Trail braking

[Dan Chambers]

I have an open diff in my SC and trail-brake often, if not in every corner at ax's. It is absolutely possible with an open diff in a rear-engined car ... with practice, practice, practice .... I have to agree with Morgan: any car can be driven in this style. It's all about nuance.

I trail-brake pretty much every corner at big tracks like Buttonwillow, Streets, and Pahrump. I find it particularly handy in decreasing-radius turns ... even the off-camber ones. Pahrump is great for trail-braking practice because it seems every corner is decreasing-radius. (Or maybe I'm clueless about the line? )

Trail-braking with open diff's, like many other advanced sports skills, requires nuance, finesse, and patience in learning. Subtlety is the key. Time is your best friend.

Example: you don't turn a surfboard the same in 3' waves as you do in 20' waves. If you do, toast! Big wave surfing take an extraordinary amount of patience, skill, nuance ... and practice. Sound familiar?

[jrgordonsenior]

I have a 911 with a clutch-type LSD and another 911 with just the open diff. It is very difficult to trail brake with the open diff, but it is possible.
If I do a decent job at it (i.e., really smooth wih the brakes and wheel), it does allow me to brake later/deeper. There is more forgiveness with LSD.

Another benefit of trail braking is that it often helps settle the car during the transition from straight to corner (depending on the particular corner).

Neither of my track 911s has ABS, which changes the situation totally, of course ( a LOT more forgiveness).

Hi Paul,

Tested my new 996 Spec Friday at BW in anticipation of Laguna. 99' car with new 3.4 and new Guard GT diff set 50/80. I was very careful with the motor and diff car for the first 2 sessions maxing out at 5,500 RPM's. I pushed a bit more in the 3rd session taking the car deeper and deeper into the turns. Even knowing how great these diffs are I was still impressed with how stable and forgiving it was under heavy/late braking into the corners. Other than shearing off a motor mount bolt and almost dropping my new motor the car ran great. It's just like a real Cup Car only slower. Looking forward to Laguna...

[galis]

Another benefit of trail braking is that it often helps settle the car during the transition from straight to corner

I definitely hear that, but unless there is *another* corner immediately following, any gain in my soho 944 stability is lost in the speed. All the rotation stuff is way outta my league. but as wonky as it sounds, I'm sure I could make use of a left and right hand break to feather the front and tighten the springs...