"Lift-off oversteer

[ablesnead]

I'm way to old to get roped into this kind of posturing....but hell , I just have to throw in my 2 cents. I raced 240z's in ITS for a bunch of years , then took a 911 pro in the old IMSA GTU wars...6th at Sebring in 93 , nothing of note after. My 911...3.6 , in its final edition was the best handling car I , or my 3 very experienced co-drivers , had yet to drive, in all respects , balance ..inducing oversteer , and with awesome turn in . we ran the first non whale tail wing..off a s2000 . The 240 was an incredible car at the club level...but required big bucks to run a season at the 300 plus HP level...Porches niche was that while they were expensive initially... they were still able to reach pro competive levels , with the basic factory platform.

[vega]

Can we keep this on topic and keep the porsche comments in another thread please.... seriously.

[luseboy]

What else can be done to avoid lift-off oversteer? Would bumpsteer spacers/relocated LCA inner pivots have any affect on it? I'd assume not unless you were lowered. Is it basically alignment settings that make the difference? I'd assume maybe a softer rear(or front?) sway bar would have something to do with it... I guess what I wonder is if the problem can be fixed by tightening the nut behind the wheel? Seems like you shouldn't have a reason to lift off unless you're in some wierd corner or you're about to hit someone/something. The one racing driver I've talked to in person at length about driving on the track said that keeping your foot steady on the gas during corners is good, then put the power down at the apex. Assuming you're used to the track and everything you should have your braking and slowing down already... This is coming from a non-racer who's never driven on a track so I'm no expert haha.

[johnc]

IMHO, you want rear rotation on lift throttle in a corner. Its not a problem, its a requirement for a good handling car.

[RebekahsZ]

Yeah, it is kind of like a handling/driving phenomenon, not necessarily always a problem. Whoever started this thread needs to go get some track time and experience understeer, oversteer, bumpsteer, trailing throttle and lift-off oversteer, left-foot braking, early apex, late apex, corner-exit understeer, corner-exit oversteer, 4-wheel drift, tail-out drift or power slide, brake fade, excess rear brake bias, dry pavement, wet pavement, dirty pavement/gravel - and all the other neat things that happen when trying to drive fast. They are all very interesting - and fun! Even "lift-off oversteer" is fun if you do it right and at the right time and place. Only when consistently happening at the wrong time and place or to an excessive amount is it really a problem that needs to be fixed. Really just one of the tools in the tool bag.

[260DET]

As johnc said, lift off oversteer can be handy eg if the car is pushing in a tight corner then lift off the throttle momentarily so the induced oversteer helps get the car pointing into the corner again. In fact I like the car to react to every input made, a responsive car is more fun to drive and should be faster.

 

As for P car comments, can't help myself sometimes but from a club level time attack/historic racing perspective where bang for buck is relevant, no thankyou. I've lost count of the number of P cars that have come to my local racetrack and failed to make any sort of lap time impression, never to be seen again. Pro, semi pro? Would not have a clue.

Edited April 6, 2012 by 260DET