Oversteer: The Party Drug of Driving!

MotorTrend

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00:00 So what's the most fun you can have in a car?

00:03 I'm talking donuts!

00:05 I'm talking power slides!

00:08 Ha ha ha!

00:09 Now, what's the scariest thing that can happen in a car?

00:13 A spin out, losing it, going backwards into the wall.

00:18 On the one hand, we have the epitome of fun.

00:23 On the other hand, we've got the heights of scary.

00:27 And what do they have in common?

00:30 Well, they both result from the same handling characteristic.

00:33 Oversteer.

00:35 And that is what we're talking about today on The Racing Line.

00:42 So what is oversteer?

00:53 Well, if you've been watching some of our other shows,

00:55 you're probably quite familiar with it.

00:58 Why do you see it all the time?

01:07 Because it looks exciting!

01:10 But what does it all mean?

01:12 Simply put, it just means the rear tires have lost grip before the front tires.

01:17 In the high-performance driving world, a little oversteer is called rotation.

01:22 It means the car is right on the edge.

01:25 It helps turn the car, makes it feel lively and responsive.

01:29 It's fast.

01:31 But it can be tricky to control.

01:34 Consequently, a lot of oversteer is often called a crash.

01:39 So, if you plan on entering the hazardous world of oversteer,

01:44 you better know what you're doing.

01:49 So, how do you induce oversteer?

01:52 The basic concept is you give the front more traction and the rear less.

01:57 Here's four ways to do it.

01:59 Number one, the lead foot.

02:02 You just gas it and spin the back tires.

02:05 The more power you have, the easier it is to do.

02:17 Number two, the race technique.

02:20 Trail braking.

02:21 Turn in with a light brake, putting weight on the front and making the rear light.

02:26 Number three, extreme.

02:33 Next is called the Scandinavian flick.

02:36 You turn one way and then the other.

02:39 Whoops, I did it backwards.

02:41 I don't do a lot of rally. I mean, come on.

02:43 Number three, extreme.

02:46 You turn one way and then the other.

02:49 Rally drivers use this to get around a tight corner.

02:56 Number four, hulu again.

02:59 Nail the emergency brake, locking the rear wheels.

03:03 And don't blame me if you end up in a ditch.

03:07 So, how do you keep from ending up in a ditch?

03:09 You keep your eyes on where you want to go,

03:13 not at what you're afraid you might hit.

03:15 Because if you take your eyes off the road, you're definitely going to crash.

03:20 So, how do you correct for too much oversteer?

03:25 First off, stay away from the brake and the gas.

03:31 They only make things worse.

03:35 So when the rear starts to slide,

03:39 do exactly what they told us in Driver's Ed.

03:42 Steer into the skid.

03:45 And if you catch the slide, immediately straighten the wheel.

03:49 From all those cool shows on the Motor Trend channel,

03:56 we've seen that oversteer looks fast.

03:58 But is it? Let's find out.

04:01 We're going to start out on the track by driving all hooked up,

04:05 just like I would in a race.

04:07 Then we're going to go back, and I'm going to gas it.

04:11 Let it all hang out.

04:15 [Making weird noises]

04:21 [Music]

04:25 [Music]

04:28 [Music]

04:47 [Music]

04:50 [Music]

05:14 [Music]

05:17 As you can see from the result, oversteer isn't necessarily faster.

05:21 Slide too much, and there's a lot less grip.

05:24 Time is lost through every corner.

05:27 Also, we are destroying these tires.

05:32 The heat and friction from spinning the tires literally burns them.

05:37 Let's consider what's happening here in the tire rack minute.

05:41 We've done a little surgery to a tire to look at how it's built underneath that tortured rubber.

05:46 There are layers and belts of structure that support the contact patch that meets the road.

05:51 But what's really holding up the car is the air inside the tire.

05:55 The friction of the tread against the pavement heats the tire from the outside in.

06:00 The flexing of the layers of construction underneath heats the tire from the inside out.

06:07 But wherever it comes from, too much heat is the enemy of a tire.

06:12 That's where all that smoke comes from.

06:14 And if anybody knows about smoking and destroying tires, it's a drifter.

06:19 These guys live sideways.

06:22 Their windshield wipers should be on the side windows.

06:25 They put on a show and are judged for style like Olympic skaters.

06:29 Deep down inside, I'm a wannabe drifter, tell you the truth.

06:34 But Darren, how's a street car different from a drift car?

06:37 Basically, Randy, a modern drift car is a total race car nowadays.

06:41 It's got the power of a dragster.

06:43 It's got the grip of a road race car.

06:45 And it's got the agility of a rally car.

06:48 But the one thing that really does set it apart is the steering angle modification we do.

06:53 It allows us to hold much longer, much deeper drifts.

06:57 I've been a road racer for 30 years.

07:01 And drifting is really different.

07:03 It looks like more fun to me, Darren.

07:05 Drifting is a lot different to road racing.

07:08 As a drifter, my job is to maintain the slide.

07:10 Your job is to never let the car slide.

07:12 So with an auto car like this, turn in, give it more gas until the rear starts to slip.

07:18 And then we can control the slide, just like this.

07:21 I like the sound of that.

07:22 Oh, yeah!

07:30 Your eyes should always point in the same direction as the front tires.

07:34 So if you can visualize the front tires, that's why I need to look to where I'm going.

07:38 Looks easy.

07:39 It is easy once you get used to it.

07:41 I've been doing this quite a while, so I see.

07:44 Oversteer. It's the party drug of driving.

07:51 It can make you feel like a hero.

07:53 But if you get too much and lose control, it can ruin your life.

07:58 Drift responsibly, driving enthusiasts.

08:01 And we'll see you next time on The Racing Line.

08:05 [Closing music]

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