Pretend this is a road. Does that look to be the approxmiate racing line for this scenario?

 

Same here, look about right?

 

Not enough information.

The idea is to pick a line that both allows you to get through the corner as quickly as possible, but also to carry the highest speed onto the next straight (assuming you aren't forced to brake to early on entry). The incoming and outgoing straighaways will help you determine the best line through the turn...

 

Assuming they were just straight roads before and after the curves.

I'm trying to write an article about the racing line and late apex and so forth.

 

Check out Brian Beckman's Physics of Racing articles. They're a really good insight in to what the car's doing under there. It's written for the average guy to understand, but there are some pretty advanced concepts in there.

oh, yeah, he's a 'Vette racer, so that's the model he uses for the problems, which translate in to F-body pretty well.

You want to look at 'Slow in, Fast out' for the information you
want

 

What direction is the car moving?

 

I only have one turn to deal with and it's at the end of the track.

I think the less arc you have to make or greater radius, the better the cornering will be. G-forces are trying to push you out while the car is trying to turn back in. Changing the curve to reduce the G-force will allow the car to go straighter without fighting the outward force.

Cutting a corner sharp is a short turn radius. If you take the corner wide the radius is greater and it's easier to get around the corner but the distance will also be greater.

Using a compass you should be able to create arcs along different planes through the corner. The current paths look close to the best route but it depends on a few factors that you just can't put to paper. Speed of the vehicle? Does it have under or over steer? When is braking done? When is the throttle applied coming out? This is assuming the pavement is dry and the tires don't slide because of the wrong tire compounds.

2 cars going at different speeds will take different lines around a corner. You'll see Indy street cars do that all the time. One brakes slightly later than another and is able to pass around a corner because it takes a different line.

 

they look like lines i would take when playing Gran Turismo III...

 

LOL... that's pretty sad because that's just about what I based those on....


I understand fairly well how the racing line works and I agree that there are many missing factors, but I'm just trying to make some diagrams to give people an idea what I'm saying when I write this article for http://www.motorsportconnect.com .

SpeedCat, thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

 

Update: Here's what the article turned out to be.

http://www.motorsportconnect.com/fea...ew.asp?id=2047

I hope it's accurate enough. I'm sure it will suffice enough to get the basic idea across... what do you think?