the suspension geometry is such, that when the front wheels are turned by the steering wheel, the front of car come down; the straighten wheels will lift the front of car back; the greater front clearance the lower steerability;
if the front wheels are set in the straight position, car will remain neutral behavior after releasing the throttle and brake pedals (the cars behavior will not change).
At the end of throttle+brake technique it is enough to align trajectory with a corrective steering. If it is necessary to avoid an obstacle or bend trajectory because of other reasons, you should turn the front wheels previously, during perform the technique, when the front wheels are locked.
The torque transmitted to rear loaded wheel depends on engine torque. If engine torque is high enough, efficiency of throttle+brake technique may fall: when together pressed the throttle and brake pedals the rear wheels start to skid. In this case to exclude skidding of rear loaded wheel, you should limit effort on the throttle pedal during performance the technique.
For throttle+brake technique to work on a rear-wheel drive car, the brake system must be properly configured. It is necessary, that both front wheels are locked when the brake pedal is fully pressed both when moving forward in a straight line, and when passing corners to the left and right or when the car is in a drift. In addition, the braking effort on the rear wheels should not be too high, and engine torque should not be too low. If the rear wheels will be locked, the engine will stall.
Requirements for successful exit from a drift on a rear-wheel-drive car with help of throttle+brake technique
both front wheels must lock when the car is in a drift;
the rear wheels must not be locked;
skid of rear loaded wheel should not occur;
differential friction should not be too high;
drift angle should not be greater, than about 45 degrees.
The last two requirements are very conditional. Performing of the technique may differ on different machines, so you need to perform concrete tests. It is not difficult to test throttle+brake technique: you just need to provoke a drift and press the throttle and brake pedals.
It was not said, but was obvious, that to perform the above-listed techniques an anti-lock system should not be installed on car, which prevents the wheels from locking by the brake system. In the presence of an anti-lock system it is impossible to perform defensive throttle+brake technique on a rear-wheel-drive car.
Recommendations for driving a car in a drift
while driving car in a drift, your hands should be relaxed, you do not need to hold the steering wheel with a death grip;
while drift turn your head and direct your gaze along the direction of movement of car, keep the hood in the background, so you will definitely feel angle of drift;
when fighting with a deep drift direct your gaze forward, through the windshield this will help you maintain your orientation in space.
Notes on performing of throttle+brake defensive technique on a rear-wheel-drive car
during perform the technique you should to straighten the front wheels or turn them by the steering wheel in the direction, in which you want to continue move at the end of the technique;
if the engine torque is quite high and the rear wheels start to skid when performing the technique, you need to limit effort on the throttle pedal: the traction on the rear axle is only needed to unload the front;
the duration of the technique is controlled according to trajectory of movement.
Exercise 1. Work out the skills of getting out from drift with help of steering. Actions will vary depending on the type of drive: on front-wheel-drive type it is necessary to increase the traction and to turn the steer against direction of drift, on rear-wheel-drive you need to let go of the throttle pedal, press the clutch pedal and direct the front wheels in the direction of motion (you should to rotate the steer against the direction of drift until desired position of the front wheels).
Be careful! When exiting a drift on a rear-wheel-drive car there should not be a long pause after turning the steer against direction of drift. Otherwise there may be a response from the car, and there will be a rhythmic drift. As soon as drift has started to stop, you need to immediately return the steer to the straight position.
Exercise 2. Create oversteer on a front-wheel-drive car at the entrance to a long corner (arc) with help of throttle+brake technique. Repeating the training, try to gradually increase speed of entering the corner.
Exercise 3. On a rear-wheel-drive car, press the throttle pedal at the exit of a corner, to trigger drift. Without releasing the throttle pedal, sharply hit the brake pedal with your left foot, to eliminate the drift. After stopping drifting release the pedals and restore trajectory by the steer motions. Repeating the exercise, determine angle of drift, more than which the technique throttle+brake does not work. Limit effort on the throttle pedal if there is a skid of rear loaded wheel and efficiency of throttle+brake technique decreases.
Remember that on a front-wheel-drive car one time pressed the throttle and brake pedals increases steerability, while on a rear-wheel-drive car they decrease it. If this is the first time when you are perform the technique, limit speed and provide braking distance enough in all possible directions.
Exercise 4. On rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive cars, prepared for drift, the exercises ring, eight and the passage of a hairpin with drift of the rear axle will be useful. Rings should be selected in different diameters to work out different speed modes.
We press the throttle pedal with pulses, as if groping for optimal traction, and at the same time we steer. Our goal will be a stable retention of trajectory radius and minimal fluctuations in drift angle.
Exercise 5. Go through a 180-degree turn (hairpin) with the rear axle drifting. At entrance to the corner provoke drift by rocking, handbraking or including a low gear.
At exit of the corner maintain drift by alternately pressings the throttle pedal. Try to get maximum acceleration at exit of the hairpin.
Exercise 6. Another useful exercise for training driving a car in a drift is the eight. In the middle of the eight we perform the so-called reversal: we accelerate car, then release the throttle pedal and rotate the steering wheel in the opposite direction when moving to the next half of the eight.
If there is feedback on the steer it should start to rotate itself against the direction of drift. The feedback force depends on the castor in a car and settings of the feedback force in a car simulator.
Exercise 7. Try to cause the front axle to drift while reverse moving by sharply turn of the steer. Do not forget to squeeze the clutch, so that the engine does not stall during skidding.
Practical advices for a driver
1. Use light footwear with soft, non-thick, flat soles for driving. Rightly chose footwear will help you feel the pedals better. In any case do not drive a car in flip-flops, slippers or shoes with a long heel, this can lead to an accident situation. If footwear has a heel, it should not be long. Shoelaces are also dangerous. Scarves, ties, long sleeves, hair, and wired headphones can also interfere for driving.
2. Wear gloves while driving. In gloves with a rubberized palm (so-called dipped gloves) or leather gloves hands cling better to the steering wheel and the gear lever, and hand tires less during driving. If you are a novice racer, you may get « dipped gloves for training, which you can buy at any building supplies store.
3. Place your hands on the steering wheel at 9 and 15 oclock or 10 and 14 oclock (according to the clock face). In these positions you can comfortably rotate the steering wheel within about 200 degrees. If you need to turn the steering wheel at a greater angle continue rotation of the steer with change of hands position. A steering error will be crossing of hands in the lower sector of the steering wheel.
4. Use right steering wheel. Spokes of the steer should not prevent hands from being placed in the 9 and 15 oclock or 10 and 14 oclock positions and fingers from squeezing the steering wheel in these positions. It is possible placing of the spokes, in which they pass under or above hands so you will feel right position of hands on the steer. It is not recommended to use a steering wheel cover, as it will dull feels, received from the steering wheel.
5. Take into account condition of the road surface to choose speed of movement. Let us assume, that you are on an unfamiliar road or road state may have changed significantly recently due to weather conditions. You may estimate condition of the road surface with help of braking with wheels locking. At low speed (1015 km/h), hardly press the brake pedal to lock the wheels, and wait for stop. The worse the grip, the greater braking distance. When you get more experience a short-time wheels lock will be enough to estimate a road surface. This skill is very useful in winter: for example, a situation may be when the road is snow covered, and there is bare ice under the snow, which a driver does not suspect.
6. Do not listen to music when driving. This takes away your attention and impairs your concentration on driving. The same applies to conversations on cell phone. A missed beep or even a scream can cause inconvertible events.
7. Do not move in neutral gear. Some drivers, trying to save on fuel, move downhill and enter corners in neutral gear. This makes driving a car unsafe. Disconnecting the engine from the transmission makes it impossible to control a car with help of engines torque. The throttle pedal is a very important element of controls in both front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive vehicles.
8. Do not keep your hand on the gear lever. Many drivers drive in city traffic a car with a standard gear box in a relaxed pose, when left hand is on the steering wheel and right hand is on the gear lever. Both hands should be placed on the steering wheel. Right hand moves to the gear lever only when it is necessary to change the gear.
Turnaround while reversing (police turn)
Police turn is familiar to many from films. It is rumored that drivers of the special services keep it on board. Police turn allows you to quickly turn a car around with help of front axle drift, which can be created while driving in reverse.
Despite seeming from the outside difficulty of the technique, it is quite simple to perform. Consider performing the technique on front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive cars.
Rear-wheel-drive
Firstly it is necessary to select the reverse gear and accelerate along a straight section of trajectory. It should be noted, that during reversing after releasing the throttle pedal the engine starts braking. Engine braking is a braking torque (some kind of braking effort). Braking on the rear axle while driving in reverse creates understeer, similar to how high braking effort on the front wheels causes sliding of the front axle when driving ahead. Therefore after performing acceleration it is necessary to disconnect the engine and transmission before performing the technique.
To produce drift of the front axle, you need to quickly turn the steer. After drift occurs, wasted no time, it is necessary to immediately return the steer to the straight position. When longitudinal speed will be zero, the first gear can be switched on. Let us show at the figure performance of turnaround.
Initially we were moving in a straight line in reverse, but deviated from the straight line and after performing turnaround left the marked lane. Drifting of the front axle did not begin immediately: at beginning turn of the steer the car deviates from straight trajectory.
To stay in the lane, during acceleration it is needful to slightly deviate from straight line movement with a short movement of the steer to the side, opposite to direction of turning. It is important to do this during acceleration if there is no traction on the rear axle when the steer deviates from the straight position, the car will start to turn around. Preliminary shift in the opposite side not only increases space for maneuver, but also intensify further sliding of the front axle due to rocking. Let us show at the figure performance of reverse turn with a preliminary deviation.
As you can see, we succeed to stay within the marked lane.
If a car does not respond well to performing police turn, you can use at one time pressing of the throttle and brake pedals. Engine torque, transmitted to the rear axle, will prevent the rear wheels from braking, but high braking effort on the front wheels will lock them, causing a car to turn around. Let us illustrate at the figure reverse turn perform using the throttle and brake pedals.
Front-wheel-drive
On a front-wheel-drive car engine braking when reversing creates oversteer. We should seize this. But so that the engine does not stall during perform the technique, it is necessary to press the clutch, when engine speed drops to idle. Let us show at the figure performing a turnaround on a front-wheel-drive car.
Preliminary deviation should be performed by a very short and smooth steer motion, as a car may start to turn around. On rear-wheel-drive traction on the rear axle protects from turning, which is not present on a front-wheel-drive car during acceleration.
Regardless of the type of drive, some machine settings contribute to perform of turnaround. Shifting the center of mass to the rear axle (a small proportion of the weight on the front axle) will make it easier turn of the front axle around the rear axle. Besides, the more a car shows understeer when driving ahead, the more oversteer will occur when driving reverse. Therefore understeer will be another positive point for performing a police turn. So, factors, that affect steerability when driving in reverse are as follows: