My standard joke about car handling came from Road & Track magazine a million years ago:
“If you go into a corner too fast and the driver panics, it’s understeer.
“If the passenger panics, it’s oversteer.”
The idea being that understeer, when the car plows straight ahead, is barely even noticed by the passenger because the car remains stable, while the driver senses a numbness in the steering as if the steering wheel were connected to the steering gear with a length of surgical tubing.
With oversteer, the passenger senses the car fishtailing, and death or dismemberment appears imminent, while the driver counter-steers and (we hope) catches the slide, all the while grinning like an assassin.
Heard another one in the same vein. From a German guy, of all things:
“If you SEE the tree, it’s understeer.
“If you HEAR the tree, it’s oversteer.”
Hey - I thought it was funny.
And if you have Electronic Stability Control you just smile!
Posted by: David White | February 26, 2009 at 05:08 PM
I love the old racers' line about under- and oversteer -
If you hit the tree with the front of the car, it's understeer. If you hit it with the back of the car, it's oversteer.
Or something to that effect.
Posted by: Brian Williams | February 28, 2009 at 07:31 AM