Oversteer and understeer

  • So my knowledge about these two terms is limited. According to what I think I know....up until this point....the sway bar has something to do with these settings....


    My question is...how do you know if you have your SS set for oversteer or understeer and what ever happened to regular steer where I turn the wheel and the car goes exacyly where I want it to?

  • I just read something somewhere recently that Polaris built in either over steer or under steer into the SS. I don’t remember which right now. Someone help me out here.


    And since most of us have upgraded our sway bars we could have changed the over/under factory set steering.


    And since most every driver today is driving over the speed limit, when you go into a turn a little too fast how do you want your SS to respond? Over, under or right on?

  • I just read something somewhere recently that Polaris built in either over steer or under steer into the SS. I don’t remember which right now. Someone help me out here.


    And since most of us have upgraded our sway bars we could have changed the over/under factory set steering.


    And since most every driver today is driving over the speed limit, when you go into a turn a little too fast how do you want your SS to respond? Over, under or right on?

    Understeer and oversteer - Wikipedia


    We have done nothing with modifying the suspension or steering of the Grasshopper and do you know what, in the three years plus we have owned it, it still goes exactly where we steer it, we can out corner most everything else on the highway, and the tires still wear evenly. I seem to recall somebody offering the advice here of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", though I don't recall directly who it was? ?(


    Bill

  • In race car setup (and I recognize there are other influences - shock settings, spring rates, tire grip, front end geometry, track (panhard rod) bar size and setting, etc) the rear sway bar generally affects understeer while the front sway bar affects oversteer. Yes, that is the simple answer. I’m not sure about how to do a rear bar on our SSs, or how to limit understeer. However in my SS experiences to date, understeer has not been an issue. And above all, it has been many years since I set up race cars so I may have gotten some stuff wrong here - oldziemers!!

  • I'm the new kid on the block here and of limited experience.
    What experience that I have had so far has led me to the conclusion that the SS is pretty neutrally balanced. When pushed to the breaking point of where one end or the other slides normally the front end gives first gently tipping the scale to slight under steer. Most riders will never intentionally push theirs this hard but if you never push it over the edge then how do you know where the edge is? I know where the edge is, I was once told that if your not living on the edge you are taking up too much space.


    Tim "Ghost" Ganey
    Winfield, Alabama
    205spam412spam2868

  • So my knowledge about these two terms is limited. According to what I think I know....up until this point....the sway bar has something to do with these settings....


    My question is...how do you know if you have your SS set for oversteer or understeer and what ever happened to regular steer where I turn the wheel and the car goes exacyly where I want it to?


    Asked...

    I just read something somewhere recently that Polaris built in either over steer or under steer into the SS. I don’t remember which right now. Someone help me out here.


    And since most of us have upgraded our sway bars we could have changed the over/under factory set steering.


    And since most every driver today is driving over the speed limit, when you go into a turn a little too fast how do you want your SS to respond? Over, under or right on?


    And answered?...

    wacky-squared

  • If your really interested in not over steering or under steering just ride/drive in ditches. You will have a left bank and a right back on each side of you to keep you centered.

  • The Slingshot has huge oversteer issues because of the lack of rear traction, especially when accelerating out of a corner after the apex. This is why the traction control / stability control is so important on this vehicle.

    With both nannies on and functioning, the vehicle is pretty neutral though. It is dang near impossible to get a Slingshot to understeer. You rarely see understeer, but when really pushing hard, you see oversteer issues quite frequently.

    Luckily, most people will never drive their Slingshots hard enough to have to worry about either one...



    In the track video below, I am running traction control off and stability control on. Even is this configuration, you can see how careful I am on throttle control out of the corners to make sure I don't have a bunch of oversteer on every corner exit.





    Owner of Slingshot #263 that has some stock parts left on it. :D