Q: “What does ‘squaring a corner off’ mean, and when should I use it?”
In a piece I wrote a few weeks ago about driving in the rain I linked to an in-car video (The Art & Science of Racing in the Rain) where I mentioned “squaring off the corner” more than once. And that has led to more than a few people asking what I mean by that.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, see the attached image.
Rather than a typical round arc turning in (the black line), there’s more of a sharp point at the “corner of the square” (red line). I don’t know who originally coined that term, and it might make sense to define it in a different way, but that’s the common way of describing it.
Squaring a corner is often used on a wet track because you spend more time driving in a straight line, and typically (but not always) tires have more longitudinal (braking and acceleration) grip than lateral (cornering) traction. What often works best in the rain is driving the track like it’s a series of drag strips: drive deep into a corner, slow it right down, turn the car sharply so it’s pointing almost straight out of the corner, and stand on the throttle; then do the same thing at the next corner.
To be clear, this is not necessarily the only or fastest way to drive on a wet track, but it certainly can be. It’s this squaring off of the corner that results in spending the most time driving in straight lines.
I know what you’re thinking: Squaring a corner off is simply turning in and apexing late. Yup, you’re right, that’s all it is.
Like almost everything in driving, this is not a black and white, on-off kind of thing. You can square a corner a little bit more than your usual line, but it doesn’t have to be a drastic change in line. Square the corner just right, and you’ll get better acceleration out of a corner, and possibly be faster overall; done too much and you’ll be too slow at the point of the square (the minimum speed point in the corner) and not be able to make up the loss through better acceleration. As always, there’s a compromise.
This technique is not used exclusively in the rain, as you can square off a corner in the dry, too.
Q: “Can you elaborate on what is referred to as ‘min speed’?”
Defining “min speed” is easy: It’s the minimum speed, the slowest speed you get to in a corner.
Why does min speed matter? Answer this question and you’ll understand: Would you rather start to accelerate out of a corner from a min speed of, let’s say, 60 MPH or 62 MPH? Obviously, if you’re able to go to power at the exact same place exiting a corner, starting from a higher speed is a good thing, as your straightline speed will be faster.
That is why so many drivers spend so much time working on improving their min speed. But, as you know, if your min speed is too high it could delay when you’re able to begin applying the throttle, which will mean a slower speed down the next straightaway.
But here’s the thing: It’s not just what your min speed is, it’s also where it is and how long you spend at it.
Your min speed can be early in a corner, late in a corner, or somewhere in between. So, which is right? Yup. It depends. As a very general guideline, corners that reward exit speed (ones leading onto straightaways) also reward an early min speed. A later (not necessarily a late one, just later) min speed can work in corners with little to no straightaway afterward.
The final piece of the puzzle is the length of time you spend at min speed. Again, as a general guideline, faster corners tend to have longer duration min speed; tight, slow corners do well with as short a min speed period as possible.
Min speed. What it is, where it is, and how long you spend at it. That’s what it’s all about… and I’ll write more about it in the near future.
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I drove in the rain last Saturday in a PCA event. My instructor told me to square off the corners. It worked really well!
Have two of your books, outstanding!
Just curious if you are aware of a data aq system that will give you predictive lap +/- compared to the reference lap but with individual segments so that you see just the individual segments. Predictive lap data gets ruined for the entire lap when you hit traffic. If they did it segment by segment it would reset and be useful regardless of what happened three turns prior.
Thanks
brad