subman

I come from a really old school and haven't quite figured out this oversteer/understeer thing. In younger years, when the car wouldn't turn in we called it "pushing" Is that understeer? If the car turned into the corner, it was tight. Oversteer? Sorry this seems silly, but I know how to correct for pushing/tight, but oversteer/understeer?
Thanks

96LT1

:yesnod: You got it.

ZR1 MK

Push and loose are slang for understeer and oversteer.
Mike

subman

THANKS!

Zen06

When the back end of the car is trying to swing out towards the front right of the car in a left-hand turn; that's oversteer. If the car wants to go straight and you are turning; that's understeer.

Bill Dearborn

I thought the stock car guys use the tight or loose terminolgy, where tight means the back end is sticking which means a push(understeer) in the front and loose means the back end is swinging out which means you have oversteer.
Bill l

ZR1 MK

Who cares what the oval guys say? Listen to the road racers.

subman

Now they use that terminaolgy. My stock car days were late 60's and 70's. Back when you could build 1 in the back yard, race every weekend at a local track and still not spend over $5K a year.

SCCACFC

Well now if you lisiten the roundy boys they use new words now. They say Titght for understeer and Free for oversteer?
Understeer and Oversteer came from Europe where the roar racing began to take hold before it did here across the pond.

Jim 47

Let's see, we have all these words meaning the same thing:

understeer, tight, push............and.............overstee r, loose, free

I'm sure if we try real hard we can come up with a few other words
to describe both understeer and oversteer :D :yesnod: :lol: :crazy:

Jim

SweetSavannah

You know the old saw .......

Understeer is when the front wants to hit the wall first; oversteer is when the rear wants to hit the wall first!

95VROOM

Understeer is when the driver is scared! Oversteer is when the passenger is scared!

63Corvette

On Sunday after a fine day of skiing, I was driving down the Schweitzer Mountain Road at Sandpoint, Idaho. It rises 4400' in 9.0 miles. There was a light dry snow covering on top of a layer of packed snow (ICE). As I turned left on the second of eight (8) hairpin turns, I lost the front end of our 92
Ford Explorer (because it has Blizzak studless snow tires on the rear only). The car (truck) veered, pushed suddenly towards the armco barrier. Gravity assisted the mother (FORD!!!), and I impacted the wall (with the front of the vehicle) because the lack of front-end-traction caused the vehicle to PUSH the barrier (and my front bumper) back several inches. This event occurred at approximately 4 mph. It took several seconds (a lifetime), and the impact could have (absent the armco) lasted for a lifetime!
The passenger was scared because the vehicle was tight. The driver was pissed!!! The driver will be hearing aout this for some time. The (much more cautious) driver skied with his (patient and loving) spouse for three more days, then drove the Ford home safely. Undistinguished but tough cars all!