{"id":26562,"date":"2019-12-23T04:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/?p=26562"},"modified":"2019-11-10T15:25:39","modified_gmt":"2019-11-10T23:25:39","slug":"q-in-racing-performance-driving-when-is-it-not-worth-it-to-use-more-track-if-it-means-driving-a-longer-distance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/q-in-racing-performance-driving-when-is-it-not-worth-it-to-use-more-track-if-it-means-driving-a-longer-distance\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: In racing & performance driving, when is it not worth it to use more track if it means driving a longer distance?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q<\/strong>: \u201c<\/em>We are taught to use 100% of the available track, to increase radius to increase mid-corner speed for a given lateral G capacity of our tires. At what point are there diminishing returns for using the entire available track versus the shortest distance? I have always wondered this. Turn 7 at Portland International Raceway is a good example, as they widened the track a few years ago and I see some drivers use it all, and some not. You can keep imagining if we open up the track more and more, eventually there must be a point where it is no longer beneficial to use all the track available, right?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A<\/strong>: You bring up a super-important point, and the answer is not easy. Why? Because it depends. But you hit the nail on the head when you referred to the trade-off between a larger radius (which results in being able to drive faster through a corner), and the distance covered.<\/p>\n

As with any trade-off, the only way to know for sure is to try it, and measure it to see which way works best. But a couple of words of warning here: First, if you\u2019re trying a different way \u2013 something you\u2019ve not done before \u2013 give it a fair shot. That means you\u2019re going to need to do it more than once or twice! I know of drivers who have tried a different line a couple of times and concluded that it didn\u2019t work \u2013 before they\u2019d ever gotten close to having done it right.<\/p>\n

Second, what feels faster may not be. The only way to know for sure is to do segment times and\/or compare with data. But even with that, you can fool yourself into thinking one way is better than the other if you don\u2019t measure properly. If you\u2019re using data, it\u2019s important that you segment the track the right way so you get accurate information. I answered a question about this at https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/ask-ross\/where-do-i-divide-up-sectors-when-analyzing-data\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I wish there was a simple answer, and I could say, \u201cAlways do this.\u201d But that would be wrong. I can\u2019t even say that 51% of the time the shorter distance is the best way to go, or the larger radius is. And, what works best in one car \u2013 say a low horsepower car with lots of cornering grip \u2013 may not in another, like a high-horsepower, low grip car.<\/p>\n

I said that you can\u2019t always trust your gut feel on this, because sometimes one way will feel faster when it\u2019s not. But it\u2019s important to at least listen to your gut, and then calibrate it with what you learn through the data. Over time you will fine-tune your ability to sense what truly is the fastest way to drive without always having to rely on the data. Check out this video about giving a change enough of a chance to work: https:\/\/youtu.be\/veqoLzXHSy0<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, I did a short video on using all the track a while back and posted it to my YouTube channel here: https:\/\/youtu.be\/O627IMNS7fc<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: \u201cWe are taught to use 100% of the available track, to increase radius to increase mid-corner speed for a given lateral G capacity of our tires. At what point are there diminishing returns for using the entire available track versus the shortest distance? I have always wondered this. Turn 7 at Portland International Raceway is a good example, as they widened the track a few years ago and I see some drivers use it all, and some not. You can keep imagining if we open up the track more and more, eventually there must be a point where it is no longer beneficial to use all the track available, right?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-ross"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26563,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26562\/revisions\/26563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}