Everything You Need to Know About Understeer

Understeer has garnered quite a reputation in the racing world but with the proper technique and car setup, understeer can definitely be used to one’s advantage.

Understeer has garnered quite a reputation in the racing world. The words oversteer and understeer have been heard more and more frequently or being tossed around in motoring circles regularly due to the advancement of electronic traction and stability control-equipped vehicles used in racing. To briefly differentiate the two, oversteer happens when the rear tires of the car break traction in a corner before the front tires do. On the other hand, there is understeer when the front tires lose grip lose grip in turn before the rears. They are basically opposites. However, this article will focus more on what understeer is and how to use it to the driver’s advantage.

Understeer, Definition, and concept

When a car takes understeer, it makes an arc less than desired in the corner. In other words, when the front tires lose grip before the rears at the limit of traction. That will be a problem since as a driver, you would want your turn to be at the right limit, right? Understeer is usually caused when the car turns in a corner too sharply, or braking too heavily or even when it carries too much speed into a turn. Avoidance in doing these is the key to countering understeer. If ever turning too sharply is unavoidable, the driver shall dial in a bit less steering then lightly stepping on the brakes. On the other hand, if the driver steps on the brakes too heavily, you should ease up your braking efforts. It is when the front tires are doing less work that it can have the chance to regain its grip.

Controlling Understeer

In the racing world, understeer seems like an abomination. Drivers often avoid doing it and prefer a car that predominantly oversteers because it is much harder to get the car to point to the direction, they want it to turn when taking understeer in contrast with oversteer. But it is important to note that understeer can be controlled and can even be used to the advantage of the driver. However, the driver must understand that the understeer has nothing to do with your steering inputs.

Steering excessively is not going to help and will not in any manner assist in the recovery of a car in case of understeer since it is primarily a problem that involves the gas and the brakes. Therefore, instead of steering the wheel to a full lock, what the driver should do instead is to slowly ease off the throttle and squeeze on the brakes smoothly which shall be done slickly otherwise your car will snap-oversteer.

Mechanical wise, understeer can happen when the vehicle itself understeers through causes not relating to driver error or instruction and can be prevented in several ways. One is by using low profile tires. It is because high profile ones have more flex in their sidewalls compared to the low-profile tire which is stiffer and does not flex and lean as much. Therefore, the latter kind of tire has a better grip. Another is by torque vectoring. This system is generally employed via electronic control methods which calculate wheels slippage. It is also used to apply brakes on individual wheels as a means to aid in cornering. This method is usually used to correct understeer by breaking the inner front wheel during a cornering maneuver. Thus, allowing the car to pivot around in a tighter cornering arc.

Advantage of Understeer

A front wheel drive vehicle layout is more susceptible to understeer. As such, it is generally seen as a safety net. Although in racing, oversteer is more preferred than understeer, the latter is nonetheless handy in various racing situations. For instance, should a driver do into a corner too hard, the car will understeer instead of just spinning out of control, therefore, the driver can easily regain control of the car as it is easier to correct even by the less-experienced driver. When the setup of a vehicle is predominantly understeer, it gives the drivers more confidence in their drive since such setup makes it more predictable for drivers around the corner.

In the case of an amateur driver or those who are inexperienced yet in the car racing field, understeer is far safer. Therefore, it is generally a better characteristic to be found at a car’s limits.

Disadvantage of Understeer

For performance-based vehicles, understeer is generally not conducive because it prevents tight cornering. As a result, there are slower lap times and there is less accurate placement of the vehicle on its handling limits. Therefore, in the case of such performance-based vehicles, oversteer is preferred especially when it is done by a capable driver at the helm by using actions such as correct throttle inputs and counter-steering as well as applying the opposite lock.

Understeer also promotes weight transfer, which occurs primarily through three different ways such as acceleration, deceleration, and steering. When there is rear weight transfer, understeer can result which in turn result to reduced levels of grip at the front wheels thus the vehicle will be more prone to continue in a straight line despite the driver’s steering inputs since as mentioned earlier, understeer is a gas and brake problem not a steering one.

There you have it. We hope the information above has clearly given you a clear insight as to what understeer is. The main takeaway in this article is that when the driver utilizes the proper technique and car setup, understeer can definitely be used to his advantage in a car race. It is because not all driver has preference over an oversteer car setup. It is proven to be advantageous especially when the car is correctly tuned and proper metal parts are used in the vehicle, therefore, allowing for a predominantly understeer setup that can help the driver set some quick times on the lap board. Not only it is beneficial because it provides a safety net to the drivers but also it helps hone the skills of every driver on the race track.