The 5 Biggest Driving Technique Myths

Myths spread because, on the surface, they often seem to make sense.  The racing world most likely has so many of these myths because not only are they often born from good basic advice, but also because of the massive influence driving skill has on lap times.  A suboptimal racing line driven perfectly will almost always beat an ideal racing line driven poorly.  This has allowed some of these less than ideal techniques to evolve into supposed truths that are in fact, not.  I spend a good deal of time helping drivers unlearn these "truths," so in this article I'll go over the five big ones that you hear repeated over and over.  Hopefully this will help some newer drivers skip the unlearning part and go straight to the learning.

​myth
/miTH/
   noun​
       A widely held but false belief or idea.

I want to offer fair warning that some of these are not lightweight myths.  You've read them in books, seen them in videos, and heard them from famous drivers.  When first explaining the science behind these myths to some veteran drivers, you would have thought I kicked them in their carburetor.  But watching that literal eureka moment when someone finally understands something after decades of performance driving makes it all worth it. 

​For that eureka moment to take place though, a driver must bring with them their most important learning tool, an open and critical thinking mind.  To quote the famous leather trench coated figure "I can only show you the door.  You're the one that has to walk through it."   So after reading this article, I also recommend you watch our video Four Elements of a Perfect Corner for a more in depth look at the science behind these myths.    

#1 - The Geometric line is the fastest Line through a single corner

You might have heard before that the fastest way to go through a single isolated corner is by driving a geometric (circular) line.  I'm not sure where this one started, but I think it's a perfect example of why myths spread.  Intuitively, it seems to makes sense.  But dig into this one just a little bit and it falls apart quite quickly.   That makes this a good myth to test the credibility of a source with.   If someone tells you this one, not only does it mean that they don't understand the physics of racing, but also they haven't put what they are teaching to the test.  Even if you don't understand the reasoning why,  the most basic of data systems can quickly show you this myth is not true.   Not only is a geometric line not faster through a single corner, it's actually a good bit slower.    In comparison to an ideal line (baseline in the below illustration) the geometric line's main problems are that not only is it longer, but it also requires a lower average speed.  In comparison, the fastest line through a single corner has a decreasing and then increasing radius.  It's shorter, and faster.

#2 - You should Check your speed at corner exit

You often hear that a good way to gauge your performance in a corner is by checking your speed at corner exit.  This is an old one and it's easy to see where this myth came from.  Before the widespread availability of data systems with split times, a driver had little to go on but a speedometer (or tachometer) when working up a corner.   So they used what they had and it works fairly well as a basic indicator of performance.  For a more novice driver, an improving exit speed means they are most likely doing the corner better.   Once a driver starts to achieve a reasonably ideal corner exit however, continuing to focus on simply increasing exit speed can start to produce not only less than ideal techniques such as super late apexes, but also confusion and frustration.  The driver's exit speeds could still be increasing, but their lap times may be stagnating or even getting worse. This is because exit speed, or actually,  the speed achieved at any certain position on the track is not what is important.   What matters is the amount of time it takes to achieve that speed from the point you hit the brakes at the beginning of the corner.  On a racetrack, it is time that matters.

#3 - Get on the throttle as early as possible

This next myth is another one that starts with good basic advice, but has been taken too far to a false conclusion.   Many rookie drivers, in an effort to go fast, end up carrying so much speed into a corner that they aren't able to get back to throttle until very late in a corner.  Getting the corner exit right is so crucial to lap times that some good basic advice here is the old standby "slow in, fast out" which is absolutely true.  As the beginning driver starts to accelerate earlier and earlier in the corner, their times will drop.  This can be taken too far however, as some drivers start to believe you should begin accelerating as early as possible in the  corner, before the apex.  This belief is widespread enough that we even have a name for it.  We call it the super late apex myth.

This myth is related to the previous myth because driving a line with a super late apex will increase your exit speed.  The problem is that this requires a longer line and the net result ends up being a slower time.  Typically what happens with a super late apex is that while the acceleration point is earlier in position on track, it ends up being at nearly the same point in time as an ideal line.  So while the super late apex line allows a higher speed at the corner exit position,  at the same point in time, a car driving an ideal line will already be further down the track, but also already at that higher speed.
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In comparison, the ideal acceleration point is going to be at an apex along the inside of the track.  This is actually one good way to evaluate your driving.  If the point you reach minimum speed where you begin accelerating is not along the inside of the track, you can potentially gain time by adjusting your line.

#4 - the Racing Line is the Same for All cars

You don't hear this myth as much as some others, but we've heard it enough and it's a significant enough misconception that I think it belongs on this list.   It's also another one that starts with good intentions, but falls apart if taken as a literal driving principle.  When a newer driver gets to a track, they are generally very interested in learning THE racing line.  I don't then hand them a stack of driving books and say,  "Well, it depends."  Instead, I teach them a basic racing line.  The ideal line is actually ever changing, and top drivers are essentially creating their own line as they drive.  This however, requires either a good bit of knowledge and training, or a boatload of natural talent.  To most people who are just stepping into the world of motorsport, although not technically correct, following a basic racing line will make a huge difference in their lap times.  They can read the books when they get home.

This myth also most likely stems from the fact that the ideal line for practically every car will look very similar from trackside.  The below illustration shows the spectrum of apexes that almost all cars will fall between.  If you watched a Formula 1 car and a Ford Pinto go through a corner, the paths they took would be relatively close. To some it may look like there really is just one racing line.  But although the paths will be close, they are not the same, and when you are searching for that last second, those small differences are where you will find that time.

#5 - The length of the straight before or after a corner affects the optimum line

It's often said that the ideal line is influenced by the length of the straight that precedes or follows a corner.  This is actually not true.

An isolated corner is optimized the same way whether it leads into or follows a one foot or a one mile straight.   This is similar to our previous myths because a key thing to understand is that the ideal line through a corner is the one that is the most efficient from a physics standpoint.  There is no wasted force.   While we've learned you can increase the speed that you enter the straightaway by biasing your acceleration point earlier,  it is only at the expense of a slower time through the corner.  The total time taken to complete the corner and straight will be higher than the combination of an ideal cornering line and straight because it is a less efficient use of force.  

The biased cornering line is less efficient because you are essentially optimizing the corner for a false apex.  In the illustration below you can see how the driver is trying to increase straightaway speed by accelerating earlier.  Their minimum speed where they go to throttle is out in the middle of the track before an ideal apex would be.  Actually however, all they've done is optimized the corner as if the inside of the track has been moved toward them by several feet.  They've created a false apex and made the corner tighter than it really is.    By reaching a minimum speed away from the inside of the track in an effort to increase speed either coming into or going out of a corner, this is exactly what's happening.

I hope you enjoyed this article.  For a more in-depth look at everything discussed as well as much more physics of racing, make sure to check out The Science of Speed Series, starting with The Perfect Corner, available in paperback or ePub.​

​by Adam Brouillard