ZeratulSG
Wow thanks for the "history lesson" 👍
But let me just ask this: under racing conditions the brakes are being used to their maximum potential, so would it not stand to reason that providing engine braking in addition to those effective modern brakes would shorten stopping distances even further, thus meaning a driver could brake later?
Nope. A proper brake system has more than enough stopping power to yield maximum braking on all four tires. Properly tuned, it can bring all four tires to their threshold where they're still rolling a little, and thus providing the maximum braking possible.
Engine braking interferes with the braking system by applying additional braking force to just the drive wheels, which makes them tend to lock up before the others. It also interferes with the operation of ABS (for cars so equiped) since it's applying a braking force to the tire which is not under the control of the ABS system.
Have you seen the Motegi battle vid with the NSX-R, Gallardo, etc.? The NSX-R driver seems to downshift twice per slow corner entry (presumably 3rd and 2nd gears), would you say this is a personal driving style thing for him? He certainly seems to be using it to slow the car.
No, I haven't seen this video. Where can I find it? Sounds neat.
It may be his driving style. You know... not every racer uses what would be considered a proper technique. In fact, one of the first things I learned racing in RL was that you shouldn't copy what everyone else is doing. Just because other racers are doing it doesn't mean it's the right way for you. Most racers copy eachother rampantly... mistakes and all.
There's been more than once where I noticed that everyone was taking a particular corner in a way that seemed wrong to me. And I wondered... they must know something I don't? I did it my way. I won.
Of course, at times it turned out that they _did_ know something I didn't... ooops...
Rowing down through all the gears is a heritage that racers have been copying from eachother from way back when it was the only way to keep your brakes alive.
Do you know why it's rude to wear your hat indoors? Because in the mideval ages, people wore hats with big feather plumes... and the indoor lighting was open flames. It wasn't rude to wear a hat indoors; it was stupid and dangerous. But that was passed down through the ages and in the modern day ends up with a kid getting detention for not taking his baseball cap off in class... even though the original reason for it is long since gone.
But on the other hand, maybe this guy does have a particular reason he does it. You know... I could tell you anything about the typical techniques racers use, and you will always find someone who just does it a bizarre way that probably works only for him alone. Racing is a complicated animal, and there's more than one way to tackle it.
The NSX is a tail heavy car that can have a bad tendency to become unstable under braking as the heavy tail tries to flip around to the front. Maybe he's got his brake bias toward the front, and then uses downshifts to dynamically apply more brake bias to the rear as long as the car is stable?
Or maybe he just likes the way downshifts sound. Or maybe he's just copying the way his dad did it. Or maybe (and most likely) that was the way he was taught to do it by an instructor who learned to do it in the old days.
You just never know. And that's why it's not a good idea to always copy what you see other racers doing.
All that being said... it should be noted that rowing down through the gears or not is not a very big deal. It's theoretically a little slower to do it that way if you don't have to. But in the real world, if you're good at it, and you've tuned the car around the way you drive and all that.. it probably doesn't make any real difference in your lap times.
It must wear the drivetrain a little faster. And if you blow any of the downshifts, you can lose time, spin, and/or blow the engine. So it's a case of... it's not really a helpful thing to do. It's pretty harmless if you do it right. It can be catastrophic if you do it wrong.
- Skant
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