dark inspire

can someone explain the concepts of Understeer and Oversteer to me? I have Illuminas and i was reading on their paperwork that adjusting the stiffness reduces/increases one of both of these concepts. thanks

03CoupeV6

Understeering is what the TL does, and it's a common trait of front-drivers. It's where you take a turn too fast, and the front of the car plows forward even though the wheels are turned. The tires give up traction and the nose is heavy. Does that make sense?

Oversteer is where the rear of the car in a turn loses traction and starts to slide sideways, as the car seems to turn even sharper than the driver intended.

99TLHeather

If you have adjustable damper, set the front softer than the rear. If you have 5 settings 1 being the softest and 5 being the stiffest, set the front at 1 and the rear at 3 or 4 and that should gear you more towards oversteer. You can also get a thicker rear sway which will stiffen the rear to gain more oversteer. Another thing you can do is put less air in the rear tires than in the front tires.

I have tein ss and I set my front at 9 or 10 and the rear at 6 or 5. 1 being stiffest and 16 being the softest. I also have 35 psi in front tires and 31 psi in my rear tires. This gives me a bit less understeer gearing towards oversteer or balanced b/n understeer and oversteer. Don't over do it, cause it can be dangerous if you have to much oversteer. You'll be fish tailing like a mustang if you can get that much oversteer.

Edward'TLS

Most cars are OEM factory tuned to understeer because understeer is considered by the auto industry to be safer than oversteer for ordinary drivers. Front-engine/front-wheel-drive cars are especially prone to understeer because of the heavier front ends and of the front wheels having to double the duty to accelerate and steer at the same time.

Three ways to increase understeer :
(1) increase air pressure to rear tires while keeping fronts stock.
(2) install stiffer front sway while keeping rear stock.
(3) increase stiffness on front shocks while keeping rears stock.

Three ways to increase oversteer :
(1) increase air pressure to front tires while keeping rears stock.
(2) install stiffer rear sway while keeping front stock.
(3) increase stiffness on rear shocks while keeping fronts stock.

It is best to dial in a little more oversteer to our TL's to make the car handling more neutral. Too much oversteer is very dangerous unless you are a professional racing driver.

Back in the old days, I remembered I had dialed in too much oversteer in my Integra, and the rear end suddenly swinged round towards the front in less time than a blink of an eye when I lifted the throttle (didn't even touched the brake) in a fast corner while trying to avoid another car. It completely caught me off guard even though I knew my car would oversteer. However, I managed to recover by doing two or three reverse steering locks, and luckily not hitting any concrete barriers. So be careful not to dial in more oversteer than you actually (not think you) can handle.

paul_huryk

Oversteer is when the ass end slides out before the front.

Understeer is when the front end washes out before the rear.


FWD cars almost always have an Understeer condition.