Introducing brakes

[Jack Roderick]

Hi.

I've recently bought myself a yz2 dt and been putting the hours in at my local outdoor track in all weathers to get some of that hard to find talent. I'm finally reaching a point where the crashes are becoming much less frequent and I can rack up some relatively consistent lap times without silly accidents happening.

I've still got a LONG way to go before I'm either competitive or fast as I've only done one indoor race and due to work commitments havnt made any other meeting just yet. My question is this, what is the best way to introduce breaking into my driving?? So far I find myself just trying to be smooth and almost coasting into corners which I can imagine is a very slow technique compared to you fast drivers.

Is there a common adjustment the majority use whilst learning ie dual rate, exp, alb or is it a case of just getting a feel for it and spend a while locking the rear end up and looking like a fool as you turn back around for the corner ??

Thanks in advance for any tips.

[richm]

ive always set the braking on the speedo to max and then adjusted the braking strength using the EPA (End Point Adjustment) on the transmitter.
I try and set the EPA so that the tyres arent locking up at the heaviest breaking point.
my current speedo (Corally) also has brake rate adjustment which i adjust according to the grip levels.


when you steer after braking is important too. if you do them both at the same time, you will generally spin out.

I have noticed looking at the top drivers how slowly they move their finger / thumb on the throttle. and that they dont automatically go to full brakes when they are braking, but i still dont have the skill to do that just yet.

[J77MYF]

It will come with time. I can remember when I didn't use them very often and now I use them a lot. As Richm has said, I set my brakes up to the track in practice by adjusting them with the EPA setting in my transmitter. I want them to slow me down as much as possible without locking the rear wheels up. Practice makes perfect.

[Jack Roderick]

Ok perfect I'll give that a go next time I'm practicing, that's certainly my current problem. The rear wheels just lock up so it's not very practical. Do you guys use drag break much?

[mattr]

I've done a mismash of the two actually. I've set the ESC brake level to the highest level i can (sort of) stay in control on a high grip surface, carpet with prepped slicks or nice dry astro. Then used EPA to tweak that further, if its wet, old tyres, dusty carpet etc.

(Full brakes on one of my 4wds was enough to get the car to flip. And full throttle was enough to keep it on the back wheels for the entire 20+ m of the back straight..................... hours of sketchy fun. Until the driveshafts started snapping)

And drag brake, not very much. But again, depends on the surface. On astro or dirt i've found the car slows down at a reasonable rate without drag. On carpet. Not so much!
Also, too much drag brake *can* upset the car in the air.

[J77MYF]

Originally Posted by Jack Roderick

Ok perfect I'll give that a go next time I'm practicing, that's certainly my current problem. The rear wheels just lock up so it's not very practical. Do you guys use drag break much?

I use drag brake but only a small amount. Some people don't use it at all and others do

[Jack Roderick]

My brake strength is at 75% and my drag brake is 10% ok esc. I've set a trim up on my handset for dual rate so I can play with setting the strength relatively low and get to grips with it. Thanks for all your tips gents I reckon I'll be good for a world title in a couple of weeks haha.

[mrspeedy]

I don't get on with drag brake .. I find it tends to slow you down in places you don't actually want to go slow in !! .. and the 10% setting you have is quite strong !! Zero always for me ... I use max brakes and then readjust EPA to suit ... usually around 75% .. and less if its wet ...

I also race in GT12 where its often the norm to set the car up so that you don't use the brakes at all ... and can be very easy to drive and quite effective ..