Prima Games Need for Speed: Pro Street, EN 0761558497 User Manual

10

This much more 
advanced cousin 
of straight-line 
braking is difficult 
to learn and 
even harder to 
master. It involves 
delaying braking 
until you are past 
the turn entry and 
then continuing 

to brake through the turn to the apex, where you begin to 
accelerate out of the remainder of the corner.
As opposed to straight-line braking, trail braking doesn’t 
split up the technique into braking and cornering. Instead, 
it overlaps them—the driver brakes and corners at the 
same time to allow for a higher turn entry speed. Using this 
technique involves a whole heap of physics that we don’t 
cover here, but if it’s done correctly, it’s very effective.
 

Essentially, the trick is to not force your car to drift 

while braking through the turn. Learn your car’s handling 
well enough to know its braking threshold so you know 
how hard to brake without causing it to understeer and 
slide into the far wall or even worse, right through a 
roadside barrier. Furthermore, trail braking will benefit your 
performance little if used on occasional corners. It’s more 
of a “big picture” benefit that, if applied to every turn on a 
track, can pare seconds off your lap time. 

O

N

 

MANUAL

 

TRANSMISSIONS

, 

GEARING

 

DOWN

 

ONCE

 

SLOWS

 

THE

 

ENGINE

 

AND

 

DECREASES

 

THE

 

VEHICLE

’

S

 

SPEED

. 

E

XCESSIVE

 

DOWNSHIFTING

 

OVER

-

REVS

 

THE

 

ENGINE

, 

DRAMATICALLY

 

REDUCING

 

SPEED

 

AND

 

ADDING

 

COSTLY

 

SECONDS

 

TO

 

THE

 

OVERALL

 

LAP

 

TIME

. E

NGINE

 

BRAKING

 

IS

 

SOMETIMES

 

FAVORED

 

BY

 

RACERS

 

WHO

 

WANT

 

A

 

BIT

 

OF

 

EXTRA

 

TORQUE

 

COMING

 

OUT

 

OF

 

A

 

TURN

, 

BUT

 

HERE

’

S

 

A

 

WORD

 

OF

 

WARNING

: E

ACH

 

CAR

’

S

 

OPTIMAL

 

EXIT

 

GEARS

, 

THE

 

TRACK

, 

AND

 

TURN

 

CONDITIONS

 

MAKE

 

THIS

 

A

 

HIGHLY

 

VARIABLE

 

TECHNIQUE

. 

G

ENERALLY

, 

GEAR

 

DOWN

 

JUST

 

ONCE

 

OR

 

TWICE

, 

WHILE

 

LETTING

 

OFF

 

THE

 

THROTTLE

, 

TO

 

SLOW

 

DOWN

 

BEFORE

 

A

 

TURN

.

I

T

’

S

 

COMMON

 

TO

 

EXPERIENCE

 

TWO

 

CONDITIONS

 

ON

 

THE

 

RACE

 

TRACK

 

WHEN

 

DRIVING

 

A

 

HIGH

-

PERFORMANCE

 

VEHICLE

: 

OVERSTEER

 

AND

 

UNDERSTEER

.

I

N

 

AN

 

OVERSTEER

, 

THE

 

REAR

 

OF

 

THE

 

CAR

 

SLIDES

 

OUT

 

IN

 

THE

 

DIRECTION

 

OF

 

TRAVEL

. T

HE

 

FRONT

 

WHEELS

 

ARE

 

TRACKING

 

PROPERLY

, 

BUT

 

THE

 

REAR

 

OF

 

THE

 

CAR

 

SKIDS

 

TO

 

ONE

 

SIDE

. 

A 

CONTROLLED

 

OVERSTEER

 

IS

 

OFTEN

 

USEFUL

 

IN

 

TAKING

 

THE

 

TIGHTEST

 

LINE

 

THROUGH

 

A

 

COURSE

 (

OVERSTEER

 

ALWAYS

 

SLIDES

 

THE

 

REAR

 

OF

 

THE

 

CAR

 

TO

 

THE

 

OUTSIDE

 

OF

 

A

 

CURVE

). B

UT

 

WHEN

 

THE

 

REAR

 

OF

 

THE

 

CAR

 

LOSES

 

TRACTION

 

UNCONTROLLABLY

, 

YOU

 

CAN

 

GO

 

INTO

 

A

 

SPIN

. C

ORRECT

 

AN

 

OVERSTEER

 

BY

 

ADDING

 

MORE

 

THROTTLE

 

AND

 

STEERING

 

IN

 

THE

 

DIRECTION

 

OF

 

THE

 

SKID

. T

HAT

 

ADDS

 

MORE

 

WEIGHT

 

AND

 

FORCE

 

TO

 

THE

 

CAR

’

S

 

REAR

 

AND

 

STRAIGHTENS

 

IT

 

OUT

.

I

N

 

AN

 

UNDERSTEER

, 

THE

 

FRONT

 

WHEELS

 

ARE

 

NOT

 

GUIDING

 

THE

 

CAR

 

EFFECTIVELY

. 

T

HEY

 

HAVE

 

LOST

 

THE

 

TRACTION

 

NEEDED

 

TO

 

PULL

 

THE

 

CAR

 

AROUND

 

A

 

CORNER

. 

I

N

 

THIS

 

CASE

, 

THE

 

CAR

 

GENERALLY

 

GOES

 

STRAIGHT

 

INTO

 

THE

 

WALL

 

OR

 

OFF

 

THE

 

ROAD

, 

NO

 

MATTER

 

HOW

 

MUCH

 

THE

 

FRONT

 

WHEELS

 

ARE

 

TURNED

. T

HE

 

CAR

 

SIMPLY

 

CANNOT

 

TURN

 

AT

 

THE

 

RATE

 

THE

 

FRONT

 

WHEELS

 

ARE

 

TURNING

 

AND

 

PLOWS

 

OFF

 

THE

 

ROADWAY

. T

O

 

CORRECT

 

YOURSELF

, 

SLOW

 

DOWN

 

AND

 

RETURN

 

MORE

 

WEIGHT

 

TO

 

THE

 

FRONT

 

OF

 

THE

 

VEHICLE

. 

B

UT

 

BE

 

CAUTIOUS

, 

BECAUSE

 

THE

 

CAR

 

WILL

 

TEND

 

TO

 “

GRAB

” 

THE

 

ROAD

 

SUDDENLY

 

WHEN

 

THE

 

UNDERSTEER

 

CONDITION

 

ENDS

, 

POSSIBLY

 

THROWING

 

THE

 

REAR

 

INTO

 

AN

 

OVERSTEER

 

CONDITION

. T

HIS

 

IS

 

CALLED

 

FISHTAILING

. A

N

 

UNDERSTEER

 

IS

 

OFTEN

 

MORE

 

HAZARDOUS

 

THAN

 

AN

 

OVERSTEER

.

Racing lines are 
imaginary lines on 
the track that follow 
the safest route or 
produce the fastest 
time through a 
course. In ProStreet,