Q: “What kind of corner requires more or less trail braking? Or is that always car dependent?”
A: Typically, slow, tight corners require more trail braking, and fast, larger radius corners less (or none at all).
Why? Because one of the reasons we use trail braking is to help rotate or change the direction the car, and that’s something you need more of in tight-radius corners. For example, 180-degree hairpins, where you need to slow down significantly and rotate the car before accelerating out of the corner rewards trail braking.
Corners that don’t require much change in direction, such as fast, sweeping corners, usually reward less trail braking. In these corners, it’s often better to be on the throttle from the turn-in point, as the car is better balanced and has more grip when its weight has stopped transferring from one axle to the other.
While these general guidelines apply to most situations, the amount of trail braking needed can also depend on the specific car you’re driving. Different cars may require different amounts of trail braking to achieve optimal cornering performance. It’s good to experiment and adapt your trail braking technique to the car and the specific corner you’re navigating. Practice playing with the timing and rate of release of the brakes, and see what happens when you differ this all-important technique.