Dirt Rally Tutorials #14 - Turning - Pendulum Turns (Scandinavian Flicks)

Dirt Rally in-game tutorial about Scandinavian flicks.

SUBTITLES:

Pendulum turns are probably the most advanced technique used in rally driving.

They are essentially the culmination of all the techniques we have described in these guides.

They are used specifically to prevent the car from understeering on loose surfaces when approaching sharp turns or hairpins at relatively high speed.

The technique works by using the momentum of the rear of the car swinging from one direction to the other.

It must be timed correctly so that the final weight shift happens at the turn in point for a corner.

Modern rally teams put a lot of effort into reducing their cars tendency to understeer so pendulum turns are not used as much in today's cars as they were with the classics.

In order to explain the process, here are the inputs you should make and the effect it will have on the car at each point during a pendulum turn.

In this example, the car is travelling at high speed on a straight piece of gravel road and has to make a 90 degree turn.

1. As you arrive at the braking point you get hard on the brakes to slow the car down and shift the weight of the car forward.

2. With increased grip on the front wheels flick the steering wheel in the opposite direction of the corner.

The reduced weight over the rear wheels will put the car into oversteer with the rear of the car stepping out and the front of the car pointing away from the corner.

3. You can now increase your throttle input, reduce your braking input and steer in the direction of the corner before modulating all three inputs.

This allows you to maintain the oversteer until the point at which the car needs to turn in for the corner.

It's worth nothing that the lateral grip of the tyre combined with some braking input causes the car to rapidly decelerate as if braking hard in a straight line.

4. Now release the brake pedal and feather the throttle!

This will snap the car out of oversteer in the initial direction.

The momentum of the weight shift of the rear of the car coupled with the acceleration and steering input will initiate oversteer in the direction of the corner.

5. At the turn in point apply full throttle and move the steering wheel in the same direction as the rear of the car, this is the pendulum part!

You want the car to oversteer in the direction of the corner to eliminate understeer.

Now feather the throttle as the car is switching from oversteering one way to the other, you must move the steering wheel in the same direction in order to "catch" the second slide.

6. You will now have oversteer through the corner.

Keep feathering the throttle and control the oversteer with opposite lock.

A perfect Scandinavian flick will see you hitting the apex and accelerating through the corner exit where the car is straight once more.

Remember this is an advanced technique and practise makes perfect.

The advantage is that by deliberately using the momentum of the rear of the car you can actively prevent the car from understeering into a tight corner.

GAME: Dirt Rally (PC)