(HTBABD P67-70)

"Brake on the straights - steer on the bends"

When cornering, three factors must be considered.

1.    Information needs.

2.    Safety.

3.    Reducing the tightness of the bend

Various and strong dynamic forces are brought into play by accelerating, braking and cornering and maximum stability is achieved only when a vehicle is travelling in a straight line and is neither accelerating or braking.

The three forces of accelerating, braking and cornering inherently make the vehicle unstable for the following reasons;

1.    Accelerating pushes most of the weight to the back of the car and over the rear wheels.  This is why the accelerator pedal should be used with extra care when pulling away up a hill.  In this instance even more weight is transferred to the back, steering becomes light and the front wheels are more likely to spin.

2.    Braking pushes the weight to the front making the rear very light.  Under firm braking the steering becomes heavy and the rear tyres are more likely to lose their grip and break away.

3.    Cornering produces a host of varying unstable diagonal forces on a vehicle.  A look at how rally cars tend to slide when cornering gives some idea of the complex dynamics taking place.  Braking and cornering together complicates these forces even more as one front wheel takes all the weight whilst the opposite rear wheel loses contact altogether.

So, having taken up the correct position when approaching a bend, first get the speed for the hazard, then get the gear for the speed, then steer.  Remember; "SPEED - GEAR - STEER" in that order!

Camber and super-elevation play major roles in instability of a vehicle when cornering and so it's important to identify at an early stage what sort of surface you are dealing with and be prepared to run the System again.