I have a question regarding the fastest way to clear a tighter corner with my stock suspension CRX. It understeers, I realize it all the time. If I don't balance my throttle input I can turn the wheel all the way a open the throttle completely and I'll go in a straight line, kind of scary. But my question pertains to the balancing of throttle and steering in a corner. Say when driving around a corner at a low speed I turn the wheel x degrees to go around it. When I am trying to clear it as fast as possible I turn the wheel a little more and give a little additional throttle so that if I was going around it at a normal speeds I would be turning too much and I would hit the inside. The wheel is over turned and I give it additional throttle input. It feels like the front is sliding if you will. If I do it too much it feels slower like the front tires are slowing down the car because they are at too much of an angle and I loose traction. Also when doing this I can get back on the throttle earlier for a faster exit. It feels like I clear the corner faster but is this extra tire scrub really beneficial? What is riding on this threshold called? Is it better to clear the corner without overturning and more throttle?

Also what is left foot braking and how does it work?

 

it's easy. slow down more before the turn.

sometimes you just have to make due with what you have. right now you have a suspension that understeers a lot. so go in slower.

 

I didn't get the first part.

But the tires should be making some noise right?

 

In autocrossing "To be fast you have to go slow"

If you are understeering in a turn 99% of the time it's because you entered the corner with too much speed. Scrub off speed before the turn NOT at the turn. When you scrub off speed in a straight line you slow down quicker because you are using all 4 tires and brakes to slow you down. When you slow down in a turn (also known as trail braking) you usually are only use 1-2 tires and brakes to slow you down which is usually more inefficient.

 

Left foot braking is just that - brake with your left foot, not your right.

As for the understeer issue - like everyone else said, brake harder before the turn. What you do now is costing you speed. If you brake at the same point, but harder, you'll probably find that in doing so you'll be going pretty slow . This is good because it shows that you can now get on the brakes later. Then you modulate the throttle until you're around the apex of the corner (ie, you get on the gas, but not full). As you get around the apex, you go full throttle, while at the same time unwinding the steering wheel.

What you're doing now is going full throttle before you unwind the steering wheel. That requires too much of your traction budget (remember when you accelerate you have less traction for turning) and the tires slide. So if the tires are sliding, you're basically sitting there waiting since no power is getting to the ground. And waiting is slow .

In tight turns, many times there's nothing you can do about it but go slow around them. Try to force it and you lose grip. I took an Evolution autocross phase 1 school and there's a skidpad at one point in the course. Going slow to go fast was really hard for me to learn, but every time I got on the gas too early and pushed, my times just died.

I just went to an autocross last weekend and used all of my runs to test out different techniques etc. to see what would happen. Didn't care about times, I just wanted to see if I could feel what was happening and what I did to cause it. So I suggest at the next autocross, try braking harder at the same point, then moving that brake point up when you feel you braked too early. Also, you are probably early-apexing to get around the corner the way you do so try this: when you think it's time to turn in, count to one and a half, then turn in. And if you squeeze that throttle down before you start unwinding, it's too early.

 

it should read, "It's easy, slow down more before the turn."

like everyone else explained you're just over driving the car and trying to do more than what the car can give you.


the tires don't have to make noise at every corner and it also depends on what kind of noise it's making. the noise it makes when the car understeer = the pig squeel = slow.

 

I should have been more specific, what I mean is throttling it after the apex and unwinding the steering wheel. It seems if I turn the wheel a little more at the apex I can get on the throttle more after the apex and it feels like I come out faster I didn't mean that I enter off throttle and steer more to compensate for an excessive entry speed, I figured out that didn't work early on.

Not pig squeal, pig squeal = bad.
It's kind of like just a little bit of wheelspin while I am turning.
I've gone full throttle before I exited, that doesn't work either.
Maybe I suck at explaining, lol

I've tried trailbraking but I always end up locking a wheel so I don't do it.
Today I figured out the pathetic amount of braking ability my shitty all seasons have. I came around this right hander corner pretty slow because it was raining, it is fairly blind. And to my surpise there was this car stopped in the middle of the road that caught me a little off guard when I was going about 30 mph. I go to push the brakes not so hard and one of the front tires locked immediatley. I was like holy shit, there's no way in hell these tires suck this much, they have good tread and everything. I almost hit him and had to keep steering hard to stay in control. I was very surprised how easily my stock brakes lock the tires. Later on when the roads dried I went out and practiced panic stops. I was amazed how easily the tire locked with relativley little brake pressure. I was probably pushing the pedal down halfway at 45 mph and it would lock almost immediatley. However no matter where I was it was always the right front tire which I though was odd because I though that the tire on my side would lock first since there is more weight. Why is that one tire the one thaty always locks. I though the back tires were supposed to lock first? Eventually I got the hang of it, it was scary to think how many times I had been so close to wheel lock without knowing it. I'm still not so confident that I have it as a reflex yet. I really need to get those A032R's I want. But for now if I'm driving agressively I know brake fade will be the last of my worries.

 

you might just be giving it too much gas too quickly or taking the corner incorrectly. try a really late apex. also feeling like you are coming out of it faster is different than actually being faster out of the turn

 

I see.
I should try a driving school, how much do they cost on average?

 

Evolution Autocross school - best $$ spent. Usually $200/day, usually 2 days offered. It will improve your times more than any $400 you can ever put in your car.