Calculate the inward force needed to keep a mass moving in a circle.
Required force rises with the square of speed and falls with radius. Because both the required force and available friction scale with mass, the maximum cornering speed does not depend on mass at all. Cornering speed depends only on grip and radius, which is why a loaded and empty vehicle corner at similar limits but brake very differently.
Centripetal Force
F = m v² ÷ r; maximum speed = √(μ g r)
F = m v² ÷ r; maximum speed = √(μ g r) Required force rises with the square of speed and falls with radius. Because both the required force and available friction scale with mass, the maximum cornering speed does not depend on mass at all.
Cornering speed depends only on grip and radius, which is why a loaded and empty vehicle corner at similar limits but brake very differently.
This calculator takes 4 inputs: Mass, Speed, Radius of the turn, Available friction coefficient. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.