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September 6, 2005

I stand corrected

I like to think that I am a better driver than writer. Writing requires thought and thinking has never been my long suit. It also occurs to me that driving requires thoguht so I am totally out of luck. Regular reader Dave Darling corrects my article about car control:

Scott, you have the effects of power on over/understeer exactly backwards.

Lift off the throttle in mid-corner, and the weight shifts forward, true. This unweights the rear wheels, which decreases their traction. That leads to oversteer.

Similarly, getting on the throttle more than you should will transfer weight aft, unloading the front wheels. The front wheels lose some traction, and underseer results.

--DD

Posted by Scott at September 6, 2005 7:02 AM

Comments

Don't worry about it, Scott. It's just one little mental bit flipped.

It does help if you remember that grip is, in part, a function of the amount of load (weight) pressing down on the tire.

Posted by: Dave Darling at September 8, 2005 10:53 AM

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