VTRacing
It's difficult to explain without being able to demonstrate, but there are a lot of benefits to left-foot braking.
All that curing of problems in corners by applying the brakes sounds like someone may have overdriven the bend and then had to jump on the brakes to save it.
Can anyone think of a situation where the brakes could be of benefit while driving the skid pad? Say you're driving around the skid pad at maximum angular velocity, while applying only enough power to maintain constant speed. What will happen if you even barely touch the brakes?
If some study is done of the friction circle it will be understood that it is impossible to increase lateral force in a given radius arc by applying the brakes when the tire is producing maximum lateral force with no braking or acceleration forces present. Maximum lateral force at the tire is generated when there is only enough power applied to maintain constant maximum velocity.
This major truth of cornering and of the actual frictional forces involved is that you can go quicker around a given radius when applying only enough throttle to maintain constant velocity. This means if you can apply lots of throttle in a corner, you have made a mistake because the car is going around the corner slower than would be possible with only that momentum maintaining amount of power. This is most easily understood when one is driving on the skid pad. An increase in power application or any application of the brakes while at maximum angular velocity and maximum lateral force generation of the tire will result in an increase in the turn radius, meaning you will be unable to hold the line. If the radius is larger, and all other factors remain the same, you can go faster around the larger radius but it will take more time than negotiating the smaller radius.
And think about the idea that Shummi would consider applying the brakes to retard wheelspin off a corner. He would be admitting that he cannot control power application and must use the brakes to control wheelspin? Jackie Stewart would faint. Isn't traction control still completely legal in F1? What would be going on with the front tires if Shummi was near the limit when he carefully applied the brakes? He would be guaranteed to immediately observe a dramatic increase in the turn radius and a resultant increase in his heart rate as the fence appeared directly ahead.
Carroll Smith said that the only time to apply the brakes in a corner is when you have overcooked it and made a nonsense of the entry, and then you should point it toward the fence---which you're going to hit anyway---and stand on them as hard as you can to at least slow it down some before impact.
An exception to this axiom is corner entry on an oval track, where often the entry radius fairly gradually decreases and drivers use the brakes carefully until they gain that desired tight radius. This manuver is quite a delicate thing and is very precisely done, and it produces about the same effect as greatly increased engine braking. This is an example of real brake trailing (off), usually incorrectly called "trail braking", and it is often necessary because of decreasing radius of the corner entry radius.
The really major point I'm trying to make here is that, given specialized exception, if you can EVER apply the brakes at any point in a corner and it doesn't result in disaster, you are not going as quickly as you could be if you were at the ideal point of maximum lateral force generation and maximum angular velocity.
As an addendum to this note, the official F! website has a lot of good information regarding all of these basic principles of friction and the "traction circle", etc, etc, and here is just one of the many pages:
http://www.formula1.com/insight/technicalinfo/11/839.html
Also, in the manual included with GT4 there is a great analogy explaning the basics of cornering, where the author uses the example of conceptual "strings" attached to steering wheel and brake, and steering wheel and throttle. Great stuff.
I personally think that almost the only way to experience a very close to realistic car/tire response in GT4 is to fit whatever car you like with standard road N3 tires. And a good place to practice the fine art of precision driving is at the Motegi oval track, using your "ghost" to compare what happens when you use different lines and power application, etc. Lots and lots of laps of that kind of practice will go a long way to help you develop the "feel" of going quick, which is not necessarily the same as going "fast".
I'm always impressed with the fact that there are so many excellent drivers here, and particularly in the JGTC series. If I were really rich, I'd foot the bill for two or three of you to attend a Skip Barber driving school and then we'd see about who gets to run the Mazda series.
GT4 is great fun because it's basically very realistic, but there's little comparison to real racing, and I encourage anyone with a couple of million to blow, (maybe a bit less if it's karts) to get out there and go for it for real.
