Slip Angle

What is slip angle?

Slip angle is the angle between the direction a tyre points and the direction it actually travels – the source of lateral grip. Without slip angle there are no cornering forces. A tyre only generates grip when it runs at a small angle: the tread deforms, and that deformation is what holds the car.

The slip angle curve

Slip angle rises with cornering load. Up to a peak – typically 6 to 10 degrees on road tyres, a little less on slicks – grip grows almost linearly. Beyond that peak, grip falls away again and the tyre lets go. Professionals drive exactly at the peak: the car starts talking to you and tells you where it is.

How to use slip angle

That light, floating feeling through the steering is the area around peak slip. Add more lock and you go past it. The fast line sits precisely in the sweet spot just before. Slip angle is understood better by feel than by measurement: an experienced driver simply knows where the grip is.

Feel slip angle with ESC

On ESC track days with our coaches you train the feel for slip angle. In modern Porsche models and on professional lines you learn to find the grip limit. Take your tyres to the limit.