Brake bias explained

Discussion in 'Setup Information (Under Construction)' started by Alex Hodgkinson, Nov 22, 2021.

  1. Alex Hodgkinson

    Alex Hodgkinson KW Studios Developer

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2017
    Ratings:
    +1,963 / 0 / -0
    I appreciate that the brake bias setting is not widely understood, so I hope this can help to clear it up for a lot of people. I think the presumption is that it's a measure of exactly how much force the brakes generate. So if we have 50/50 bias the front and the rear brakes generate exactly the same braking force. That's not actually how it works.

    The brake pedal operates two otherwise unconnected braking systems simultaneously; front and rear.
    The brake bias is a measurement of how much of the pedal pressure is split between the two braking systems.

    Let's look at the Tatuus F4 as an example of what that means:

    The front brake system on the F4 gives us 1546 maximum braking torque per wheel.
    The rear system can generate 1147nm at maximum force.

    If we have 50% rear brake bias each braking system will produce 50% of the maximum torque:
    773nm front
    573.5nm rear

    At maximum rear bias (60%) the split is 40f/60r, which is:
    Front 618.4
    Rear 688

    Therefore the actual braking torque supplied at the wheels is a little over 50/50.
    47.34/52.66 to be precise.

    Virtually all of our cars have more powerful front braking systems than rear so this explanation is applicable across the board.
     
    • Informative Informative x 10
    • Like Like x 3
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2021
  2. Maskerader

    Maskerader Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2019
    Ratings:
    +416 / 0 / -0
    More like 47.3/52.7, no?
     
  3. Alex Hodgkinson

    Alex Hodgkinson KW Studios Developer

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2017
    Ratings:
    +1,963 / 0 / -0
    Correct, I dropped a decimal when I did it mentally
     
    • Funny Funny x 2
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Wynarator

    Wynarator New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2021
    Ratings:
    +0 / 0 / -0
    Very useful information, thank you!