[RKDinOKC]

One of the ways just about anyone can decrease their lap times is to work on corner entry.

The first thing most people do is not stay to the outside of the turn long enough on entry. They start gradually turning in towards the apex to soon then turn more in earnest as they approach the apex. They think they are making the turn a larger radius but and just doing an early apex turn. What they are doing looks more like a parabola instead of a circle. The idea is to make the radius of the circle as large as possible.

The next thing is kind of multi-part. It's braking, downshifting, turn-in, and getting back on the throttle. The best thing is to just describe what is supposed to happen.

Go from full throttle to full braking immediately. You want to use the momentum of the weight transfer from lifting on the throttle to get into more braking sooner.

If you need to, downshift while braking and you are still going straight.

Turn in as you slowly lift off the brakes. This is often called trail braking. The idea is start turning while weight is still on the front of the car and keeping that weight on the front of the car. That means the rear will be loose and start to slide and rotate the car more than your steering input. This is where practice comes in. You have to pick your braking point so that you are going just the right speed in the right place on turn in as you lift off the brakes and turn in.

When the car is pointing at the apex you add just enough throttle to transfer enough weight to the rear to check the rear slide, balance the car, and put it in a slight 4 wheel drift all set to throttle steer through the apex. This is typically the amount of throttle used to maintain speed in a corner. Too much throttle will stop the rear wheels from drifting altogether. Way too much throttle too soon with spin the rear tires and the car.

If you did not brake enough, are going too fast, or turned in too late the car will slide out of the corner making a bigger turn than the corner.

If you brake too much, are going too slow, or turn in too early you don't get a 4 wheel drift, lose time, and have to add more throttle as you enter and through the apex to get your corner speed up.

Entry Car Setup

Rear shock rebound and rear brake bias effects both how long the rear brakes are effective and how much the rear rotates on turn in. Rebound too firm, the front brakes lock up too easily and the car does not want to rotate. Rebound too soft, the rear brakes lock up and the car rotates way too easily. If the rear bias is to low more braking is done with the front brakes and the braking zone is longer. If the rear bias is too high the rears lock up as the weight transfers (with ABS it comes on sooner making a longer braking zone). You have to find the balance between how quickly the weight comes off the rear, rear rebound, and how much braking the rear wheels can do, brake bias.

On the stock 951 and 928 the rear brake bias valve is a 5/15. On the 951 a 5/33 worked great. On my 928 90GT 5/33 wasn't enough and I went to a 5/55. On my 928 GTS I went straight to a 5/55 and it is too much, I need to get a 5/45.