On Wed, Apr 03, 2002 at 11:00:24AM -0800, Michael R. Clements wrote:
> Yes it is desirable to stay within the traction limits. But you can
> start to get oversteer or understeer as you approach the limits, before
> you start sliding all over the place.
Rear wheel drive cars tend to understeer under power just like you'd
expect from a front wheel drive car, up to the point where the rear
wheels break loose. But if you break traction due to too much power,
you've exceeded the limits and are going to be slower than if you had
kept the tires slipping but not spinning. I think that's what James
means.
FWD will give a little more understeer under power and wheelspin will
come more easily due to weight transfer. The limits of handling will
be slightly different but the general behavior is similar. Also, FWD
vehicles tend to be more nose-heavy than RWD or mid-engined vehicles.
I would think that in a FWD car you would want to trail-brake more to
rotate the car early in the turn, and make the apex as late as
possible so you can be going straight and on the gas as early as
possible.
A RWD car will give itself more traction to the rear wheels under
power, allowing that power to be applied while still turning and not
overwhelm the rear tires. So they should have a more neutral apex
given the same corner, and should be able to handle long constant
radius turns better.
John "physics theorist and hack driver" Stimson
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