I had a race yesterday and i didnt have a battle for my position so i had time to think and test some things out. I was just thinking that whats the fastest way to entry a corner. If you use the whole width of the track to open up the radius of the turn, it means you have to go on the curb. Well curb has less grip than asphalt, so its easy for the tyres on the curb to lock up. To prevent this you have to lower the brakes max pressure. So you have to brake earlier. But then if you dont go on the curb you can brake later. In that case the turn is tighter so you have to turn more. So which one is faster way? Personally i think that the curb doesnt open the turn so much that it would be worth it to brake earlier.
What do you guys think?

I think it depends on your setup, your ability, your driving style and the specific corner (e.g. do you want to maximise exit speed, or is it part of a chicane that would benefit from sacrificing some speed into the first part for speed out of the second).

Too complex for a single answer I'm afraid.

If he's talking of a normal corner... tires lock up?! While eventually hitting the curbs I'm on the gas again.

Quote from 5tag :

If he's talking of a normal corner... tires lock up?! While eventually hitting the curbs I'm on the gas again.

no i dont mean the inside curb at the middle of the corner. I mean the curb on the outside before the corner. Like in blackwood when brakin to that turn 4 after the straight.

Sometimes the best way to enter a corner is to keep the car balanced. I.e., braking a little bit earlier and less as opposed to the latest theoretical point. If your car unsettles because of locked brakes, or so sudden weight transfer that it tends to under/oversteer it can be better to cool it off a little bit.

In a race, imo, being able to drive fast laps consistently is far more important than pushing for an uber-fast lap that you'll get one time in twenty, and are half a sec slower than usual on the rest of the 19 laps. So, what am I saying? Take BL1 T1 or T4. It's better to take the optimum line (which allows you to accelerate asap) without locking up. Instead of lowering your overall max brake power, just don't brake so hard in that one corner.

A possible solution for the less grip on the rumble strip is to break heavily while on the track, then when you want to lessen the break pressure, you can hop onto the curb to open up the radius.

I've not had any problems with that though. The only problems I have is upsetting the car's balance while I'm on some raised or oddly angled curbs.

Well, driving in the curb just before turning in can be beneficial, since as you said the curb have less grip. In that case, you can get a slight oversteer with your rear outside tire sliding lightly there which will improve turn in, and the tire will gain grip again on the road.

IMHO, having a setup that never locks the brake is not going to be helpful when it's time to improve. As a matter of fact, a brake setup that lock the wheels will make you have to simulate an ABS, or to find the threshold poit, which is always beneficial for your training Your motions will becomre faster and sharper after

Mmmm... Try to apex as late as possible, dig deep into the corner... so that when you hit the apex, you aren't on the curb.

He's not talking about the apex kerb, but the entry kerb.

First, the more you use the road on entry and exit has a direct impact on how much speed you can carry through the corner and also how late you can brake and how early you can get back on throttle.

In lfs (i think) the kerbs have as much grip as the tarmac so in that respect always use kerb on entry unless it has a shape that unsettles the car to much.

In most cases you should not be using the kerb if it unsettles the car. Also the benefit of using all the road and kerbs is questionable if you need to brake earlier.

It depends a lot about what car and what corner. Generally I'd say that the slower the corner the later the apex but that's still leaves lot out of the equation as the important bit is what is after the corner, along straight (likely in lfs) or another turn...

Quote from tristancliffe :

He's not talking about the apex kerb, but the entry kerb.

I avoid the entry curb at all cost

(we are talking about hairpins right?)

(AKA: turns that are more then 90 degrees)

Quote from ssm :

(we are talking about hairpins right?)

I think we are speaking in a general way

Yup, we're talking in general. But his examples tend to be about T3 at Blackwood (at the end of the back straight).

If it is the end of that long straight, then I just try to stay as close to the left as possible and then brake and heel toe down to third, then I go off from 4k to redline and then shift back to 4th.

My apex for that end up being very deep past the exit of the corner. I never actually need to step on the curb while under lateral G. So it doesn't matter if there is grip there or not.