Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
oversteer does not start when your tail is at 45° and understeer is not only when you run out of lock you may be able to wind on to make the corner.
some discribe it as neutral oversteer or neutral understeer but again the feeling is different for all drivers.
Has anybody read the book of Haney about his season with PacWest ?there is are lots of examples just how different Gugelmin and Blundell feel the car.Funny enough Blundell who seemed to be completely useless in feeling the car won races whereas Gugelmin really seemed to know what he is talking about did not translate this into results....
Blundell seemed to be unable to differentiate slipangle from oversteer and so his race engineer had to again and again give him a understearing car ,enabling him to push ,as he needed the security of the rear not breaking away...
Actually, Martin commented when Alonso joined Ferrari that he didn't actually set his car up to suit his style with understeer. Martin originally thought this from in car vids of him driving the Renault a la the above vid. This was just the way he used to be able to drive the Renault fast based on the cars charecteristics. At Ferrari you don't see him doing the same.
An ideal car for most competitive drivers I would have thought is a stable car with mild predictable oversteer. If a driver simply wants to finish a race then understeer would be desired, more stability but you have to back off the throttle and loose time.
personally as a driver myself i prefer a bit of oversteer into a corner, but thats just my preference, which means the kart gets set up to produce a bit of oversteer, but i cant understand how drivers can prefer understeer I hate it!
N12ck wrote:i cant understand how drivers can prefer understeer I hate it!
Can be faster lap times, for one. Understeer cars will also tend to respond faster, with more "precision." I'd say much easier to drive and faster through high speed corners as well.
Grip is a four letter word. All opinions are my own and not those of current or previous employers.
I have tried setups to my driving style before one thats balanced, another which gives a little understeer, and another which gives a little oversteer, the slight oversteer produced a faster time as it suited my driving style better, but understeer is awful, it makes your kart have delayed response, which is not what you want,
but i suppose some drivers like it, but in my opinion understeer is worst of the lot
actually its not, they are very similar in what you do to achieve certain things characteristics when it drives, and how a kart reacts is very similar to how a car reacts, we are talking about 85mph karts here
I think the best one-dimensional description of driving styles is passive vs active. This builds on some of the previous descriptions from Ciro and others. I’m an active driver so filter out my bias.
A passive driver wants stable yaw and drives in a way that doesn’t require active yaw management. They are comfortable catching the rear when it comes around, but they do not want to always drive the yaw.
An active driver always actively controls the car’s yaw (except on long straights). The line driven, the weight transfer, everything either supports this yaw control or is the result of it.
Passive drivers apply their car to the track. A good car is predictable and allows them to precisely and consistently apply their car to the track. Going fast is an exercise in hitting the marks, braking at precisely the correct point, etc.
An active driver feels what the track and the car will give them. They are generally more adaptable to car and grip changes. Going fast is an exercise in flowing the car around the track on the grip limit.
Passive drivers (somebody mentioned this) don’t feel comfortable with large slip angles. They like the feel of the car when the tires generate peak lateral forces at small slip angles. An active driver can feel the difference between slip angle and oversteer. They are comfortable with larger slip angles.
I think wet driving is an exercise in differentiating passive and active drivers. The active drivers are a closed loop system. They are comfortable adapting to the changing grip and car behavior. The passive drivers are an open-loop system and are unable to apply their car to a wet track as effectively as they could in the dry. They simply slow down until the car does not slide off the road anymore.
Again, forgive my bias, of course I have oversimplified. I do think passive vs active is a useful perspective for driving styles.
