It’s not all about pure power and top speed – adjusting you brake bias can can have a dramatic effect on your race pace. Find out how in our video.
Photo credit: ChampionJoe / KUNOS Simulazioni
Do you ever find yourself in a car that is theoretically faster than your opponents’, but you’re still unable to keep up? Well, there might be another way to gain those extra few tenths of a second – by tweaking the brake bias. Check out the video to discover how a few fine adjustments could catapult you up the grid.
What exactly is brake bias?
“Brake bias” is a term that crops up regularly in sim racing, but its precise meaning might have eluded you. Quite simply, the brake bias determines how much braking force is applied to the front brakes in contrast to the rear – so a setting of 50% will use the front and rear brakes an equal amount. However, there is no single setting that works for every track and car combination. External factors such as the gradient of the track, the weather conditions and even the dynamics of the car can also play a role, making this setting tricky to perfect.
Finding the perfect compromise
For our experiment, we took the Maserati Gran Turismo from the GT4 class, as this vehicle is not equipped with ABS. Pushing the bias towards the front caused the front tyres to lock up and the car to head straight on. However, pushing it to the rear locked the rear tyres, leading to an uncontrollable slide and a big crash. This explains why most cars have a frontal preference as a default setting – it is far easier to save the situation if it all starts to go wrong.
With this information in mind, it’s time to drive a lap in your car of choice and see where the problem areas are. Once these are clear, tweak the brake bias settings gradually and incrementally until you achieve a feeling that suits you. The trick here is to find a compromise – no setting will work for every corner. Alternatively, you can adjust the settings on the fly on a corner-by-corner basis. With a bit of perseverance, the car will be easier to drive and your lap times should tumble.
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