2006-08-16 23:38:05 · 7 answers · asked by Gunda 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
look.... to make this easy. understeer is when your car wants to keep going straight when you steer the car. it's turning "under" the anount of the steering input. oversteer, is when the car turns more than you are steering.
if you were on a icy road.... you go too fast into a corner..... if the front of your car hits the guard rail.... that's understeer..... if the back-end spind aroud and hits the guard rail.... thats oversteer.
2006-08-17 03:23:27 · answer #1 · answered by johnbehrhart 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's the result of the tires not quite traveling the same direction in which they are pointed. There's a bit of difference, called the slip angle, between the way a tire is pointed and the direction of travel.
If the front tires have more slip angle than the rear, you have understeer. The car will feel like you didn't turn the steering wheel far enough.
Oversteer is when the rear tires have more slip angle than the front. It will feel like the tail end of the car is sliding sideways towards the outside of the turn - even though the tires may not be skidding. This one often feels much more frightening than understeer.
And one thing about oversteer that will scare you more: If you feel it happening, whatever you do, do not hit the brakes. You are likely to spin out if you do. Straighten out the wheel as much as you safely can, and while this may seem counter-intuitive, you are likely to stabilize the car if you gas it a little.
2006-08-17 00:56:24 · answer #2 · answered by Mad Scientist Matt 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It refers to how a car handles when taking a turn. A front wheel driver car will typically oversteer since the majority of the car's weight is over the front wheels which are for both driving and turning the car. This means, less of a turn of the wheel is necessary to make any given turn. The car naturally steers more towards the inner part of the turn - hence oversteering.
An all-wheel-drive car will typically understeer, which means you will have to turn the more to get the same result in a turn. The car will naturally aim for the high end of the turn or in most cases, off the right side of the road.
A good example of these are in driving simulators like Gran Turismo. Try a light little front wheel drive car (like a Honda CRX) vs a heavy all-wheel-drive car(like the Mitsubishi 3000GT).
2006-08-17 01:58:46 · answer #3 · answered by Jay Daniels 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your commentator Gunda has it precisely right. The only thing I will add to his remarks is that for most drivers cars with understeer are considered more forgiving of driver error and most manufacturers deliberately design in some degree of understeer for precisely that reason. Rear engined cars, however, like the Porsche 911 series, are neutral at best, or have some degree of oversteer. While they corner very very well indeed, an inexperienced driver who overestimates a turn and tries to back off midway through is likely to come out of the turn *** backward as the oversteer inherent in rear engine designs is not very forgiving of error.
2006-08-17 02:05:26 · answer #4 · answered by anonymourati 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
over steer is when u move the wheel to much and understerr meens ur not moving the wheel as hard as u should
2006-08-16 23:59:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
oversteer is when you lose traction at the back wheels and your tail kicks out. most common on rear wheel drive.
understeer is where you lose traction at the front wheels and although youre trying to turn, the car keeps going straight.
2006-08-17 00:00:52 · answer #6 · answered by MOZ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it could mean to overcorrect.
2006-08-16 23:43:43 · answer #7 · answered by Candice D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋