Triz08

can someone give me a quick and easy explanation in lamen's terms on whats the difference between oversteer and understeer?

Dan Martin

Understeer is when the front end pushes around a corner. As the name implies, it's not steering as much as you'd like.

Oversteer is when the car's rear end over-rotates around a corner, like when you watch drift events.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

elduderino

understeer is what pigs do. (As in, "ever try to steer a pig?")

oversteer is what happens in an e-brake bootleg turn.

TsxBoy

and it's sad to say we get understeer.. =T

jlukja

Yeah, what ^^^^ said.

nitehawktsx67

a tighter suspension and a larger swaybar will help limit understeer right?

jpswanberg

no, a better suspension will mean that the handling limits are much higher, ie. you can go much faster around a particular corner before the front end starts drifting out. if you are good, and you know your cars handling limits, you can however drift in a four wheel skid through a corner (even with a front wheel drive car). i don't recommend doing this because the likelihood is that: a) you will loose control of your car, drive off the road, wreck your car and yourself, or b) you will loose control of your car, drive into one or more other cars, wreck your car and their cars, and wreck them and yourself. Leave this to the race track. (and yes, i know it is a hell of a lot easier to do this with rearwheel drive car, than a front wheel drive car; now, if i could only figure out how to do a really good bootleggers turn in a front wheel driv car...). jps

xizor

you can always adjust your suspension to counteract under/oversteer. Understeer is simply when the front wheels lose traction before the rear ones. A larger rear sway will defiantely decrease understeer. It does this by effectively lowering the limit in the rear wheels, causing them to slide at the same time as the fronts, rather than sticking while the fronts understeer.

A tighter suspesnion is harder to quantify, but things like preventing body roll and unnecessary weight transfer can help. For example, if you have adjustable shocks, you could make the rears very very stiff and keep the fronts normal, this would cause less weight to be transferred to the rear, and make it easier to oversteer/not-understeer. Tire pressures can be used to do the same, some FWD autocrossers will pump up air pressure to 50-60psi in the rear so that the tires barely have any contact patch.

you can always tune your suspension to counteract over/understeer. There's only so much you can do w/ the FWD platform and a heavy car, but its possible to make it better.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

xizor is absolutely right...under/oversteer can easily be dialed in and out by adjusting suspension and tires. Plus, even from the factory, the TSX doesn't understeer that much. It's actually quite neutral handling in daily driving. Only as you approach the limits will the understeer start to rear its ugly head.

vwong

I can attest to that.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Details, please. (I feel a story coming on)

vwong

No long story. Just my auto-x experience when the car was bone stock. I only auto-x'ed the TSX twice. My first run at both times, the car understeered way too much. But it was obvious that I was driving way too aggressive. I then calmed myself down, and drove a lot smoother and the car turned better but still understeered. I blamed that on the damn stock Michelins.

Next month, I'll find out how my TSX will handle on a road course.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Ah...I see...

Do share with us your impressions, especially with the mods that you have done. And yes, the Michelin tires are terrible. I can't wait till I get rid of mine in August or September.

AChangeOfSeasons

Understeer = you hit the on-ramp guard rail with your front bumper
Oversteer = you hit the on-ramp guard rail with your rear bumper

Triz08

Ok, completely clear to me now. Thanks for the responses. Now im curious to try out different dampening settings and changing the tire pressure like xizor said. Right now i have my front shocks more stiff than my rears. i also believe me rear tires are about 2-3 psi lower than my fronts. I'll try it out today and see if i notice some difference. Thanks guys.

xizor

don't pump your rear tires up too high though, it'll wear the tires faster. honestly I wouldn't drive on the street the same way I setup for the track, if you're worried about understeer on the street, you're doing something you shouldn't. understeer is just fine and can help you out if you take a turn too fast, rather than oversteer which can easily put you into a wall.

DEVO

most if not all car manufacturers purposely dial in understeer because it's safe to get out of... just let off the gas in a corner... the car corrects itself.

BlackAc036

Now that I understand what it is, what is the best solution to prevent it on the TSX?

05_TSX_GP

even on RWD like the BMW 3ers (I had an E46), it is tuned to tend to understeer by factory settings.

05_TSX_GP

Thicker rear swaybar would help reduce understeer and neutralize the handling. Many users here have done that mod, and it's probably going to be my first real mod on my TSX