🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec17.045418.22907@eskimo.com> wix@eskimo.com (Dennis Wicks) writes:
>Of course, if you are driving way over your head, or too fast for
>conditions, and everything comes unstuck, hang on and pray to
>whatever diety you prefer!

In an earlier article,  mrc@Ikkoku-Kan.Panda.COM (Mark Crispin) posted
a very good summary of vehicle dynamics, understeering, oversteering,
etc -- good advice for how to avoid the situation described above.

But once you do lose it totally, you can do something else while
you're praying and hanging on.

According to Sam Posey, in a Road & Track (Magazine) Performance
Driving video I have, such a situation is one time that you should
lock up the brakes.  The reasoning is that once you've spun the car,
if the brakes are locked you are at least decelerating, and you will
continue in a straight line in the direction you were last traveling
(note that this may not be in the direction the car is pointing!),
even if the car continues spinning around.  This is preferable to
having the car shoot off at full speed in whatever direction the car
happens to be pointing when the tires regain adhesion.

I think the idea is that unless you're Mario Andretti (or sons) in a
properly balanced vehicle, you probably won't be able to recover from
a spin without coming to a complete stop, and this is the safest way
to accomplish that.

Note that this piece of driving strategy will not have to be called
into play if you are able to follow Mark's advice and avoid spinning
the car in the first place.

BTW, I really like the video as a good description of the basics of
vehicle dynamics and control.  Great for armchair racers like myself.

-- 
Marion Hakanson         Domain: hakanson@cse.ogi.edu
                        UUCP  : ogicse!hakanson