Ryan_VRX06

Practicing emergency stops every so often is good too, trying from different speeds to see how much space you need to stop

slc-ralliart

iTrader: (2)

+1 and really good for burning through the crappy stock RA tires. I can't wait till mine are bald and can get some new ones.

Arithmetic

iTrader: (9)

... but that's just were the fun starts, but if you have to much fun, you could be like me and slide into a curb,

Eclipse2Lancer

iTrader: (1)

Is this in dry or wet conditions? Either way:
1. Slow down
2. Slow down
3. Slow down

Did anyone mention that you should slow down? I can't believe all the questions like this on here lately.
Read this more than once - You cannot power a FWD car through understeer, you will just make it worse. LIFT OFF THE THROTTLE gently when understeering (why? transfers weight to front tires for more GRIP. This is called lift-off oversteer.), and do not add more steering input, that too will make the understeer worse. If you are understeering, you have used up the available traction of the front tires.
Easier way to remedy this problem is to SLOW DOWN more before making a turn.

Some things everyone should learn and understand if you are pushing your car to its limits:
1. The traction circle
2. Understeer
3. Oversteer
4. Threshold braking
5. Balancing your car

Remember boys and girls, drive safely on public roads! I don't want my insurance to go up.

slc-ralliart

iTrader: (2)

+1 I agree the main point in bad weather is SLOW DOWN.

captain150

Not much you can do. What works for me is,
1. Off the gas
2. Steer less. That is, if you want to steer right, don't turn even more right. If it's understeering, turn back to the left a little until it grabs
3. Then go back on the gas a little bit, if you need to

Understeer sucks but turning more has never, ever helped me.

blackhawkRA

There is already tons of good advice... my first advice is... SLOW DOWN! If you're really pushing that hard, bad things can happen very fast. Regardless of how prepared you are to deal with a situation, the real world is very different from theory.

Ultimately when you enter a turn with too much speed, the biggest factors in deciding whether or not you'll make it out are the physics. Tires, surface, speed, radius of turn, weight transfer, etc. Yes, you can control these to an extent and make it out if you're skilled and prepared enough. But that doesn't mean it'll work every time. Be cautious and only practice handling a car beyond its limits in a safe, controlled environment. Auto-X is a very fun way to do this, and it sounds like you would probably like it. Open parking lots, as mentioned are also a great way to do this. Just be careful of law enforcement and random objects (poles and stuff).

The key is in any surface when the car starts to understeer (push) you want to transfer weight to the front tires (therefore increasing stiction). We all know how to accomplish this (if you're on the gas, slowly let off and very carefully transition into braking, just don't get too deep into the brakes), but the key is to make the transition as smoooth as possible.

I started sliding out towards a guardrail in the rain on an onramp because of a very slick section of road combined with water and I had to very very carefully transfer weight to the front and like captain150 said, steer a little bit away from the apex. It's pure physics even if it doesn't make much logical sense. Then once the fronts grab again, you can input more steering to point it where you want it. Note that this only applies when the tires are actually sliding and are not getting any traction at all - not when you're just starting to understeer in the dry but you still have traction. This must be treated very differently from a RWD car.


said very nicely.