Rick Morrison wrote:
> But the alternative is the front end locking and any steering imput is
> null and void.
Either axle causing steering loss. You can't steer with a
locked rear end either. If you turn your front wheels
any amount to say, the right, then the arse end of the car
passes you on the left and you go backwards. Reverse
happens with left.
If the front wheels lock, you go straight. It may not
be exactly where you want to go, but it's sort of close. Backwards
never works.
Plus, if you plough forward with locked fronts, and then
lift up on the brake pedal, you regain control right
away. If your car is going sideways or backwards, you can
take your foot right off the pedal and won't regain
control.
> FWIW, I based my comments on the way we generally set up our racing
> cars. The ideal is to have the rear lock just a BCH before the front
...and in a racing car, oversteer is generally preferred to
understeer.
But in a safety-road car, understeer is safer.
And I know I'm going to get bombarded with a pile of "but we're
qualified drivers and can handle this and that" and whatever. I'm
a great driver when racing too. But when my mind is wandering
and I've got a cup of coffee and the wife is yapping to me, I'm
not going to catch a sudden oversteer like I am in a hairpin
on the track.
I live in Canada, and drive on snow a few months a year. Losing
control and traction is a multi-daily occurance. I know my
choice when it comes to losing front or rear end. No doubt
at all.
--
Trevor Boicey
Ottawa, Canada
tboicey@brit.ca
http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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