Car Handling - Grip, Oversteer & Understeer explained by Tiff Needell

Car Handling - Grip, Oversteer & Understeer explained by Tiff Needell

[@ktm125sx10]

oversteer: you hit the wall with the rear end of the car understeer: you hit the wall with the front of the car. horsepower: how hard you hit the wall torque: how long you take the wall with you :D

[@xFlared]

They should show things like this in schools, this can save tons of teenage lives. Too bad the schools are no longer used for teaching but are used to blend in peer pressure and conforming to society.

[@MrWolfSnack]

Yeah, I never learned anything about cars in school. And the auto tech class was only available to seniors, long after the crucial time to learn about cars at a young age so the knowledge sticks. And it was only available to men. Women couldn't join this class. I am honestly not joking. My high school was fucked up.

[@AE86ofMtAkina]

MrWolfSnack True, in middle school I learned about cars through the internet.

[@Catcrumbs]

+Admiral Ackbar 3:13 "With modern cars, the grip level is so high that you should never reach the limit on public roads." More lives would be saved if you could impress upon them the need to drive at a prudent speed and with an appropriate gap to the vehicle in front.

[@jfv65]

+Catcrumbs and not stare at their f-ing iphones while driving...

[@A1DJPaul]

Yes I agree, Every Driving Test should include Lessons in ADVERSE Car CONTROL in Wet & ICY Conditions in the UK. Every Driver Should PASS the LATEST Driving Test every 10 or 15 Yrs. This Will Keep Long time Drivers Alert to modern Cars & Roads. Everything Changes , Driving Tests Need to be For the Very Best Drivers. An Old Person at 70 Yrs Old Should have the Ability to Spin a BMW 5 Series Around a WET Track, Same as a 17 yr old new Driver. & Have Full Control. Fail the Test = Go Back for DRIVING LESSONS REGARDLESS OF AGE, OR GENDER. 17 Yr old Girl? 72 Yr old Granny. ONE Driving Test every 10 / 15 years For Everyone. FAIL = Go Back To Reading the Highway Code & Clicking Boxes on a THEORY TEST at 82 yrs old, Because their Car will have TOUCH SCREEN CONTROLS etc. 3 Outright Fails = You cannot apply for 3 more years. & With a DOCTORS Letter of FULL HEALTH. if over 70 yrs old.

[@gerryreggea]

Glad I am driving a BMW E34, they knew their stuff back then. Thanks for uploading the video, Topgear then was more than a school.

[@QtheMisanthrope]

back when you could actually learn something from top gear

[@joshuabrown9398]

+Valon Selimaj But new Top Gear is just so much more entertaining wouldn't you say?

[@volante8657]

+Joshua Brown if it's something like man lab, then yes. sadly it isn't

[@mycosys]

+Valon Selimaj now you just switch to fifth gear where the old top gear crew went

[@DYSPH0RlA]

+Valon Selimaj Back when there were no good cars.

[@Ehal256]

+Wrath Plenty of good cars, what are you talking about?

[@RipMK747]

The E34 was and will always be one if not THE best looking saloon car!!

[@astonpatterson]

Had to lol when he said "A Modern Supercar" and the old 944 pops up!

[@BarneyWobba]

I knew most of this on an instinctive level, but having just got an M5 after yeaaaars of FWD cars, I found this useful, thanks for the upload :)

[@jeffreylebowski2291]

How did it go? I also want to get an rwd But i have also only have lots of Years of fast FWD experiences...

[@Sakonetatar1]

@@jeffreylebowski2291 I like to deliberately push the limit (braking in the wet, oversteer, understeer...) of my rwd car so that when something unexpected happens I have more chances to not to crash. I recommend you to cautiously try it, plus you can learn to drift :)

[@SamuelVella1995]

Clicked for that sexy E34 ;)

[@hannahhirsch5394]

lol same

[@AshleyPomeroy]

Compared to the Rover it looks like it came from the future - it's still gorgeous nowadays.

[@Noh1996]

i came here because I thought it was an e24, then i realised it wasn't but still worth it

[@AntzolY111]

My jaw dropped damn E34 and E39 best M5s

[@nikolasael1]

Happy to got one.. e34 525i m50b25

[@danessz93]

3:38 Wow, BMW knew their business back then.

[@lewis72]

Well, it's a Bosch system, so prossibly more Bosch than BMW.

[@AntzolY111]

Fuck yeah old BMWs 😍😍😍😎😎😎

[@daviderhahon]

Just clicked your link. Mehn, car bounced up and down but tyres remained steady and maintained grip on the road. Superb

[@OscarWithC]

Dramatic handling conditions = seriouse fun!

[@Avilator189]

I love the honk at the end of the spin in the Elan.

[@sideslip2threshold]

That was a series 1 Citroen XM at the end, which was shown to have virtually comparable handling to the sports car. The Series 2 Citroen XM's that followed had much better handling, with evolved hydropneumatic/nitorogen gas suspension. Putting low profiles on that car results in a car that seems impossible to "shake" of line. It seems to me that most people are unaware of the exceptional handling on these cars.

[@miksulder]

fwd is really safe to drive normally, but when you throw it to the corner violently it suddenly behaves like an paralyzed animal.

[@kristupasantanavicius9093]

Not enuf wheel spin mate

[@GameplayXperience]

Top Gear is the most awesome all car reviews ever. Still today, they are keeping the same methods like old the Top Gear series. Just awesome. I watch them all when i can

[@UEGUnequaled]

These old time educational videos are the best!

[@coldfiredesignstudio]

Best video about the topic ever seen

[@MaimunR]

i love how in all these old top gear clips they mention emergency avoidance situations when it comes to handling

[@Tenbegdoh]

No drivetrain will save you if you go in to a corner too hot. Lift off oversteer is cool (unless unintended). I used to own an XM, and it was a beast at keeping everything level. I currently own an Integra type R... which is a lot better, in terms of lift off - it just goes sideways until you put your foot down. Those XMs were almost impossible to get sideways. I did try.

[@joeziadan]

I don't see how understeer is "safer" than oversteer. It's really easy for me to control oversteer but with understeer You can only turn as hard as you can and ease off the gas pedal and hope the car regains grip. The reason I love old Porsches is for the reason that they naturally oversteer and it's so rewarding to hold the slide in them. But everyone has their own preference I suppose

[@mellowb1rd]

I guess it depends on the road and the corner, but it's usually safer to hit something with the front of the car than the side. Safest of all would be to drive REALLY fast, so you hit with the rear. We need to double the speed limit and make roads out of banana skins!

[@taylangolcuk1257]

Pulling an e-brake just a little bit can help to understeer .

[@SIMcityplayer2002]

You can't pull the E-Brake 'just a little bit.' It's on or off.

[@joeziadan]

Haha that's true if you pull it a little nothing will happen except a little humiliation lol

[@SIMcityplayer2002]

And that would create a 'handbrake turn.' Also, It seems easy to control ovesteer, but it really isn't! With understeer you can just slow down and fix the problem.

[@Camionetadelapuebla]

Beautiful E34!

[@SandwhichDepartment]

Yes, now I can understand all the top gear reviews better.

[@BrEdits364]

this man is drifting in the 90s when drift weren't invented yet in the united states he is a legend

[@xxkiller59xx]

Was waiting for the car at the beginning to run into the guy lol

[@BlackOpSource]

Hey! Someone else watched the Drift Bible! Sweet. At any rate, I will concede to you, since it seems you know more about drifting than me. I'm more of a grip driver, anyway; gotta work hard to keep a car turning if you've got front-wheel drive.

[@pastrami1945]

Driving in snow, down a curving ramp onto an Interstate, I liked front-wheel drive over rear drive. Rather contend with understeer than oversteer if hit some really slick stuff.. Drove 'em both in nasty snow storms.

[@roberts1677]

pastrami1945 Different strokes for different folks. In the snow I'd much rather have RWD. I can manage oversteer quite easily as I've had a lot of practice on dirt roads. Understeer to me is no good.

[@h2oaddict28]

pastrami1945 fwd cars can oversteer very easly on corners due to poor weight balance.

[@амиџаа]

Tiff farted at 0:53 :3

[@StoneCoolds]

Marko Amidzic naah he is just rev matching that high performance car xD

[@elcabezon5487]

he was sitting on a whoope cushion to balance his height on the seat,lmao

[@Michaelingolfhansen]

The "cheap" Porsche 944 pulls 0,97 g: pretty nice! I've read several rewievs that rated it as the best handling Porsche of its era! Better than the 911's and 928 of its time!

[@BlackOpSource]

For sure. Torque-biased systems are fairly easy to predict, but that on-off stuff I don't understand as well.

[@jackthemaniac1]

XM showing that hydropneumatic suspension is king.

[@BlackOpSource]

I've heard that before, but as I understand it, drifting, in its strictest sense, is holding a car at opposite lock and using the pedals to steer, which is something you can only do in a rear-driven car. The only time you come off full lock is when you're turning the wheels the other way. Drifting, then, is intentional heavy oversteer. Four-wheel slide, on the other hand, means that all four wheels are sliding to some degree or another, with the steering a lot closer to centered.

[@bignicky88]

very helpful. it was always a bit mystifying to me about how understeer and oversteer varied in terms of different car designs.

[@MSI2k]

This man was on Top Gear? He does have that pedigree. I salute him.

[@elcabezon5487]

no matter how many videos are out here to know how to manuever a car,in whatever condition,teens all the like is speeding,but not learning how to control the machine,In fact it has help me somehowt to steer accordingly,

[@volante8657]

@NutsandGuts basically, depending on how you differ the power distribution between the front and the rear....for instance, most Audis tends to understeer, while the Audi R8 tends to oversteer becuz the R8's diff tends to give more power to the back rather then to the front, as to most Audi's are

[@kal12345]

i like the citroen xm @end,,,,:)

[@420Vali]

@kenjoje Does it snow where you live? Thats one way to do it, make the car slide in the snow. Also, you can do autocross and even track days. (I know in some countries they're cheap). ...you can also slide your car around in large empty parking lots, deserted back roads...etc.

[@Iwo26]

I wish Tiff or Jeremy did whole E34 M5 review........

[@ElMattador]

Drifting a Morris Minor 1000. Legend

[@moblackqb31]

Wish they had more tracks like this in the U.S.A and at 7:58 did he go into a spin then reverse then Accelerate and bring it back

[@JanGodrie]

0:53 Tiff just farted!

[@Shekillaboom]

schools would make this whole thing 45 minutes long. i learn more on youtube

[@carryclass6807]

+Shekillaboom schools are about money not education. public, private, college, it does not matter.

[@yobarry]

That sound is the sound of the exhaust as he lets off the gas and brakes while car is still in gear.

[@fikri565]

Tiff did show how to drift in Morris Minor in Fifth Gear,on dry track. Didnt know he did first in old Top Gear series.

[@leftylethborg]

i think all leaner drivers should learn about this and be tested on it how to stop car from over-steer/under-steer etc not just if they can do a well executed 3 point turn

[@420Vali]

@NewRomantic4 Or to correct lift off over steer, opposite lock followed by slight increase in power.

[@Liist]

@NutsandGuts They tend to hold their grip, and especially with modern cars with electronic systems differentiating how much power goes to each wheel, sort it all out for you. Expect more performance oriented AWD cars to oversteer while your mom's Subaru wagon to understeer. Your dad's old 4WD SUV will probably flip over.

[@420Vali]

@kenjoje Agreed. After all he's a real racing driver. He was in f1 on a minor team for a short time, also WSC in the 80s. Have you seen the vids of him testing a Porsche 962? Awesome stuff.

[@BlackOpSource]

That can be achieved with any drivetrain layout, though. It's just easier if you can put down some power on the rear wheels. I do in front-driven cars through trail braking, and it's even easier if you have some weight in the back. Also, a technical complaint: Calling four-wheel slide "drift" is inaccurate, as the term "drift" only applies to intentional oversteer.

[@Hossdelux]

@since51592 the car behind tiff makes it even better.

[@Dutch94]

2:24 Even then Top Gear hated Nascar!

[@ancientapparition1638]

Seriously who the fuck thinks Nascar is interesting to watch

[@chilael6892]

@@ancientapparition1638 Me if I get to see the driver's pov, I already tested it watching Matt Malone.

[@sreddy117]

this is a really informative video thanks for the upload!

[@stevenrivers2541]

I love the 944

[@JeromeHattKronen1664]

try Audi 100 Coupe S instead

[@geforce5700fx]

M5 E34, my favorite BMW ^^

[@p00pie]

Great video! Thanks for the upload.

[@geogmz8277]

TG was very very informative..

[@teampig]

Driving around a circle on a constant speed=NASCAR

[@d-one-and-only]

Without any doubt Tiff is one of the best drivers EVER! Yes he was a former Race Driver .... Vicky is also an excellent driver! Jeremy is funny. I wonder if Tiff was a Stig ever ....

[@fullfist]

the host is a professional race driver, if you're wondering

[@newtracetriad]

Clarkson would just drift the minor all day long

[@Desertduleler_88]

A shorter wheelbase will affect handling also....

[@Submitr]

Oversteer = fancy word for drifting.

[@EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME]

over steer is easyer to control then understeer and more fun

[@ParallaxFPV]

@ysivyboi1 i think you are getting 5th gear confused with top gear.

[@weallfollowmanutd]

MSI2k - Some people are too young to remember old TopGear!

[@valdezapg]

you've got a great channel!

[@actionjackson9000]

you can get the elusive "neutral steer" with AWD though aka 4 wheel drift

[@geforce5700fx]

THANKS A LOT FOR UPLOADING !!!!

[@AlternativeUses]

yeh, true, but it wouldve been interesting to hear his views on it. esp if it were with the more interesting ones like acuras sh-awd or the nissan GT-R

[@xkrmaniac]

preety sound of inline six :)

[@DriverGuy23]

Introducing the Modern Supercar, the "Porsche 944"

[@HaHaEntertainmentR]

The slalom was so funny.

[@Holdmymanpurse]

this car is my icon he is so genious :3

[@ElZato]

Finally got it, it's a Lotus Elan.

[@13RuffRyder]

so basically understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car?

[@Koenonator]

very enlighting

[@eetherington]

Proud owner of e34, just have to put it out there. hahaha

[@Anirossa]

Hope you still have it:)

[@eetherington]

@@Anirossa yep, still going :)

[@Anirossa]

@@eetherington That is great! 😄 has it had many major problems through the years? I got a e34 2 years ago, have now had 4, currently two in rlly good condition I am planing to keep a very long time, one of them permanently if not both. 88 models. Getting pretty good at these cars, but wanted to hear how your ownership has been 😄

[@silkycvale]

Tiff needle and Jeremy clarkson would be great to do a car show together they both are great drivers in my eyes and would be funny to see them both trying to beat each other all time not one of them would ever admit defeat😂 Wish car shows where still like this today

[@S3mj0n]

Silky 2016 Tiff vs Clarkson is not fair. A former racing driver vs a lemon is stupid.

[@ZosZ4]

Porsche 944 is still a car with excellent handling. Search a video on Nurburgring, turbo 944 under 8 minutes which is very very fast.

[@leftylethborg]

@ClTIZEN 3 point turns and reverse parks don't save lives mate ( yes it's important) response times and knowing what to do in a fraction of a second (how to control a car in the event something happens) does though one could make the point that it will encouraged hoon driving possibly but teens are going to hoon drive anyway

[@oldfashionedwrx3574]

you don't want either, though understeer when it appears its so damn easy to correct especially when your drunk.. oversteer is so tempting to go drifting hahaha

[@SagothBaal]

@rahungry It depends if you are driving a RWD car or a FWD

[@carmatic]

liked for Morris Minor drifting... in the wet , at least

[@dansayeyo]

i do like lift-off oversteer

[@420Vali]

@kenjoje Yeah its a great vid. enjoy.

[@Chriz218]

He is turning in a circle, that is why it looks like he is driving backwards.

[@GrimRScythe]

He looks younger in this video I think its the time that He was still with TopGear UK

[@vitzy8965]

very informative

[@fcnl]

haha, "frisky, with a hint of character" that's perfect.

[@kevin48800]

what a driver

[@dathrevann]

good looking beemer

[@actionjackson9000]

but if the car is holding a slide while your slip angle of the rear is greater than the slip angle of the front arent you technically drifting? i hear people all the time say "oh theres no such thing as drift unless its RWD" i dont agree. that just means your front wheels arent spinning too.

[@filbert4640]

Back when top gear was about educational driving haha

[@schralebaas]

Minors are a lot of fun!

[@eddyLF]

does the asc give some power to the car ?

[@BlackOpSource]

AWD mostly handles like a much more balanced version of FWD, though.

[@ThisIzTheEdge]

what year was this. trying to figure out what they mean by a "modern" car as in terms to when this was made

[@stevenpam]

That Rover was a "G" reg, so probably around 1990. That would have made Tiff about 38 or 39, which looks about right.

[@tamamboylekalsn]

BMW e34 Series in this videohave a DSC so this video was after the 1996.

[@mellowb1rd]

Muhlis Goktas Not a chance in Hell. Top Gear was off the air by then, and looking at5 how old Tiff is in this puts it further back. Maybe 5 years earlier, give or take a couple of years

[@SIMcityplayer2002]

This Top Gear was still there in 2001.

[@SIMcityplayer2002]

And it was an E46, not an E34.

[@phuckoffanddie]

Yeah, I felt it and smelt it too

[@Vaughnlesterinoz]

I want a Morris Minor now haha.

[@mrphish89]

Rover? What's one of those...

[@12345JJBB]

Hammond explains this within 30 seconds, there's another vid. Oversteer makes the back slip out

[@MrWolfSnack]

Minus the hitting a tree and dying part.

[@volante8657]

describing oversteering as hyenas doesn't really help, to be honest ;)