Racing question i have never heard of before, It actually exists and is banned from F1! Options

[tazz9924]

So. I own a baja bug and a popular off road upgrade for it is a cutting/ turning brake. My question is why arnt these used in road racing as an alternative for left foot braking? this would direct braking force torwards the inside wheel(s) and may allow for faster and tighter cornering.

(Edit): I found that mclaren used a system similar to this in 97-98 in F1 and is a system currently employed in modern mclaren road cars. Instead of a grab handle it was a switchable 3rd pedal to the left of the brake pedal (they dont have clutches) Conservative estimates say it was good for .3 seconds a lap! It was banned from F1 on the grounds that it was a 4 wheel steering system. More info can be found here: http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/...e-steer-mclaren

[GregAmy]

The (somewhat) quick answer: rear wheel turning brakes are only used in conditions with low lateral grip: ice, sand, dirt, rallying, etc. Its intention is to generate excessive slip angle in the rear tires to get the car to rotate, to slide or "drift", without making the front tires slide. Once you get the vehicle sideways you can open the steering and use the forward grip and engine torque to drive the car toward the center of the corner radius (and thus go around the corner) instead of using tire lateral grip (that you don't have).

This technique in a high lateral grip situation would make the car slower. In this situation, far more energy is wasted in sliding across a high-grip surface than is gained by the technique.