One of the most important things to remember is: Slow in, fast out.
Most beginning and average drivers have too much brake on their car and brake too late for a corner.
This completely loads up the front end and there isn't anymore actual grip available to negotiate the turn. When the car scrubbed off more speed by understeering into the corner you lost more speed then you would have liked to and you missed the apex. Because the car feels like it's understeering all the time most drivers will change their setup to have more steering, this compromises the rear end stability and thus making it harder to accelerate hard out of a corner because the back end will step out.
For example when I pass a slower driver on one of the connecting straights most brake way later then I do and almost rear end me, but when it's time to start accelerating I win 5-10 meters on them.
If you're not sure if you are running too much brake try deducting 15-25 points of EPA and start running. Figure out your new braking points and when you do start trying different lines and different points to start accelerating again.
This process will take you at least a day, but give it a try. 99% of the time you will need to change your setup as well.
Next thing is setting your total steering angle, before I will start adjusting my car to a certain track I decide on how much total steering angle I want to use.
You can use the following as a guide line:
-20-22 degrees on an open, flowing track
-24 degrees on a mixed track
-26-28 degrees on a tight, technical track.
Too much steering angle will create understeer.
When your car understeers or oversteers with these settings adjust setup accordingly. In the end you will have a smoother, faster car.
I also like to run -20 degrees of expo on the steering, gives the car a more natural feel.
If you want to know more about driving lines and techniques I suggest purchasing this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Win-Esse...ref=pd_sim_b_4
It covers everything you want to know.
Actually I can recommend the entire ..... to win series. Tune to win gives you a very good insight on car setup and basic aero stuff.
Engineering to win is more technical and helps you build a car which doesn't break down.
The nice thing about the ....to win series is that you don't have to be a qualified engineer to understand these books.
