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Tyres
On the previous pages we've discussed some of the main cornerstones of tyre performance dynamics. But the final element for this article is of equal importance.
Vertical Load
We've seen that adding more vertical load to a tyre makes it produce more "grip". In cornering terms, this means its limit lat-acc (lateral acceleration) increases. But as with everything tyre related, it isn't quite that simple.
If this were true, the heavier you made a car, the better cornering ability it would have. We all know this simply isn't true so how dow we explain it?
 This diagram shows a representation of a fictional tyre's limit lat-acc vs vertical load plot. This is the maximum cornering force it can produce for given loads. The hatched area is the normal operating range of the tyre (the likely load it is going to endure during normal operating conditions).
As we can see by the downward curve, the the increase in limit lat-acc is less than the increase in vertical load. This means that theoretically doubling the vertical load of the tyre less than doubles its cornering ability.
If you took an imaginary formula of :
tyre_limit_lat_acc / car_mass = car_cornering_ability
you can see that a heavier car's tyres have a smaller cornering ability as a proportion of the car's mass.
This is the reason why a lighter car, can generally corner faster than a heavier car.
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