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can someone explain torque steer, oversteer, understeer to me plz?

5041 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  futurebmw330ci
i tried searching and i cant find it in laymans terms.
i jus wonderin what it is, and how to get it and if they are good or bad.
thanks guys, sorry for the n00b questions.
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Torque steer is only on Front wheel drive cars , oversteer is the tendency for a cars tail to come around when pushed hard. Most exotics tend to oversteer becuase it is more fun and safer when done by a skilled driver. Understeer is the tendency for the front of the car to push out or slide away from the corner which is how most cars are designed, including most Bimmers becuase it is safer for the average driver.
tpzblu330ci said:
Torque steer is only on Front wheel drive cars , oversteer is the tendency for a cars tail to come around when pushed hard. Most exotics tend to oversteer becuase it is more fun and safer when done by a skilled driver. Understeer is the tendency for the front of the car to push out or slide away from the corner which is how most cars are designed, including most Bimmers becuase it is safer for the average driver.

it's safer for the average driver because the average driver... when scared... wants to let off the gas. When you let off the gas, the car will imediatly grab the road.
so if i dont drive like an average driver in my bimmer, and i keep gassin it, will i be fightin understeer and causin problems, or will i get oversteer.
and whats torque steer and why do people hate it so much?
Given enough gas you can bring the tail out.
tpzblu330ci said:
Given enough gas you can bring the tail out.
But in that case you are slower than dealing with the understeer.


Torque steer is a front wheel drive phenomenon. Front wheel drive tranny/diff's are not good at splitting torque, and the wheel which is actually powering the car spins faster than the other. This is just like a RWD car, but add a steering component and the car try's to turn away from the power wheel.

Only two OEM's (that I'm aware of) make good limited slip transaxles - porche and jaguar. In both cases, however, they are rear engine cars and don't have torque steer anyway.

BTW - the M differential is still superior because it is able to move 100% of the cars power to either of the drive wheels. For those who change gears, they've lost this ability!
Oh yeah. And under and oversteer are both good and bad. Oversteer is good for an experienced driver on a track. Understeer is good for anyone on a public road. (The public road part does include my opinion, so stfu flamers)
ok but how do i know when im experiencin torque steer (what does it feel like) and how do i acheive it
Torque steer is BAD- You don't want to experience it- and you can't in a BMW-

You have to drive a fairly powerful Front Wheel drive car- Like a Nissan Maxima- it has tons of torque steer. Basically under hard acceleration, the car pulls - HARD - to one side. It is a bad thing, that limits your ability to GO- at least in a straight line. The car wants to turn the steering wheel in your hands- It sucks!

It is one of the reasons that people choose RWD over FWD- and that RWD can launch out of corners better too!
ok and bout all wheel drive cars what hapens? Ive noticed to just straight up drift into a turn and not have my car go anywhere but straight into the turn so when tryin to like tail slide into a turn or whatever i know how its done on a RWD car, down shift into the turn add more power and then up shift right as ur in the turn and basically thats the main steps. But how is in in all wheel drive, is there any diff?
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