Advantages of Over/Understeer

[timbo]

It is DF that has ruined the finer points of O/S U/S in F1.
I liked the comparison with a stock car on a loose surface half sideways through the apex.

Picture taken @ 1981 -- ground effect at it's peak

[autogyro]

Good catch by a brilliant driver but not what I am saying at all.

[flynfrog]

maybe something more from your child hood autogyro?

Its bio fueled has no wings no gearbox losses and a spec set of engines

[RacingManiac]

nah the engine is not spec....you can have some wildly varying standard for "1 horsepower"...lol

[autogyro]

Certainly a drivers sport.
I would not suggest you try to put one in a wind tunnel.

[flynfrog]

Certainly a drivers sport.
I would not suggest you try to put one in a wind tunnel.

I do believe that gentlemen has a redbull shark fin on his head.

[raymondu999]

Don't forget the engine's "exhaust"

[the stig]

Hey guys,

I'm a little confused with the physics behind the rule: Reaerward weight bias = oversteer, and front weight bias=understeer.

The way I see it, the momentum of the car is the same regardless, and by shifting wiehgt forward the normal force on the front tyres is larger, causing more grip and hence oversteer.

When I heard I was wrong, I thought about it another way: The centripetal force required to keep the rear end in line is larger if the rear end has more mass, hence moving the balance rearwards will cause oversteer as is the rule. Problem is though, wouldn't this increase in centripetal force required by fullfilled by the extra reaer grip due to increased normal force?

Thanks guys

[Jersey Tom]

Tires work more 'efficiently' (higher coefficient of friction) with less load. So while yes, as you put more mass on the front axle the tires WILL produce more total lateral FORCE capacity.. it is at a decreasing rate relative to how much load you've added.

Peak coefficient of friction is what matters in this case, for limit trim.

However, if you have forward 'load' transfer from acceleration, it is the opposite scenario. You've added normal force to the front axle without increasing the mass.. opposite in the rear axle.. so forward load transfer will (all things being equal) tend to shift the car balance more toward oversteer.

[BakokJ]

Is there any point to control oversteer and understeer using anti roll bars?

[Tommy Cookers]

Is there any point to control oversteer and understeer using anti roll bars?

an oversteering car is eg a 95 mph rear fixed to a 100 mph front, so corners at 95 mph
an understeering car is eg a 95 mph front fixed to a 100 mph rear, so corners at 95 mph

a balanced car can corner at 98 mph
that's what adjustable (at one time driver-adjustable) ARBs have been doing for 58 years

[mrluke]

Oversteer can give you a more stable platform, i.e. when you watch offroad racing or rallying or similar by sliding the car around the drivers can navigate the course quickly while still being able to react to changes in grip / surface or unexpected tightening of corners. In contrast if the car is "gripping" its way around then a patch of unexpected dirt/reduced grip on the turn in point or at the apex quickly ends with a car in the wall.

But as said by all other posters is depends on your car and your track. Anything with a lot of aero is going to need to be a lot more careful about yaw angle and the longer the course / race distance the more importance there is on looking after tyres.

[gold333]

Senna used to say (in his book) that in single seater circuit racing an ideal setup is one that is neutral to oversteering in slow corners and slightly understeering in medium-high speed corners. Over 50-70 laps it was the wisest setup choice he used to say.

[hpras]

Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer, you hit with the rear.

[Pierce89]

Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer, you hit with the rear.

Or in Nascar parlance: "tite iz win yoo hit tha wawl with yer nose, luse iz win ya hit tha wawl with yer tell"

Edit: If JT is still around: I know NASCAR is highly detail oriented engineering sport, but I'm from Alabama so I'm allowed to make "redneck" jokes with impunity.