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Lift Off Oversteer


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Same thing as a fwd or rwd - weight transference.

^^^^ Wot he said...

Basically lift off mid corner (when hammering a bit) and some of the weight rolls to the front of the car leaving the ar$e end to get light and loose grip with the road surface. Causing the front end to bite to the road and the back end to loose traction. This results in the rear end stepping out due to lack of grip, which mid corner would normally result in you goign a*** first into a tree unless your expecting it.. Fortunately only "really" an issue at near limit speeds.. Normal driving shouln't really result in such a violent effect..

Similar, but useful effect can be had by lightly braking into a corner to get the front end turned in. "Trail braking".. This lets the front of the car weight up slightly to get the front end gripping and turned into the corner while the back end gets loose, then maintain near constant speed to mid conrner near the apex then back on the power to exit with good traction. Result should be very smooth cornering without any sudden changes in speed or direction..

Just thought i'd add that not ALL cars suffer lift-off oversteer... Some suffer lift-off understeer which is probably what youd be expecting to happen... Lift off mid corner and front end looses grip because the front wheels slow down yet not pushed down into the road to obtain grip but rather the weight of the car pushes the car forward/wide on the corner resulting in hitting a tree head first...

Although the impreza is known for it's lift-off oversteer it's worth noting that it is a fairly stable car unless your really hammering! i.e. driving too fast for public roads... Worth giving it a try on a track though just to know what it feels like..

Edited by ScoUK
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Had a case of lift off oversteer myself last week , slip road joining a dual carriageway which tightened as the corner went on, was in 3rd gear just coming on boost when i had to lift off. Very controllable and it was raining, never had it in the dry though, think you would need to be pushing really hard for that :):driving:

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I took my WRX out on a track last year (the place to find out how your car really handles) and found that it took some pretty serious provocation to step the back end out even when lifting off mid corner. The Impreza when standard has a massive tendency to under steer which I found pretty shocking how bad it was. I've since put up rated springs and the geometry done and now pretty happy with the handling.

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Duffus - trailed the braking as I turned in over the crest like a complete eejit. Tried to catch it on the gas and counter steering but it wasn't happening. When I hit the grass going backwards I was steering into the wall so had to wind it back. It dug in and spun back round to where it finished. Missing the wall by .... a baw hair.

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Duffus - trailed the braking as I turned in over the crest like a complete eejit. Tried to catch it on the gas and counter steering but it wasn't happening. When I hit the grass going backwards I was steering into the wall so had to wind it back. It dug in and spun back round to where it finished. Missing the wall by .... a baw hair.

That's a weird place to go off. At least you haven't bust an engine a gearbox and fried two sets of disks and pads :D I'm not allowed near the track again :)

Edited by TheWelsho
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John, the first corner is a blindish right over crest taken at high speed followed by a swift left as the weight balances out in case you've forgotten! It's the kind of corner that Lewis Hamilton wakes up in a cold sweat thinking about.

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John, the first corner is a blindish right over crest taken at high speed followed by a swift left as the weight balances out in case you've forgotten! It's the kind of corner that Lewis Hamilton wakes up in a cold sweat thinking about.

Not me, I LOVE it! Ask Squiggle! :):D:blush:

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