Cornering is one of the aspects of motoring where drivers often get into a great deal of difficulty, and is an area of driving where many cars end up falling off the road. Effective cornering is not something that we as drivers ever get to know about, unless we have taken part in some form of advanced driving input. The way that people drive around bends is completed in a manner very much based on their own personal experience, experience they build up through their own individual experimentation and through observing the behaviour of other drivers. This is very much a trial and error method of doing things and, on occasions, is perhaps more than a little haphazard.

The art of successful cornering is not merely a case of just turning the steering wheel, but one that involves a whole range of other factors. How do you take a bend properly, effectively and safely? We talk extensively about the forces acting on a car and the effects we have upon it when we do certain things, and the subject of the poise and balance of the car become even more important here. For a start we do not brake or accelerate whilst cornering because this, combined with the requirement to steer, would amount to an additional force being added to the lateral cornering force required to make the car travel in a curved path.

So as not to brake in a bend we have first to get the car travelling at a speed at which it is going to negotiate that bend before we begin to apply any steering. This means we need to be able to accurately assess the severity of that bend before we get into it, but how do we know what speed we need to be travelling for any given bend before we are actually going through the process of driving that bend? The answer has a lot to do with something called the Limit Point Analysis, which in simple terms can be referred to as the Vanishing Point. The vanishing point is that last and furthest away little bit of the road surface that you can see before it disappears out of your range of view, a bit like looking at the horizon of the sea and can also be the point where the road surface disappears around the corner. You may ask how that will help you to assess a bend accurately, and the answer is this.

Take your car out on the road, preferably to a rural environment, and find a right-hand bend. Drive towards it and stop the car on the nearside of the carriageway at a distance of about 50 metres before the start of the bend.  Make sure it is safe though, and you do not want to become a hazard or put yourself at risk.

If you study the view ahead you will see the nearside verge running away from you to your left and then curve to the right as it follows the line of the bend.

Now cast your eye along the off-side verge you will see that there will come a point where it will appear to meet the nearside verge forming an arrowhead of tarmac. This arrowhead is what we refer to as The Limit Point or convergence point, and is that last little bit of the road surface that you can see in the distance. In the diagram opposite you will see we have marked this as point C, and because your view perspective is somewhat two-dimensional, point B and point C will appear to be one of the same, being at the tip of where the road surface takes on the shape of an arrow head (point A is your eye looking forward from the driving seat).

As you drive towards the bend, watch point C. What you will find is that the arrowhead shape of the road, when you are close enough, will begin to change shape, appearing to move to the right. The way in which you use this phenomenon is to chase the point of the arrowhead, but never catch up with it, because if you are catching up with it you are travelling too fast, and if you are losing ground to it, you are travelling more slowly than you need to. The opening view that you get is a bit like standing in a hallway of a house and pushing a door to a room open, a door that swings away from you.

As the latch-edge of the door swings away from you, more and more of the room becomes revealed and in the same way that you will see more and more of the road surface and near-side verge of your bend as you drive towards it.

Having completed the experiment, go back and drive the bend again. This time, begin your approach from much further back. During your approach, and whilst still at a distance, point C will initially appear to be stationary, but before you go any further, think about this scenario.

If you were to drive along a straight road that had a solid wall built across it there would become a point when you would automatically begin to slow down, because unless you are suicidal you will want to stop in sufficient time so as to avoid hitting it. This works because your brain is telling you that if you keep going towards the wall, without checking your speed, you will run into it and that is going to hurt. You make an unconscious calculation using speed and distance as part of your formula to make sure you begin applying your brakes early enough so as not to come to any harm. That calculation becomes more carefully thought out the faster you approach the wall, and would become extremely sharp if you had to drive at it as fast as you could bringing the car to a stop inches away in as short a time span as possible.

Use the arrowhead as your wall. If you find you are catching up with it, slow the car down. If it is moving forward at the same rate as that of your approach then you are travelling at the optimum speed for the bend. If it is moving forward and opening up distance then you can perhaps increase your speed a little (all due consideration being given to road surface and other conditions). The sharper the bend, the nearer you will get before point C starts to move, so the more you will have to reduce your approach speed.

Once the road straightens out, point C will zoom off into the distance and you can then accelerate to an appropriate speed for the straighter road. To help you to put this all into perspective imagine there is a piece of string tied to your accelerator pedal with the other end tied to the Limit Point, point C. As you get closer to it the string will go slack thus releasing the pull on the accelerator pedal, which of course slows you down. If the distance remains constant the string will keep your accelerator pedal in the same position and when the vanishing point runs away from you the string is pulled tight so the accelerator pedal pulled towards the car floor causing an increase in speed.

As your bend finishes, and you accelerate away, look into the distance for the next bend and the next vanishing point, and start planning for that one. This way you will begin to overlap your planning and when the method is perfected you can drive through a series of bends dealing with one after another after another whilst driving at the optimum speed for the road throughout.

A few words of warning here. Once the vanishing point has told you that your speed is appropriate for the corner, don't take it for granted. You have to keep watching, as you will have to be wary of the bend that has a double apex, or dogleg. Another word of warning is to make sure you use the road-edge and not the hedges that may be set back from the road edge(refer back to diagram), because when the hedge line sits back from the edge of the road it may give a false reading, or the hedge may not follow the arc of the bend, also giving a false reading.

This is something that takes a while to become tuned into, but once you do get the hang of it you can drive along any piece of road and use this method at every twist and turn, and will find that you can make good progress, even if you have never driven that road before. The method works just as well for left hand bends as well, and when used effectively it will mean that you will never get caught out by a bend or corner again.

There is something else to bear in mind. Many who read this may have participated in the odd track day, or may even do a spot of competition work in a track-driving environment. If that is what you do then you probably are thinking that what you have been reading here does not apply to you. If you are one of those people, let us leave you with this thought. On the track, how many vehicles are travelling in the opposite direction? How important is it that you exit a corner on your own side of the road width?

Whilst travelling around a circuit for several laps you become familiar with every little ripple, stone and crack of the road surface. Every damp patch or imperfection is indelibly printed on your brain and you are able to anticipate it and compensate for it. This means that you can brake into corners and you can 'boot' the car out of the bend in a controlled power drift across the whole road-width quite comfortably, safe in the knowledge that you have a run-off area or gravel trap that is going to keep you from harm if you have pushed that bit too hard. However, when you take a car down a public road can you say with confidence that you know every little ripple, crack and oily spot there is in that environment? Are you absolutely certain the local farmer hasn't just parked his tractor around the next bend - complete with plough attached maybe? The public road environment will change dramatically, sometimes over a period of a few minutes. Never take anything for granted and never assume anything. Base your assessment on what can be seen, what can’t be seen and what circumstances may reasonably be expected to develop. Always be in a position to stop within the distance you can see to be clear ahead, i.e. the distance between you and the Vanishing Point, or to put it another way, the space between the horizon on the tarmac and the leading edge of your bonnet. If you have got the bend right you will negotiate it at the most appropriate speed with the most appropriate gear engaged, be on your correct side of the road and be able to remain there.