Ihab Salloum[ad_1]
Have you heard the expressions, a particular car oversteers or another one understeers? Do you know exactly what is meant by each term? If you had a choice, which one would be safer to drive?
Now, picture yourself in your car in a vast, empty parking lot, with not a single obstacle in sight – no poles, no other cars. You start driving and steer either to the right or left, creating a circle. It’s smooth sailing so far, driving slowly in this large circle, with everything completely under control.
But let’s kick things up a notch. Imagine you begin picking up speed, going faster and faster around the circle. Before you know it, you start hearing some tire noise. As your speed increases, the noise grows louder and the tires start to squeal. It’s a warning sign, an alert that something is about to happen.
If you find it increasingly difficult to keep the front end turned within the circle, if the circle expands as you accelerate, then your car is understeering.
On the flip side, if you sense the rear end of your car veering away, as though you’re about to go sideways or even backwards any second, then your car is oversteering.
Oversteering cars experience a loss of tire grip at the front, while understeering cars lose traction at the rear first.
So, which one is safer? The majority of car manufacturers tend to design cars that understeer. This means that when you find yourself driving too fast around a curve and the front end becomes more difficult to steer, your natural instinct kicks in and you ease off the gas pedal. This action helps the car slow down, regain traction, and allows you to navigate the curve at a slightly slower speed, but in a secure manner.
This scenario works perfectly fine for your average car and driver. However, if you happen to be in a race car or a vehicle built for the racetrack, you actually prefer a car that oversteers. This is because, with a slight slide of the rear end, you become more aligned with the turn. Consequently, you can push the limit and go faster. Nonetheless, it’s essential that you possess the necessary driving skills to control the slide while maneuvering the curve. Otherwise, you risk sliding out of control, which is tolerable on a race track but can be a deadly situation on a city street.
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