If you try to brake hard and corner at the same time, it will be pretty easy to lock the inside rear wheel and start a spin. Even the sudden removal of power from a front wheel drive car in mid corner can initialize a spin.

It is possible to brake gently in corner and keep control. But in case of an emergency in the mid corner, a driver is force to brake hard, loss of control is much more likely than if the driver was braking in a straight line. It is always safe for the driver to brake before the corner than halfway round the corner.

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The best braking deceleration is generally considered as 1g. 1g is the retardation due to gravity if you throw a stone into the air. More fierce braking (1.0g – 1.2g) than this is possible for some cars as tires key into road surface than rub across.

Thinking distance (reaction distance) plus braking distance is the recommended stopping distance. The Highway Code assumes that the reaction time of an average driver is 0.7 seconds to think and then the driver can operate the brake pedal. The reaction time for a driver at 30 mph is 30 feet, 40 feet at 40 mph etc. A car at 30 mph stops in 30 feet while braking at 1g.  In order for a gradual build-up to maximum braking in practice, the Highway Code distances are calculated at 0.7g (43 feet from 30 mph). With 0.25 second reaction time and good road car brakes, a racing car driver might stop from 30 mph in 11 + 25 = 37 feet, while with 1 second reaction time and normal car braked, an older person would need 44 + 43 = 87 feet.

Increase of  braking distance is as speed x speed – so 43 feet from 30 mph is 172 feet from 60 mph. So it is always recommended to keep your safe distance from the car in your front. While traveling on fast roads, the safest is to leave at least two seconds between the car in front and your own car passing the same spot. It needs to be more if the road is slippery.

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The third phase can be considered as the end of the braking zone, when the car has been slowed to near it desired final speed. Smoothen the braking force as much as possible by gradually releasing the pressure off the brake pedal making the transition from full to zero. While braking, the available traction of the front tires is increased, due to heavy load on the front. Suddenly releasing the brakes will abruptly reduce the load thus by decreasing the traction potential of the front tires, which is needed for turning into the corner at this point.

The one point where the car will be the most sensitive is at the turn-in. It is simply because of the sudden weight transfer transition and the driver will feed as though he is being driving on ice. Indecisive braking results in a last second extra tap, or an immediate release of the brake pedal will unsettle the car’s handling. This will force the driver to slow down again to gain control and hopefully avoid a spin. Towards the end of the braking zone, the driver can ease off the brake pedal. The driver will have to throttle to some extend to reach a steady state of neither acceleration nor deceleration. The steady throttle zone will vary according to the shape of the turn. But with a typical late-apex corner, it will be from the turn-in to just before the apex.

Related posts:

1. Left Foot Braking
2. Braking and Accelerating
3. Winter Driving