Controlling a skid: Advice from Consumer Reports

[ktonkin3]

Darkrider and Drive, I think you're both right, but I just feel like her instructions are unclear. To someone who's never experienced oversteer, it might sound like she is suggesting not to alter steering, which could result in someone getting hurt.

[suggesttwo]

@ktonkin3 look and steer in the direction you want to go. This will compensate for understeer, oversteer, brakesteer and torquesteer

[ktonkin3]

If you are trying to make a left turn and your back wheels begin to slide out to the right, then the advice of "turn the wheel where you want to go" would seem to imply continue turning left. Doing this would exacerbate the slide and maybe cause a spin. This is my problem with the unclear advice.

[BMWBurnoutM3]

Better advice: Take a skid control class

[CDTbossy]

LOL this is standard practice for people who want drivers license in Europe. I was/am way better than these kids to control a skid :P Oh and btw you can have as much fun in a FWD as in a RWD car by using the handbrake on slippery surfaces (ice, wet) while turning forcing the car sideways, McDonald trays under the rear wheels are also a good way to "pretend" or "play" RWD in a FWD car, tough I would only recommend it for an experienced person in a large open space.

[ktonkin3]

@HappyDiscoDeath I don't disagree with the experts at all. If you watch the video, the professionals control their skids by turning towards the skid when their back wheels lose traction. So they are correct. The narration is whats misleading. It implies that if you are trying to go left, and your back wheels begin to slide, that you should continue to turn the wheel left. Doing that would cause a spin or loss of traction of all wheels. Turning briefly towards the skid is the correct advice, not

[andrenj1970]

NO U CAN'T DO IT HAHA

[Alex19al]

WOW! i can be just like ken block now! time to hit the school zones:)

[reevsaj]

Most of those cars were front wheel drive anyway, so it's not like they are going to be doing doughnuts in them...

[ktonkin3]

Her advice to turn in the direction you want to go if your back wheels begin to skid is patently wrong. That would make you MORE likely to spin out. You should turn in the direction of the skid to regain traction and then turn in the direction you want to go. If she watched the Mustang and Camaro earlier in the vid, she would have seen the drivers of those cars doing that to control their slides.

[HappyDiscoDeath]

@ktonkin3 leave the driving safety stuff to the experts. these guys know what they're doing, and in comparison, you're looking like some random person trying to troll the video. it's easy to see the Consumer Reports is the one to side with, and troll is equal or greater than epic fail.

[tag7100]

@ktonkin3 The Mustang and Camaro drivers were the pros, demonstrating huge drifts- the point of the video was to teach new drivers how to handle a little slide on normal roads and maintain control.

[darkrider789]

@ktonkin3 maybe i missed it... she said turn in the direction you want to go, which to me says keep the front wheels oriented in the line you want to take... or am i just that much better of a driver than her that my mind autoproofread it?

either way, she needs to learn how to be more clear lol.

[Drive571]

"Turning into the skid" is exactly what she means by steering "where you want to go." If you're oversteering, then you want to turn *less* than the car is currently turning. So you turn away from the oversteer until the car straightens out and you straighten the steering--because now the car is going where you want it to go.

[defactowood]

this is important to new drivers. Thank you, consumer reports.

[GordanMFreeman]

this is pretty basi stuff

just saying

[HappyDiscoDeath]

@GordanMFreeman true, some drivers might know how to handle a skid, but some don't. that is why they uploaded this video, for the sake of drivers who don't know how to deal with a skid.

[blackseries99]

this is fun