Abstract: A tool that obtains a performance goal based on actual calculated performance of the vehicle, thereby eliminating a driver model. The tool includes an optimizer to determine path target points to be sent to controls, such as a steering controller, to obtain a performance goal—such as minimum transit time for a road segment. The design parameters and target lateral coordinates are input to a closed loop steering controller in a generic vehicle dynamic code. The invention uses discrete points to describe targets for path and speed making the use of optimization tools effective. The optimization is based on the actual calculated performance of the vehicle; therefore the path followed by the vehicle may be different from that described by the target(s). The target path is simply modified to obtain the best performance.