steering with gas pedal: what is this technique?

[xagna]

I know that driving a car with a lot of horsepower and torque is substentially different from a car without them. I heard that in those high performance cars, you can steer more with gas pedal while steering wheel input is minimal. Do you know what this technique is called? Is there any good option or best motoring video or dvd teaching this technique? I heard that one of those Japanese dvd has comparison footage between an amateur and a pro showing the difference between their gas pedal induced steering.

[OptionZero]

um...the laws of physics?

Ride in a Miata on a road course, then ride in an Evolution. The Miata driver will barely lift his right foot, but the Evolution owner will be busy. (ThunderHill, is my example).

It's a product of grip and weight transfer. Understand those two concepts and the effects of the gas pedal on your car during corners will become apparent.

A little knowledge can be confusing; a little knowledge combined with experience can be educational.

Go to the track.




Throttle changes upset weight distribution which affects traction. Suddenly lifting throttle in a RWD car in a corner can induce oversteer. With good tires and diff, adding power will tuck the nose in and sharpen your angle.


More experienced drivers can explain it better than me; you, however, should use google.

[Andrew Bohan]

Throttle Steer
Turning is not accomplished completely through steering inputs. Throttle steer is when you change the direction of a vehicle in a turn through the use of the throttle instead of the steering wheel. Throttle steer is a great technique for keeping a vehicle on the correct line, without upsetting the vehicle’s stability as much as a steering input. But before you can begin throttle steering, you must enter the turn at nearly the correct speed. The correct speed is the speed just before the front wheels plow through the turn, due to too much speed carried from the straightaway. Until you become an experienced driver, try to have all your braking completed before you enter the turn.

If, when you’re in mid-turn, you realize your vehicle is too close to the inside of the turn, increasing the throttle slightly will move the weight off the front tires and push the car to the outside of the turn. Conversely, if the vehicle is outside of the line, releasing the throttle a little will force more weight onto the front tires, and the vehicle will steer closer to the center of the turn. Be careful, however, as too much throttle change could cause the vehicle to spin or slide off the track. Throttle steering inputs are slight and should never be abrupt. Remember, be smooth with all the controls.

Two throttle steering characteristics are throttle oversteer and throttle understeer. Throttle oversteer occurs in rear-wheel-drive cars when the rear tires accelerate beyond the point of traction during a turn, causing the rear end to slide out. Conversely, front-wheel-drive vehicles undergo throttle understeer, when the front tires accelerate beyond the point of traction during a turn, and the front end of the vehicle slides toward the outside of the turn. Because of these handling characteristics, you should be careful when using the throttle to steer.

[Nan Desu Ka?!]

Andrew FTW.

Did you google it? Best advice I can give the original poster is: get some track time under your belt and learn the characteristics of your car. Then you can start to take some of the techniques you read about and put them to the test.

Good luck and stay safe :D

[Andrew Bohan]

i was going to write my own post about it, then i found that one which said pretty much the same thing.

[TurDz]

For your protection, maybe you should cite your source at the least. good info though :)

[240shorty]

um...the laws of physics?

Ride in a Miata on a road course, then ride in an Evolution. The Miata driver will barely lift his right foot, but the Evolution owner will be busy. (ThunderHill, is my example).



...but what if it's a Flyin' Miata with an FM2 turbo kit???

[DaPCWiz]

I learned this very quickly in autoX. I was with an instructor and I came into a turn too fast and started to understeer, so I lifted off the gas completely and snapped into oversteer. I was able to correct it and continue going - but the instructor quickly told me that releasing the gas like that transfered the weight off the back and caused the tail to came out, and explained to me how I should have handled the turn....

[TurDz]

Yeah, if you don't have the opportunity to track or Auto-X the car any time soon, GT4 with an MR car such as a Lotus Elise, NSX, or ASL Garaiya will definately exhibit throttle steering (feels pretty good with the Pro wheel).

[xagna]

Yeah, if you don't have the opportunity to track or Auto-X the car any time soon, GT4 with an MR car such as a Lotus Elise, NSX, or ASL Garaiya will definately exhibit throttle steering (feels pretty good with the Pro wheel).

I was thinking that good driving simulation should have throttle steer simulated. Thanks for pointing out though I don't have an access to GT4.

[DaPCWiz]

i'm sure that applies to forza or an older version of GT as well.

I also have this game for my PC - F1A GT-R or something... graphics are crappy but physics wise its an awesome driving simulator. Works great with my wheel :) It also incorporates 'throttle steer'.

[SochBAT]

Throttle Steer rules my world.

And into the boulders i went.

Its hard to really explain, esp. if the 'listener' hasn't experienced it before.

I relate throttle steer to doing a donut.

Go wider by easing up on the gas, tighter by increasing it.