What is over steer and under steer, someone please explain?

Answer 1

Super-short version:

Oversteer is when you steer and the car turns MORE than you expect it to. For example, say you are turning and you hope to just hit the apex of the turn, but the tail swung harder than you expected, and you had to counter-steer to keep the car on the road. That's oversteer.

Understeer is when you steer and the car turns LESS than you expect it to. For example, say you are approaching this corner pretty fast. You turn, but you realized that what worked for previous turns somehow isn't enough, you have to turn the wheel MORE to follow the same line. The car is understeering.

I could get into weight transfer and all that, but I won't bore you with the details. :)

Answer 2

Under steer is where you do not turn enough, over steer is to much.

The below example is based on driving on the left hand side of the road!

An example is imagine you are turning left into a side street. If you badly under steer, you will end up on the side of the street - off the road. If you badly over steer, you will end up in the right hand lane, into oncoming traffic.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

over steer happens when the cars inetia overpowers itself and the car begins to drift. it is more common in rear wheel drive cars. If you've seen any drift car races, those cars are oversteering. Understeer is just the opposite. it's cery common in front wheel drive cars. When the inertia of the car becomes too much for the car to handle the front tires begin to push, you lose traction and can't steer.

Answer 4

Oversteer is when the car is overreactive to steering input. You can probably relate to 'snap oversteer' if you've ever lost control, turned the wheel with no response, then suddenly it grabs traction and you're sidways.

Understeer is the opposite, you turn the wheel but continue going straight, or don't turn enough to clear the corner.

Kudos to homeward07. He wins.

Answer 5

over steer is sunlight. under steer is shadow