Oversteer recovery - how to save your car!

#oversteer #skidrecovery #tractioncircle #liftoffoversteer

Not being able to effectively detect and correct oversteer is what is most likely to see your vehicle on the back of a truck at a motorsport event. So, watch this video to understand exactly what oversteer is, how the car dynamics work, the different ways oversteer can be initiated, and how to correct it...and what NOT to do. All with real-life examples!

Post questions as comments!

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[erikverdeyen]

This is by far the most informative and easy but detailed explanation I've seen on oversteer and how to manage it. Love the easy-to-grasp theory with power vectors and circles. Thank you!

[domosrage]

I have a charger, so this was a pretty informative video for me. I've had 2 moments so far where the car snapped out on me unintentionally, but fortunately I was able to recover both times. Cheers!

[MiniLuv-]

My first driving experiences were with old holdens and fords and they were wonderful training ground. Losing the vehicle in a manner of ways occurred easily and at relatively low speeds so it was much safer than the more modern cars that can easily take corners at much higher speeds and accelerate harder than these older vehicles. Through the video I recognised the skills and the situations you showed and my internal responses are so ingrained and that experience has paid off in ordinary driving situations when things come unstuck. I loved the in-car shots too....perhaps more of that in the future Robert?

[Eddie]

This should be part of the driving test, for getting your drivers license in the United States!

[naifradi]

It is good to watch Saudi drifting; there are good examples of how to control steering.

[calebverdu]

I was on a longer drive and I was quite tired. I lost focus and drifted off the road to the right. Immediately corrected, and of course started snapping back and forth due to overcorrection and entered a spin. I ended up doing a full 360 and ended up perfectly straight on the road. This was a two lane interstate road with guardrails on both sides during rush hour. I was fortunate that there were no cars near me and that I stayed on the road. I'd like to think I was the reason the car did, but frankly I'm not sure what I did because everything was automatic, so I've been trying to learn exactly what can happen and how to respond lol.

[Christian-mrso]

I think the hardest thing is staying calm. Any time i've done sketchy driving I was at least half prepared for something to go wrong and ready to act. I've only had 1 major spin out and it was because it caught me off guard so bad. My own fault of course but I hadn't considered how bald my tires were by this point and I went into the corner at a speed slower than normal and it just went. The snapback was super violent and i panic hit the brakes then from there its just sorta a blur until I stopped. Very luckily it was a flat field and the only damage was a rock slicing my tire open!

[davidwhiterod]

That big tip at the end is a great one! Thanks Robert!

[fortinbras]

This is a wonderfully instructive video.

[reilly]

This is incredibly valuable, even as someone who has done this before- the in depth explanation, the depiction of the force vectors, the representation of the coefficients of friction and of weight distribution across varying considerations is very helpful in showing mechanism and hence bettering my/our understanding of how to act and react best. Thank you very much for sharing such a thoughtful lecture!

[fasdfsdfasdfasdf]

Finally a proper educational video out there. Thank you.

[jackweta]

my honda ep3 has 1° toe in on the rear which has stopped the snap oversteer, my hands always at 9&3, lots of sim driving has helped immensly

[bvward]

Robert, My learning came from gravel roads and snow/ice in rear engine (VW) vehicles. The switch to fwd (early Subaru) in snow especially was daunting until I learned about left foot braking to induce oversteer and then use acceleration to pull out of the slide. Current ride (VW Golf) has a center mounted emergency brake to start the slide in snow and gravel. Wife hates me for that.

[DriftNick]

People watch other videos like this that don't explain braking and we have this myth that you should never brake in a slide, on the streets that is just dangerous, the issue is people have with no experience have no idea when they have lost control and/or they think you shouldn't brake, not to mention it takes a lot of practice to recover a slide which most people are never going to do.

[Luka-gfuv]

Thank you master, now onto practice ( in assetto corsa ), ive lost so many positions becuase im not that good at oversteer recovery, the snap is my biggest issue

[TurboHappyCar]

Great video! I appreciate the visuals and video examples. Thanks! 👍

[russelloppenheimer]

Bias ply tires on rwd in the snow (and rain) has given me an inate yaw sensitivity and instinctual subconcious level counter steering response.

Anyone that wasn't there can't appreciate how badly tires sucked back then. The worst tires you've ever experienced are 10x better than what we had.

Modern summer tires in the snow were still better than back then.

Also, the threshold to regain traction was very high. Once you lost traction, it was very difficult to get it back. So recovery often involved several back and forth swings. You simply couldn't catch the dnap back because there was no getting thetraction back. You hadto rode out the swings until you scrubbed enough speed to reduce the traction demand below what the tires could deliver.

[alright]

Great video. I was playing around with this in an empty parking lot earlier today before watching this video. I actually spun out and applied the brakes until the car stopped (although I think I spun because I applied the brakes). I didn't slide around as much as i wanted, but I think that's because most of the time I just tried to give it full throttle from a stop while turning. Of course, space is a little limited in an empty parking lot. It definitely was good experience for me because it helped me to be able to recognize when the back end is about to slide out. Definitely something I want to practice more. This was done in a 2015 genesis sedan, which is rwd fyi. Most of it was power oversteer, but I think when I spun it was braking oversteer.

[angelosimonetto]

Great video Robert. Really enjoyed you explanations, but your summary is 100% - Practice!

[orlynbockdesign]

Easiest way to practice steering techniques (fwd or rwd or awd) is after a good snowstorm. You can simulate race dynamics at much slower speeds, and induce oversteer quite easily. Dirt roads are good too.