Oversteer(does this mean you're over the cow?)

[JP_Patten]

To the brilliant x-oxners (Reno, Chris Husker etc.)
Thanks for all your explanations. I'm very close to successfully lemoning my x. Your analysis has FURD quite red-faced, and mumbling. My favorite dealership still refuses delivery of the x, and swears to do so unitl FURD fixes these issues.

As there is no option (diesel, huge, SUV) we'll probably have to buy another. Your recommendations will provide the dealership with a guide for re-engineering a perfectly lethal weapon (uh,..I mean truck).

I live in Florida, and have had to venture out in the x recently due to Gabriella. As the radio jock Larry the Cable Guy mentioned: "It's wetter here than a bus load of fat girls on the way to a Ricky Martin concert". The x is fun to drive in the rain.

A question borne of pure ignorance. What is is oversteer and understeer? I assume that the x's inherent faults are much worse on wet pavement, but as I talk to the judge in the coming days I'd like to speak intelligently concering these issues.

So far, the only thing the x requires is constant steering. It can't even stay parked in a straight line.

[Chris Brandt]

I forget the name of the race driver who said it, but the quote is a classic.

"Oversteer is when ya hit the wall with the tail of your car, understeer is when ya hit the wall with yer nose"


Understeer, front tire slip angle less than steering input angle. Tire slides and the front end will "push" Less directional change than called for with the steering wheel

Oversteer, rear tires slide out further than desired steering input. Car feels "loose" More directional change than called for by the steering wheel.

Virtually every road vehicle will understeer by design. Oversteer will get you into deep trouble really quickly.

Throttle oversteer....my favourite [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Rear wheel drive, ample HP and a limited slip, fun fun fun.

Throttle understeer, scary. Front wheel drive, steering angle and driving force break tires loose. Not fun.

[ceferino]

Sounds like a quote from The King.

[Rover]

Was recently at driving school in Vegas...

Instructors said (not exact quote):

"Only rednecks call it fishtailing...it's oversteer."

We were put in a simulator vehicle that had a rig underneath it that the instructor could simulate under or oversteer by raising the front or rear of the vehicle...

Understeer has MUCH less dramatic results!

Rover

[ceferino]

Entry: over·steer
Pronunciation: 'O-v&r-"stir
Function: noun
Date: 1951
: the tendency of an automobile to steer into a sharper turn than the driver intends sometimes with a thrusting of the rear to the outside; also : the action or an instance of oversteer

Entry: un·der·steer
Pronunciation: '&n-d&r-"stir
Function: noun
Date: 1936
: the tendency of an automobile to turn less sharply than the driver intends
- un·der·steer /"&n-d&r-'/ intransitive verb

Stock car racers call understeer "push" or they say the car won't turn in. They call oversteer "loose" or too much turn in.

Understeer is what almost all production cars do from the factory. It's safer, but it's boring. I like understeer in my X. I guess you know that by now [img]images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

In my sporty cars of years past (Porsche, Mustang, Volvos, BMW, Mitsu), I liked the capability to induce moderate oversteer with the throttle. Now I have 4 additional lives dependant on my safe driving, and I don't want any more oversteer.