Rich I'll re-post one we baked earlier on TCS.
An expanded piece on driving without TCS (Traction control system).
As we move to lower assists some drivers have asked for more info on driving without TCS.
Definitely need to have assists off to get any feedback in a setup/testing session. TCS and ABS will both just hide poor setup.
If you think about sitting in a car weighing 650KG with 745HP in a car park with your steering wheel turned and flattening the throttle and imagine what would happen....
Then think about reducing steering lock to 20% and feathering (slight use of)the throttle. The difference between the two is throttle control.
Corner Exit:The more steering lock you have “wound on” and the slower you are going the greater the propensity for wheel-spin. TCS will manage this by taking off power the moment there is a hint of wheel-spin. For you to drive well without TCS the key skill really is to manage a progressive throttle application. If you stomp on the throttle with the wheel turned you will get wheel spin and possibly a slide. In essence you gradually/progressively apply throttle as you wind off steering lock. As your wheel straightens the foot goes down. It is really a movement that is linked as if by an invisible piece of string. This is why Walter Rohrls’ brilliant mental picture of a piece of string works so well.
In your head there is a piece of string tied from the bottom of the steering wheel to the big toe of your throttle foot. So you can only access full throttle when the wheel is straight. Automatically as you straighten the wheel exiting a corner your string gets longer allowing more throttle.
Another mental image could be: 1[SUP]st[/SUP] gear 30% throttle, 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear. 60 %, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] gear 90%, 4[SUP]th[/SUP] gear 100%.
If we want to get even more precise and technically correct the aero down-force influence starts to kick in as speed picks up. By 5[SUP]th[/SUP] gear the string is replaced by elastic, by 6[SUP]th[/SUP] gear it’s not there at all. Hence Eau Rouge you can have near full lock at full throttle in 6[SUP]th[/SUP]-7[SUP]th[/SUP] at 250kph.
Another interesting phenomenon is where you might in a fast corner wind off lock temporarily to allow more throttle/acceleration then as aero influence kicks in wind on more lock. This happens in Spa corner 10-11 “Pouhon”. Under full fuel approaching in 6[SUP]th[/SUP] gear I will brake at about 75 metres and downshift to 4[SUP]th[/SUP]. Once getting good turn in, feed in more throttle on slight lock and as corner opens in 5[SUP]th[/SUP] give full throttle then 6[SUP]th[/SUP] at corner exit with full lock. The higher speed gradually allows more lock due to aero influence (and in a small way centrifugal effect of the wheels).
So in essence you have to develop a connection between the movements of your hands and of your feet. Here follows the section in the F1 2010 Advanced Drivers Guide that also deals with it albeit briefly.
- Exit. The simplest and least cerebral part where you benefit from your good work in braking and apex phase. At this point you want to get the power down as fast as possible without breaking traction. The car will accelerate faster with minimum steering lock so once past apex allow the car to drift as wide as possible under throttle. If you leave track remaining unused outside you it means you could have carried more speed in corner or applied throttle earlier or harder or used less steering input on exit. All of these actions will net more speed. Exiting slow corners one must be mindful of avoiding wheel spin. This is because of the extra acceleration available in lower gears and the reduction in aero down force at lower speeds. In faster corners you can apply throttle more aggressively. The co-efficient of adhesion is higher than that of friction so wheel spin costs time. When dealing with throttle application a good mental image is that of a piece of string tied to the bottom of the steering wheel and your big toe. As you wind off lock your big toe is freed to apply more throttle.
