Hi, I'm new to racing. Would anybody tell me what does countersteer mean? Say, I'm turning right now. First, I turn the steering wheel to the right. And then the car starts to oversteer. What should I do if I countersteer ? Should I turn the steering wheel to the left?

 

Countersteer... car going one way, wheels going te other. Essentially, its turning into the skid as they say in drivers ed.

Jon K
www.seat-time.com

 

Question Answered Nice Racerjon!

 

visual aids are so much better than words.

 

Countersteer is when you turn the front of a motorcycle opposite to the way you're leaning when leaning in to a turn. It's a good idea to do this.

 

do you guys have problem counter steering once you've entered the corner and your tail's swinging out?

i can't seem to countersteer smoothly for some odd reason with this car. I don't know if the power steering is out or I'm not quick enough?

how do you guys do it?

 

I'm sure your power steering is fine. Its not a simple technique. Requires skill, experience and feel. (usually aquired from learning to drive in the snow or dirt as a kid) Smooth execution is the challenge. Keep practicing in a SAFE place.

 

In fact the main factor in a smooth and clean countersteering is the reaction time . You have to know when exactly start countersteering . Sometimes you'll see that when you start doing it , you'll be before the apex of the corner , the momentum of the rear end of the car working its way toward the exterior of curve , you just have to know how you car behaves and responds . Key element is practice , practice and practice again .

 

ok question now..so when you countersteer...do you turn the wheel fast to countersteer..or do you do it smoothly and turn as you feel the car begining to lose grip in the rears?

 

You bring up a good point that a lot of people fail to practice. We all have seen the big "fishtail" swings as someone is fighting for control.

That usually happens because the driver makes one single correction, at the wrong time (usually late), and wrong amount of input (usually too much). Watch the experienced drivers carefully and you will notice the countersteer is actually multiple brief "attacks" of opposite lock steering inputs.

As the oversteer is felt to be easing in, the driver will begin to attack the opposite steering angle ahead of the oversteer. Keeping the attacks very brief and back to near straight ahead will result in a smooth gradual correction of the car's attitude back into racing line.

It's magnificent to watch...I really wish I could say that I have mastered it myself

 

There's nothing wrong with the car


Cabo

 

yea and it all depends on the situation..i dont think there's ever a time when a situation is the exact same. how much and how fast you steer really depends on how it happens, that is what practice makes you good at.

also, countersteering will prevent you from spinning out, but it's a lot of how you control the car with your gas pedal too (in a RWD car). And with a harmony of both, those "drifters" can keep a car sideways.

 

true as well. Love watching all those Dentists and Lawyers on their new Harleys leaning them with their own body weight instead of a simple and efficient countersteer. You can imagine their surprise when the swerve for the first time and find the bike turns the opposite direction they wanted

 

Experience is the key, it teaches you to react without any hesitation and how do you know how fast and how much to steer? Two things; looking where you want to go at all times tells you how much and your built in calibrated butt yaw sensor tells you how quick (pucker factor ). If the cars gets out more than 20 degrees before the driver reacts...they will probably spin.

Good advise from all...practice in a safe place, a skidpad is best and every driver should do it till they are "hard wired" with the correct responses for both understeer and oversteer. Having a good feel for oversteer makes you safe and having a good feel for understeer makes you FAST

 

Your *** shouldn't be swinging out all that much, it's too slow to do that. I've found that when I get the perfect slip angle in a corner, I don't have to counter steer at all, I just slip enough to carry me from the apex through the exit. If I do need some sort of obvious counter-steer, I try to keep it minimal, and in that case it comes naturally. After you've been in numerous oversteer situations, you naturally start to counter and straighten out faster and faster, without consciously focusing on where your tires are pointing. As they say, it becomes an extension of your body.

I learned to correct a slide in the winters in a subaru impreza and finally in my evo. It's fun to swing the *** around, and when you do get into these heavy oversteer situations, you'll find that in the snow, dirt, etc, it's easy to see it coming, react earlier. there's a delayed response on this loose-surfaced parking lots. On the tarmac, however, reacting to heavy oversteer requires lightning quick reflexes and lot's of practice. It's not really something you wanna find yourself doing if you're time trialing or battling somebody for the lead. It's much more fun to corner hard and fast and get that perfect slip angle with 0 counter steer, your car is drifting towards the exit pylon but your hands are holding the wheel straight. There's nothing else like it.
There's also no faster way to drive.

my 2 cents.