What is the purpose of the APEX ?

[Ice_warmer]

What is the actual purpose of the APEX ?

To tell you that you are leaving the track ?

I don't see how does it help you not leaveing the track, it may unbalance the car a bit and doesn't let you brake or accelearte to the maximum capability of the car

 

[Top Geek]

The apex is the the point of a corner that you are supposed to hit when driving on the ideal racing line.

I think you seem to be understanding it as "the middle of the rumble strip", which, technically, could be correct, but not really.

Here's my purty diagram:

https://pic.armedcats.net/2007/11/10/apex.png

 

[the Interceptor]

Yeah, the apex is just the point you should aim at for driving through a corner on the ideal racing line. As the idea is to use as much track as possible without actually leaving it (with some smaller exceptions in real life, like when you need to cut a chicane really hard), you're not going off the track when "hitting the apex".

EDIT: this might also help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apex_(racing)

 

[Ice_warmer]

ok, so you guys clearified what the APEX is ... but i still don't get what is with "the rumble strip" form a track

Why is it bumpy ?

thanks

 

[bartboy9891]

I guess it just tells you when your tires are close to leaving the track.

 

[Viper007Bond]

Yeah, so you don't drive into the grass by accident and to probably to stop people from cutting it really close to the edge of the pavement.

I think basically it's paved grass -- i.e. there for overruns, but not to be driven on really.

 

[the Interceptor]

Yeah, the rumble strip is kind of a mechanical (and audible) warning that you've reached the boundary of the track, and that if you go any further, you will leave it. Note that in many races, drivers fully utilise the rumble strips to get as much track width as possible, resulting in the highest speeds.

 

[maxtortheone]

That rumble strip is especially useful for all the cars that are not open-wheelers because you can't see the apex but at least you can feel it. I've also seen rumble strips on highways that have the purpose of telling you that you're about to enter the other lane or to wake you up by turning your car in a giant shaker.

 

[Twerp128]

And on temporary/street circuits the rumble strips eliminate curbs.

 

[LP]

That rumble strip is especially useful for all the cars that are not open-wheelers because you can't see the apex but at least you can feel it. I've also seen rumble strips on highways that have the purpose of telling you that you're about to enter the other lane or to wake you up by turning your car in a giant shaker.

Yeah I agree. I've seen several highways in CA that have the rumble strips to help drivers keep within their lane. Some of these are in like high-wind-prone areas.

In physics terms though, the apex is sort of like a critical/highest point. If you throw a ball into the air, the apex of its trajectory is the point where it reaches the maximum height and has 0 velocity. Same way on the track, the apex is like the critical point that gives the greatest speed through a corner

 

[Jay]

I'll tell you the REAL point of the apex on a curve: to make all the stupid, mundane hours, weeks and years of your life completely dissolve to unabashed happiness.

 

[D-Fence]

It?s there to tell drivers of american cars: "you are fucked now"

 

[chimi]

^

 

[Jay]

It?s there to tell drivers of american cars: "you are fucked now"

I'm watching you.....

 

[Hidden_Hunter]

That rumble strip is especially useful for all the cars that are not open-wheelers because you can't see the apex but at least you can feel it. I've also seen rumble strips on highways that have the purpose of telling you that you're about to enter the other lane or to wake you up by turning your car in a giant shaker.

Most highways have them here down the side of the road to let you know you're about to fall off a cliff and die or slam into a tree. Driver fatigue is a big issue here

 

[phuckingduck]

Most highways have them here down the side of the road to let you know you're about to fall off a cliff and die or slam into a tree. Driver fatigue is a big issue here

And here I was thinking they were just a great way to wake up my g/f.

 

[Ottobon]

Its worth noting that the apex isn't always in the middle of the corner, especially on increasing or decreasing radius bends. Also you can adjust where you want to put the apex to adjust for entrance speed, usually at the cost of exit speed, good if you need to do a aggressive passing maneuver, or if there isn't much of a straight after aforementioned corner and exit speed isn't important

Anyways the point is that the Apex isn't really set in stone, its more of something you have to find.


Rumble strips are actually just there to discourage people from cutting corner, anybody who spends a little time at a track, no matter what the car, will know exactly where there wheels are at. Its like heal toe down-shifting, in that it becomes second nature after a few hours at a track, even though it seems so hard to learn on the street.

 

[tigger]

It?s there to tell drivers of american cars: "you are fucked now"

Naw, my old Monte Carlo would have been on fire long before I hit the rumble strip!

 

[klutch]

And here I was thinking they were just a great way to wake up my g/f.

As an alternative, or if she's a heavy sleeper and the strips don't do the job...swing the car to the right, then swerve sharply to the left. Say you avoided a deer when she starts hitting you.

 

[janstett]

It?s there to tell drivers of american cars: "you are fucked now"

It's also there to induce bump steer on the crappy front drivers that usually lack a limited slip diff, and send them crashing to their deaths.

By the way, at first I worried about the rumble strips messing up your suspension/alignment at speed, but think about it weight is shifted to the outside wheels in the turn. If you're driving a Volkswagen or Nissan, your inside rear tire is completely airborne!