You'll start to think that i'm obsessed with brakes

A question really.

When braking for a corner on the track and heeling and toeing to rev match, do you go down through the gears or skip a gear.

On passenger rides i've had, i've noticed drivers doing both, some going down through the gears, some going 4-2 etc. I tend to go through each gear, using the engine braking as well as the brakes to slow the car. But that does make for somewhat busy driving as there's a lot going on just before the corner.

Some people seem to go 4-2 etc whilst heel and toeing, but i'm always worried they'll over rev on the change down.

Just interested on your views and techniques.

 

I've always skipped gears and used heel and toe.

For example, the end of the long straight and Beford when you have the tight left hand hairpin.

I don't always get the rev match pefect, but there is no time to go down through all the gears if you brake late.

 

You're one of the people i was specifically thinking of for skipping gears

You do it at the end of the straight at Donignton too.

Are you not worried about over revving?

Your right about there not being much time to go through the gears. That's what i mean by it feeling somewhat busy.

 

I've never been worried about over revving to be honest.

I use this technique where a long straight ends with a tight corner. In which case selecting the wrong gear (typically second) is nigh on impossible.

So the only other risk is engaging the gear too early. However if you leave the change to just before you turn in, this should not be an issue.

I hope I've just not cursed myself!!!

 

I always use all the gears (on the road too). I kind of think you should be in the right gear as often as possible and if you say go from 4th to 2nd there's a period when you're in 4th but going too slow for 4th.

Plus 4th to 2nd is harder to do, and I'd be worried about ending up in neutral (as I seem to do anyway from time to time in this car).

But I take the point: if your brakes are good enough you might just be giving yourself more work with little benefit.

 

It will be interesting to get some expert advice on this.

MarkB?

 

I'm not an expert but I do go through all the gears. ABS won't let you lock up the tyres, but the diff can.

 

If you're having any engine braking then you aren't using the brakes hard enough. Unless you have sh1t brakes, there should be NO engine braking involved if you are wanting to slow down as quick as poss.

You may use some engine braking through some sweeping corners, just to shave off a little time without unsettling the car that using the brakes might induce.

Go from the gear you are in, to the gear you want to be in. Going through the gears is just wasting time, causes unecessary wear on gears that you aren't using anyway, you are also bringing into the equation more things to go wrong as well as well as wearing components that are more expensive than brake pads. New brake pads/discs are FAR cheaper to fix than engines, gearboxes, clutches and diffs.

Basically, gears to go, brakes to slow.

 

This was always drummed into my head, as recently as the last Honda MAC course, just make sure when you change down your speed matches the gear selected, had too many head off the windscreen events at trackdays(as a passenger) when the hairpin entry speed didn't match the gear selected.
In short, one thing at a time, brake, then change gear, just make sure its the right one for the corner exit.?

 

I work on the basis that if you are going down through the gears the engine is doing work and therefore picking up some of the load of braking, thus reducing the load of the brakes a bit.

Brakes and pads are cheaper than engines etc, but this is track work we're talking about, not normal road driving.