brake release with the downshift timing and engine braking as a powerful secondary tool. This is where the car should have its rotation initiated without needing big steering inputs. In fact, you will need an extremely low amount of steering input, like extremely low.
Early Entry
Then we get into early entry as you release the brakes, the car gains stability, but you also lose a major rotation lever. At this point, you have done most of your downshifts, the speeds are dropping, the engine revs are dropping, so any downshift you still have available become less useful. This is where the steering gradually takes over as the primary tool, as you get deeper into the corner, because the other tools, the braking, the engine braking, are no longer or are less available.
Mid Corner (Just Before the Apex and at the Apex)
Then we get to mid corner just before the apex and at the apex. At this point, you are mostly only using the steering. The goal is still efficiency, so minimal steering, minimal corrections, and a line that allows you to start unwinding the steering as you get on the throttle. At this point, the steering is the main tool of rotation, but still don't abuse it. Find a point where you feel that you're starting to guide into front scrub, and as soon as you get to that point, adding more steering actually doesn't do anything with the rotation. As soon as you feel that, that's it. Don't add more steering. That's probably a point where you would start to get less rotation if you force it too much.
Exit Phase
Then we get to the exit phase. As you unwind the steering, the throttle becomes productive. What is productive? It means pushing the car forward and out of the corner, shooting the car out of the corner. The throttle is not a rotation tool here. It's the acceleration tool once the car is pointed and placed correctly, and it's designed to push the car out of it. It's a point and shoot approach. You are not going to use the throttle too much when you're really on the limit to adjust the balance. You are going to throw the car, you're going to be efficient with the rotation, and then you shoot the car out of the corner with the throttle.
The Limit Language
Understanding Tire Sound
A common misconception beginners have is that tire sound means bad, but we want some tire sound. In iRacing, the tire sound is a universal cue that can give us a lot of information, but it's harder to read in the MX-5. Unlike the other cars, the tire sound is similar across the whole range, from not really on the limit, all the way to being too much over the limit, and the ideal window is actually narrow, but you can still hear it get louder or quieter relative to straight line braking the limit, so you have to train your ears. The goal is a controlled steady scrubbing sound, not a sustained screaming or constantly changing levels up and down. There's a very good workshop about tire sounds that was presented by Corner Bell, and you can see that in the workshop recordings on our own Middle East Academy website, so go check that out if you're more curious about this sound.
Steering Unwind at the Apex
A clean corner has a clear signal. You should be able to unwind the steering wheel at the apex as you apply the throttle. If you cannot unwind at the apex, that means you're understeering.
Throttle Shape on Exit
On exit, the throttle shape gives you another very clear piece of limit language. The throttle should be one clean application, because the power is low, you can be aggressive, but it should still be one smooth motion without inducing unnecessary oversteer. So the progression is simple:
Bring the throttle in earlier and earlier until it can no longer be a single clean application, or when you start going over the limit of the rear and oversteering slightly
Then, step it back and rebuild it
And also remember, the exit shouldn't feel too easy. If the car doesn't want to use all the track on the exit, you're not going fast enough, or you're not accelerating early enough. But wanting to use all the track on the exit doesn't mean having to destroy your front tires. You get back on power earlier and find the nice limit, but you still need to respect the front slip angle limit and unwind the steering progressively, so that this scrub never gets too exaggerated. Remember that as you gain speed, less and less steering is accepted in the front tires.
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
The Car's DNA: Where the Lap Time Is
Understanding the MX-5 Stability Profile
The MX-5 stability profile depends heavily on the driver. Some drivers experience it as an understeerie car and stuck while other drivers find it extremely oversteerian difficult to drive, so who's right? That difference is usually the driving style and habits, not the car itself. That's why the MX-5 is great as a beginner car. It amplifies whatever you bring to it. Massive technique or bad corner structure can feel unpredictable either way towards oversteer or towards understeer.
Downforce Versus No Downforce: V-Shape Versus U-Shape
A useful starting point is this: low downforce cars often suggest more of a V-shape line than arrow cars, which often need more of a U-shape line. But the MX-5 sits in an awkward middle ground. It has no downforce, which points one way, but it also has low power, strong momentum dependence, and very, very soft suspension, which all point the other way. Because the power is low, you can't afford to kill momentum with an overly sharp and aggressive V-shape corner. If you overslow the car or creating a scrub, that loss carries all the way to the next straight. And because the suspension is soft, you need to introduce load and weight transfer smoothly. So you cannot throw the car around, make sharp line changes or rely on abrupt inputs the way you might in a stiffer, more responsive car. This car needs time to take the load properly. So while the car has no downforce and is not as naturally U-shape as an arrow car, in practice, it often rewards a smoother, more flowing corner shape than people expect. The corner usually needs to stay linked together, not extremely V-shape, but not exaggerated long and passive either. Always momentum protecting, because minimum speed matters more than late braking in this car.
Minimum Speed Matters More Than Late Braking
Once that racing line shape is clear, the next idea follows naturally. In this car, minimum speed matters more than late braking. Overcommitting the corner entry does not only hurt the entry, it kills everything: the entry, mid corner and exit. So stop trying to break as late as possible with the goal of just hitting the apex. Hitting the apex does not automatically mean the corner was successful, because the apex is not the main goal. It's just a checkpoint. The exit is the result. Exit is the priority in most cars, but in the MX-5, exit really is king. Most cars reward a good exit. The MX-5 depends on it. It does not have the power to fix a bad exit. So that's why the throttle timing and being able to open up this steering matter more than almost anything else. And because this is a low power car, the straights will amplify everything. Imagine you have a bad exit into a long straight. If you scrub two kilometers an hour mid corner, that loss compounds forever all the way down the next corner. In a drive train, you will get eaten up by other cars. Or you will never get overtaking opportunities because you will never be able to build more momentum on exit than the other drivers that are carrying that extra two kilometers per hour.
What the MX-5 Punishes the Most
ABS Abuse
ABS is extremely prohibitive in this car. If you trigger ABS while committing to turn in, it will kill your rotation. You will get forced into bad outcomes. You will either miss the apex or you compromise your technique and your corner structure just to make it work. And both always will create more problems right after that. Either way, the technique breaks down and you lose a lot of time. ABS abuse also overheats the tires. So if you lean into ABS too much under straight line braking, even if you correct yourself before turn in, the temperatures and therefore the grip level they have through the corner will be worse. Yes, just overheating the tires under braking in ABS kills the grip and the performance during the corner, even if you get off the ABS before you get into the corner.
Early Throttle
The other big punishing trap is early throttle. With the MX-5 soft suspension, early throttle will transfer all of the weight to the back and unload the front tires to a more extreme degree than other cars. And the result of that is heavy understeer, which forces a lift or even some brake to help the car rotate again, which will definitely destroy your exit speed. In this car, early throttle often feels like stability, but it's just you killing the front tires grip. Obviously this is a useful tool to safely find the limit of the front tires for beginners, but it has to be intentional with a knowledge and conscious plan behind it. This is literally what we call inducing understeer in the car handling course, and it's extremely useful when you're learning a car and you're learning a track, but you're not supposed to do that when you're looking for lap time.
How It Rotates
Once you understand what the MX-5 punishes, the next thing is to understand how it actually wants to rotate properly. The MX-5 does not use one rotation tool all the way through the corner. The rotation blends as the corner unfolds due to the extremely soft suspension and the aggressive engine braking that this car provides.
Straight Line Braking to Early Corner Entry
As you transition from straight line braking to early corner entry, that very beginning of the turning phase, your primary rotation will actually come from the brake release with the downshift timing and engine braking as a powerful secondary tool. This is where the car should have its rotation initiated without needing big steering inputs. In fact, you will need an extremely low amount of steering input, like extremely low.
Early Entry
Then we get into early entry as you release the brakes, the car gains stability, but you also lose a major rotation lever. At this point, you have done most of your downshifts, the speeds are dropping, the engine revs are dropping, so any downshift you still have available become less useful. This is where the steering gradually takes over as the primary tool, as you get deeper into the corner, because the other tools, the braking, the engine braking, are no longer or are less available.
Mid Corner (Just Before the Apex and at the Apex)
Then we get to mid corner just before the apex and at the apex. At this point, you are mostly only using the steering. The goal is still efficiency, so minimal steering, minimal corrections, and a line that allows you to start unwinding the steering as you get on the throttle. At this point, the steering is the main tool of rotation, but still don't abuse it. Find a point where you feel that you're starting to guide into front scrub, and as soon as you get to that point, adding more steering actually doesn't do anything with the rotation. As soon as you feel that, that's it. Don't add more steering. That's probably a point where you would start to get less rotation if you force it too much.
Exit Phase
Then we get to the exit phase. As you unwind the steering, the throttle becomes productive. What is productive? It means pushing the car forward and out of the corner, shooting the car out of the corner. The throttle is not a rotation tool here. It's the acceleration tool once the car is pointed and placed correctly, and it's designed to push the car out of it. It's a point and shoot approach. You are not going to use the throttle too much when you're really on the limit to adjust the balance. You are going to throw the car, you're going to be efficient with the rotation, and then you shoot the car out of the corner with the throttle.
The Limit Language
Understanding Tire Sound
A common misconception beginners have is that tire sound means bad, but we want some tire sound. In iRacing, the tire sound is a universal cue that can give us a lot of information, but it's harder to read in the MX-5. Unlike the other cars, the tire sound is similar across the whole range, from not really on the limit, all the way to being too much over the limit, and the ideal window is actually narrow, but you can still hear it get louder or quieter relative to straight line braking the limit, so you have to train your ears. The goal is a controlled steady scrubbing sound, not a sustained screaming or constantly changing levels up and down. There's a very good workshop about tire sounds that was presented by Corner Bell, and you can see that in the workshop recordings on our own Middle East Academy website, so go check that out if you're more curious about this sound.
Steering Unwind at the Apex
A clean corner has a clear signal. You should be able to unwind the steering wheel at the apex as you apply the throttle. If you cannot unwind at the apex, that means you're understeering.
Throttle Shape on Exit
On exit, the throttle shape gives you another very clear piece of limit language. The throttle should be one clean application, because the power is low, you can be aggressive, but it should still be one smooth motion without inducing unnecessary oversteer. So the progression is simple:
Bring the throttle in earlier and earlier until it can no longer be a single clean application, or when you start going over the limit of the rear and oversteering slightly
Then, step it back and rebuild it
And also remember, the exit shouldn't feel too easy. If the car doesn't want to use all the track on the exit, you're not going fast enough, or you're not accelerating early enough. But wanting to use all the track on the exit doesn't mean having to destroy your front tires. You get back on power earlier and find the nice limit, but you still need to respect the front slip angle limit and unwind the steering progressively, so that this scrub never gets too exaggerated. Remember that as you gain speed, less and less steering is accepted in the front tires.
Written in Collaboration of Coach Kane Halliburton.
The Car's DNA: Where the Lap Time Is
Understanding the MX-5 Stability Profile
The MX-5 stability profile depends heavily on the driver. Some drivers experience it as an understeerie car and stuck while other drivers find it extremely oversteerian difficult to drive, so who's right? That difference is usually the driving style and habits, not the car itself. That's why the MX-5 is great as a beginner car. It amplifies whatever you bring to it. Massive technique or bad corner structure can feel unpredictable either way towards oversteer or towards understeer.
Downforce Versus No Downforce: V-Shape Versus U-Shape
A useful starting point is this: low downforce cars often suggest more of a V-shape line than arrow cars, which often need more of a U-shape line. But the MX-5 sits in an awkward middle ground. It has no downforce, which points one way, but it also has low power, strong momentum dependence, and very, very soft suspension, which all point the other way. Because the power is low, you can't afford to kill momentum with an overly sharp and aggressive V-shape corner. If you overslow the car or creating a scrub, that loss carries all the way to the next straight. And because the suspension is soft, you need to introduce load and weight transfer smoothly. So you cannot throw the car around, make sharp line changes or rely on abrupt inputs the way you might in a stiffer, more responsive car. This car needs time to take the load properly. So while the car has no downforce and is not as naturally U-shape as an arrow car, in practice, it often rewards a smoother, more flowing corner shape than people expect. The corner usually needs to stay linked together, not extremely V-shape, but not exaggerated long and passive either. Always momentum protecting, because minimum speed matters more than late braking in this car.
Minimum Speed Matters More Than Late Braking
Once that racing line shape is clear, the next idea follows naturally. In this car, minimum speed matters more than late braking. Overcommitting the corner entry does not only hurt the entry, it kills everything: the entry, mid corner and exit. So stop trying to break as late as possible with the goal of just hitting the apex. Hitting the apex does not automatically mean the corner was successful, because the apex is not the main goal. It's just a checkpoint. The exit is the result. Exit is the priority in most cars, but in the MX-5, exit really is king. Most cars reward a good exit. The MX-5 depends on it. It does not have the power to fix a bad exit. So that's why the throttle timing and being able to open up this steering matter more than almost anything else. And because this is a low power car, the straights will amplify everything. Imagine you have a bad exit into a long straight. If you scrub two kilometers an hour mid corner, that loss compounds forever all the way down the next corner. In a drive train, you will get eaten up by other cars. Or you will never get overtaking opportunities because you will never be able to build more momentum on exit than the other drivers that are carrying that extra two kilometers per hour.
What the MX-5 Punishes the Most
ABS Abuse
ABS is extremely prohibitive in this car. If you trigger ABS while committing to turn in, it will kill your rotation. You will get forced into bad outcomes. You will either miss the apex or you compromise your technique and your corner structure just to make it work. And both always will create more problems right after that. Either way, the technique breaks down and you lose a lot of time. ABS abuse also overheats the tires. So if you lean into ABS too much under straight line braking, even if you correct yourself before turn in, the temperatures and therefore the grip level they have through the corner will be worse. Yes, just overheating the tires under braking in ABS kills the grip and the performance during the corner, even if you get off the ABS before you get into the corner.
Early Throttle
The other big punishing trap is early throttle. With the MX-5 soft suspension, early throttle will transfer all of the weight to the back and unload the front tires to a more extreme degree than other cars. And the result of that is heavy understeer, which forces a lift or even some brake to help the car rotate again, which will definitely destroy your exit speed. In this car, early throttle often feels like stability, but it's just you killing the front tires grip. Obviously this is a useful tool to safely find the limit of the front tires for beginners, but it has to be intentional with a knowledge and conscious plan behind it. This is literally what we call inducing understeer in the car handling course, and it's extremely useful when you're learning a car and you're learning a track, but you're not supposed to do that when you're looking for lap time.
How It Rotates
Once you understand what the MX-5 punishes, the next thing is to understand how it actually wants to rotate properly. The MX-5 does not use one rotation tool all the way through the corner. The rotation blends as the corner unfolds due to the extremely soft suspension and the aggressive engine braking that this car provides.
Straight Line Braking to Early Corner Entry
As you transition from straight line braking to early corner entry, that very beginning of the turning phase, your primary rotation will actually come from the brake release with the downshift timing and engine braking as a powerful secondary tool. This is where the car should have its rotation initiated without needing big steering inputs. In fact, you will need an extremely low amount of steering input, like extremely low.
Early Entry
Then we get into early entry as you release the brakes, the car gains stability, but you also lose a major rotation lever. At this point, you have done most of your downshifts, the speeds are dropping, the engine revs are dropping, so any downshift you still have available become less useful. This is where the steering gradually takes over as the primary tool, as you get deeper into the corner, because the other tools, the braking, the engine braking, are no longer or are less available.
Mid Corner (Just Before the Apex and at the Apex)
Then we get to mid corner just before the apex and at the apex. At this point, you are mostly only using the steering. The goal is still efficiency, so minimal steering, minimal corrections, and a line that allows you to start unwinding the steering as you get on the throttle. At this point, the steering is the main tool of rotation, but still don't abuse it. Find a point where you feel that you're starting to guide into front scrub, and as soon as you get to that point, adding more steering actually doesn't do anything with the rotation. As soon as you feel that, that's it. Don't add more steering. That's probably a point where you would start to get less rotation if you force it too much.
Exit Phase
Then we get to the exit phase. As you unwind the steering, the throttle becomes productive. What is productive? It means pushing the car forward and out of the corner, shooting the car out of the corner. The throttle is not a rotation tool here. It's the acceleration tool once the car is pointed and placed correctly, and it's designed to push the car out of it. It's a point and shoot approach. You are not going to use the throttle too much when you're really on the limit to adjust the balance. You are going to throw the car, you're going to be efficient with the rotation, and then you shoot the car out of the corner with the throttle.
The Limit Language
Understanding Tire Sound
A common misconception beginners have is that tire sound means bad, but we want some tire sound. In iRacing, the tire sound is a universal cue that can give us a lot of information, but it's harder to read in the MX-5. Unlike the other cars, the tire sound is similar across the whole range, from not really on the limit, all the way to being too much over the limit, and the ideal window is actually narrow, but you can still hear it get louder or quieter relative to straight line braking the limit, so you have to train your ears. The goal is a controlled steady scrubbing sound, not a sustained screaming or constantly changing levels up and down. There's a very good workshop about tire sounds that was presented by Corner Bell, and you can see that in the workshop recordings on our own Middle East Academy website, so go check that out if you're more curious about this sound.
Steering Unwind at the Apex
A clean corner has a clear signal. You should be able to unwind the steering wheel at the apex as you apply the throttle. If you cannot unwind at the apex, that means you're understeering.
Throttle Shape on Exit
On exit, the throttle shape gives you another very clear piece of limit language. The throttle should be one clean application, because the power is low, you can be aggressive, but it should still be one smooth motion without inducing unnecessary oversteer. So the progression is simple:
Bring the throttle in earlier and earlier until it can no longer be a single clean application, or when you start going over the limit of the rear and oversteering slightly
Then, step it back and rebuild it
And also remember, the exit shouldn't feel too easy. If the car doesn't want to use all the track on the exit, you're not going fast enough, or you're not accelerating early enough. But wanting to use all the track on the exit doesn't mean having to destroy your front tires. You get back on power earlier and find the nice limit, but you still need to respect the front slip angle limit and unwind the steering progressively, so that this scrub never gets too exaggerated. Remember that as you gain speed, less and less steering is accepted in the front tires.
Other Lessons