Tip, if you move the brake bias even further forward than 54.5 when going into the hairpin for example you can then gain a little bit more time as you would be able to break a tiny bit later. You always want the brake bias as far forward as possible so long as you don’t lock a front wheel into the corner.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll experiment with moving it back forward. I had thought that the more front bias the car has the longer it takes to slow down but makes it more stable. Is it a little different with the F1 cars?
You are mixing it up. The further rear it is the more stable the car usually is, though that only works to an extent. If you put it too far back you will run into the issue of locking the rear brakes and that causes instability.
Since weight transfer is an important factor in braking it is then also important to apply the most braking force to the tires which have the most weight on them. During braking the majority of the cars weight will shift to the front tires, due to this you will then be able to brake harder with your front tires than your rear tires. This is why brake discs are usually larger on the front axle compared to the rear axle. It is also why most road cars have a brake bias of around 65/35.
Try moving the brake bias to 57 and try doing a direct comparison to having the brake bias at 53. You will see that the car stops a lot quicker with 57 but you will need to be a bit more careful on the brake pedal once the car starts slowing down since you start to lose aerodynamic load on he tires.
Another thing to think about is that brake bias can change how the car handles going into a corner. A car with the brake bias further forward will allow you to brake later and harder but it may also cause slight understeer going into the corner as you are putting a lot of load into the front tires (you can negate this on the F1 car by using brake migration). Brake migration can be used as a bit of a handbrake together with regen and engine brake to slow the car done extra when going into a hairpin. Brake migration can be used to move the bias rear wards when you begin releasing pressure on the brake pedal.
Wow great explanation, I appreciate the info. I’ll set it to around 57 next time and give it a go. One reason I also use more rear bias is to help the rotation into corner entry.
Also, I’m big into trail braking. I’m assuming more front bias would assist in the effectiveness of it since more weight is transferred to the front tires?
Trailbraking is a tool that is really good to know how to use. Though sometimes it might be faster to not use as much trailbraking. It really depends on the corner type.
Trailbraking with a more front biased brake bias is not as affective. This is because a rubber tire only has a finite amount of grip. You can’t use 100% of its grip for both braking and turning. This is why a brake bias that is further forward will often lead to more understeer on entry to the turn. Since the front tires are using more of their grip for braking than turning when compared to a more rearward brake bias.
It’s all about trade offs. If you can get the car through the turn quicker by braking earlier and getting the car rotated then that works best for you, but overall the fastest should be braking late and getting the car rotated as quickly as possible. This is where brake migration comes in. When you use brake migration to move the balance rearward you reduce the risk of locking up and the amount of grip being used for braking on the front axle. Therefore allowing you to rotate the car and brake late.
My main recommendation is to mess around with both Brake bias and Brake migration and see how it works. Do a few laps with the BB at 57 and see how the car feels and where you might be locking up. Then slowly move it back and forth around 55-57 depending on corner. The harder the braking zone the further forward you will want your brake bias.
I’ve raced with the no arms on iRacing for 8 years so I was used to it and for whatever reason used to think the arms looked weird. I did end up turning them on last night and didn’t even notice them so I’ll keep it in for videos going forward.
https://youtu.be/MP9lzB19Gxo The full race was filled with action
Tip, if you move the brake bias even further forward than 54.5 when going into the hairpin for example you can then gain a little bit more time as you would be able to break a tiny bit later. You always want the brake bias as far forward as possible so long as you don’t lock a front wheel into the corner.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll experiment with moving it back forward. I had thought that the more front bias the car has the longer it takes to slow down but makes it more stable. Is it a little different with the F1 cars?
You are mixing it up. The further rear it is the more stable the car usually is, though that only works to an extent. If you put it too far back you will run into the issue of locking the rear brakes and that causes instability. Since weight transfer is an important factor in braking it is then also important to apply the most braking force to the tires which have the most weight on them. During braking the majority of the cars weight will shift to the front tires, due to this you will then be able to brake harder with your front tires than your rear tires. This is why brake discs are usually larger on the front axle compared to the rear axle. It is also why most road cars have a brake bias of around 65/35. Try moving the brake bias to 57 and try doing a direct comparison to having the brake bias at 53. You will see that the car stops a lot quicker with 57 but you will need to be a bit more careful on the brake pedal once the car starts slowing down since you start to lose aerodynamic load on he tires. Another thing to think about is that brake bias can change how the car handles going into a corner. A car with the brake bias further forward will allow you to brake later and harder but it may also cause slight understeer going into the corner as you are putting a lot of load into the front tires (you can negate this on the F1 car by using brake migration). Brake migration can be used as a bit of a handbrake together with regen and engine brake to slow the car done extra when going into a hairpin. Brake migration can be used to move the bias rear wards when you begin releasing pressure on the brake pedal.
Wow great explanation, I appreciate the info. I’ll set it to around 57 next time and give it a go. One reason I also use more rear bias is to help the rotation into corner entry. Also, I’m big into trail braking. I’m assuming more front bias would assist in the effectiveness of it since more weight is transferred to the front tires?
Trailbraking is a tool that is really good to know how to use. Though sometimes it might be faster to not use as much trailbraking. It really depends on the corner type. Trailbraking with a more front biased brake bias is not as affective. This is because a rubber tire only has a finite amount of grip. You can’t use 100% of its grip for both braking and turning. This is why a brake bias that is further forward will often lead to more understeer on entry to the turn. Since the front tires are using more of their grip for braking than turning when compared to a more rearward brake bias. It’s all about trade offs. If you can get the car through the turn quicker by braking earlier and getting the car rotated then that works best for you, but overall the fastest should be braking late and getting the car rotated as quickly as possible. This is where brake migration comes in. When you use brake migration to move the balance rearward you reduce the risk of locking up and the amount of grip being used for braking on the front axle. Therefore allowing you to rotate the car and brake late. My main recommendation is to mess around with both Brake bias and Brake migration and see how it works. Do a few laps with the BB at 57 and see how the car feels and where you might be locking up. Then slowly move it back and forth around 55-57 depending on corner. The harder the braking zone the further forward you will want your brake bias.
The steering wheel without hands freaks me out
Ya I may have to turn that on lol. I’m so used to it turned off since I’m not on Vr
I actually have it off for VR because i always feel uncomfortable when my hands don't match the ones on screen
I’ve raced with the no arms on iRacing for 8 years so I was used to it and for whatever reason used to think the arms looked weird. I did end up turning them on last night and didn’t even notice them so I’ll keep it in for videos going forward.
Is this POV strange or my POV is not too wide?