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Location:
South Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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Sat, 13 September 2003 13:02
 
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Generally speaking you only use the handbrake from about 80km/h and under (although at 60-80km/h it's usually just so you can spin the car right around, and it's a little risky) - or in the case of an emergency "hockey stop".
You can use handbrakes for a few things, there are a few pointers - but there's no perfect method for using the handbrake.
Here are some tips from a weak attempt at a driver 
1. Try to have your braking 'finished' when you apply the handbrake. (If entering a corner from high speed)
2. Try not to use the foot brake as the car starts it's slide. This will cause the rear end to most likely lock up (simply from rear brake bias), and step further away from control.
3. Generally, I'm already pulling the steering wheel in the opposite direction to the corner as I'm pulling the handbrake up.
4. The handbrake should only be used momentarily, just a short fraction of a second - unless you are in a serious emergency and are doing a 'hockey stop'.
Don't use the handbrake too often. There are very *very* few road cars with a hydraulic handbrake (I'm not sure if it's even legal) - this means you have a cable operated handbrake, which will stretch, and if you practise it too much, it might just snap in that 'emergency situation' you are preparing for
I've had a couple of cables snap on me, but that's just because I did too much tooling around that I didn't need to do (that and my brother once or twice left it on a fraction whilst driving or after attempting the aforementioned handbrake cornering).
Ultimately, the handbrake isn't even a very effective method. Cornering is best off done with either left foot braking, or a scandinavian flick (don't ask). I don't think using the handbrake could solve alot of emergency situations in everyday driving (usually a combination of plain old braking and steering does the trick) - it's really only of common use on the rally tracks when you want to slide the car to hit a stationary object on the co-driver's side (har har).
Also - from a rally/racer perspective.
a) Using the handbrake means you probably are off the racing line
b) You probably are washing off speed on too high a tire slip angle rather than going faster than a car that is cornering in a less flamboyant fashion
The reason you have to apply so much throttle when you use the handbrake to corner is because the car needs to be pulled back onto a reasonable line, which means it's energy (power) is going to work in a direction not parallel with the way the car is travelling, meaning - it's inefficient (slow).
Of course, going inefficiently sideways will always be more fun
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| | Subject | Poster | Date |
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Driving techniques & Manouvers
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SW20R | Fri, 12 September 2003 15:49 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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manipulate | Fri, 12 September 2003 23:26 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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CLG | Sat, 13 September 2003 00:37 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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draven | Sat, 13 September 2003 01:51 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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RWDboy | Sat, 13 September 2003 13:02 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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quick | Sun, 14 September 2003 12:53 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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coronamark2 | Mon, 15 September 2003 02:26 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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Nark | Mon, 15 September 2003 03:16 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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76_aShTrE~ | Wed, 17 September 2003 05:17 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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RobST162 | Wed, 17 September 2003 05:21 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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gtman | Wed, 17 September 2003 05:57 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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ehendrikd | Mon, 29 September 2003 03:20 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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Apollo | Mon, 29 September 2003 10:16 |
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Re: Driving techniques & Manouvers
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Rolla Boy | Mon, 29 September 2003 11:12 |
