braking & handbraking at same time

[Clark Kent]

does it increase the overall braking force? Are there any negatives to using this when you want to slow down quickly in a straight line? sorry im a noob

[Raffi]

It is dependent on the setting of the brake force distribution (brake bias) and the suspension settings. If the braking force has been placed forward and the suspension is set too soft in the front, the handbrake will not help much since the rear axle is relieved during braking. In a balanced setup it can help to reduce the braking distance.

[Clark Kent]

Originally posted by Raffi:

It is dependent on the setting of the brake force distribution (brake bias) and the suspension settings. If the braking force has been placed forward and the suspension is set too soft in the front, the handbrake will not help much since the rear axle is relieved during braking. In a balanced setup it can help to reduce the braking distance.

okay thanks

[mr. z]

I think it's somewhat bugged as using the handbrake does not spin the car, for instance in Sweden helping you not to spin.

[laff]

Just tune the car and increase braking force and slam on those brakes. You don't have to worry about losing control, this game's very unrealistic in its braking.

[laff]

Originally posted by sipppe:

I think it's somewhat bugged as using the handbrake does not spin the car, for instance in Sweden helping you not to spin.

There are a lot of bugs in this game. That's what happens with unfinished early access games which see rushed updates to appease forum spamming cry babies.

[MaddDoktor [Linux]]

If you disable all assists it is possible to lock up the brakes and slide, maybe not in the direction you intended to go. Using brakes and handbrake is not going to stop you any faster than just using the brake unless your brake bias is way off.

With assists off, the handbrake can be used to induce oversteer to get the rear of the car to swing out for hairpin turns, but that takes perfect timing to not do it too soon (before the turn) or too much (spin). You would not use that on dry pavement like Germany. And there are other ways to get a car to turn in with spring and swaybar adjustments. For example softening adds grip to that end of car and stiffening reduces grip. So softening front springs or bar or stiffening rear springs or bar will turn in better, if you know how to manage or correct for oversteer in higher speed turns.

[Rookie-31st]

Originally posted by Clark Kent:

does it increase the overall braking force? Are there any negatives to using this when you want to slow down quickly in a straight line? sorry im a noob

Handbrake usually locks rear wheels which usually has dual effect: increases braking distance due to loss of traction and prevents vehicle from maintaining straight line for mainly same reason. So, the answer is NO, if you are trying to brake quickly while maintaining straight line, do NOT use handbrake.

The best way to brake quickly while maintaining straight line is setting brake bias to front and enableing ABS, or otherwise exercise caution to prevent wheel lock

[cjl9]

"You would not use that on dry pavement like Germany."

Umm...yes you would, and I do.

I certainly used the handbrake on the tarmac road rallies I did in the UK in the '70s.

[a basic bitch]

The handbrake locks all 4 wheels on most cars (even ones that should only have rear-activated handbrake, that's the real bug). The normal brake only locks the wheels if you're applying enough force to do so.

You use the brakes to shift the weight forward, to slow down, or to adjust your drift angle (usually to stabilize the car if already mid-drift).

You use the handbrake to lock the wheels after you've already gained some sideways momentum, to keep the car sliding without really slowing down.

Using both at the same time is not going to make the car behave much differently than holding the brake pedal to the floor. (this is because for some reason the handbrake seems to lock all 4 wheels, not just the rear)

[Clark Kent]

thanks all you guys for the advice, a lot of things make more sense to me now

[MaddDoktor [Linux]]

Originally posted by cjlloyd:

"You would not use that on dry pavement like Germany."

Umm...yes you would, and I do.

I certainly used the handbrake on the tarmac road rallies I did in the UK in the '70s.

I guess I am used to ineffective American parking brakes (often foot operated) that would do nothing if you had grip, or might unsettle the car if it did work, compared with running the optimum racing line on a paved track. I have won time real trials on wide open 2 mile road racing tracks with 1989 T-bird V6 automatic (140 hp pushing 4000 lbs) and 1995 Maxima SE 5-spd. And I have run 20 minute untimed track sessions in my 2012 MazdaSpeed3 (turbo 6-spd) where I could not quite catch the Corvette in front of me, but Corvette behind me did not not catch me either. Stock brakes on the Speed3 are amazing (no fade at all).

One time I was at a slalom event (set up with traffic cones) at Converse, Indiana airport (a mile circle of concrete to land a small plane in any direction) with the 89 T-bird. A thunder storm was coming, so I quickly replaced my racing tires with street tires and forgot to release my parking brake. After driving 20-30 miles in the rain I came to a pickup truck towing a hay wagon slowing for railroad tracks, went to hit the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. My first thought was emergency brake, then I realized that was the reason the brake fluid was boiling. But after slaloming all weekend, I drove up on the grass strip next to the road and missed hitting the hay wagon or RR sign. I found a place to stop gradually and had to let the brakes cool for 30 minutes before I could release the parking brake.

[cjl9]

My last rally car was an ex-works Ford Escort Mk 1 RS1600 - LVX 947 J

That had a hydraulic handbrake! That worked really well, when I did use it. The car was originally designed as a Monte Carlo car: cheater bodyshell that had been through the acid tank to reduce weight!