How Does the Driver Control

the Car?
The Driver and Car Handling - accelerating,
(Introduction to the article in the Technical
braking and cornering.
Pages.)
From a control point of view, cornering is the
most demanding and interesting for analysis.
A new perspective.

Dale Thompson
Racing Car Technology
www.racing-car-technology.com.au
info@racing-car-technology.com.au
Note: In vehicle dynamics terminology, cornering or turning
of the vehicle is referred to as yaw or yawing of the
vehicle.
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The Weight Transfer

In this web site, we recommend to you our spreadsheet calculations, the
Worksheet
Racing Car Technology Weight Transfer Worksheet (WTW). Weight transfer

considerations are now common in procedures for suspension tuning.

Working with race cars over a number of years, we have shown the WTW
can give good results. The WTW remains the only fully tested, fully
documented weight transfer calculator, that anyone can use.
But it does not represent how the car works. Some will say at this point,
How else could it work? The predominant view amongst the racing and
performance car community is that handling and control must be about the
weight transfer and chassis roll.
At universities all around the world, engineers are now taught the single
track model. The Society of Automotive Engineers have mandated a whole
raft of standards and conventions that allow vehicle dynamics engineers to
talk the same language.
Using the ideas, we can gain a truer understanding of oversteer and
understeer. We highlight how the driver controls the car.
Of the TV show Top Gear, How can The Stig drive really,
really Fast? This video explains our ideas in general
terms. See www.youtube.com/racingcartech.

For more details see our w

Driver Feel for the Car

The interaction between the driver and racing car, his feel for the car, is
described by Michael Schumacher (circa 1995),
"You have to have the senses in your whole body, that come up to your
brain, and then, in the end, you have to transfer the information to
the steering wheel. It is how you do this that is the difference
between drivers, between those who are sensitive, who have more
feeling, and those who may be as sensitive but are not able to
transfer that into their driving.
He expresses a level of uncertainty about whether it is the feeling, or
what you do with it, that counts.
What it is the driver is sensing? How does the driver control the car?
Well start with what happens to the car in a corner. (The following
diagrams are based on the single track model)
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Cornering Very Slow

Copyright C Racing Car Technology 2007

CofG
Vehicle
C/L

Very slow turning, no slip

angles at the tyres. The
curved path of the CofG is
shown. Instantaneous
direction of travel is at right
angles to turn radius, R.
Instantaneous Turn
is the attitude angle
Centre
Car is pointing out from the
turn.
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Inst. Dir.
Travel

Vehicle
path

Cornering Neutral Steer,

Copyright path
C Racing Car Technology 2007
maintain the intended

Vehicle
C/L

CofG

R
Vehicle path, Inst. Dir. Of
Travel, turn radius, R all the
same as previous diagram.
But now the lateral force
acting on the tyres forces
slip angles, , front and
rear. The vehicle rotates in
the direction of the turn.
The car is now pointing
into the corner.

Inst. Dir.
Travel

Vehicle
path
The neutral vehicle
maintains the
intended path

Instantaneous Turn
Centre
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Cornering Oversteer, a tighter

path.
Copyright C Racing Car Technology 2007
Note:
The rear tyres
are not sliding

Vehicle
C/L

CofG

If slip angles increase at the

rear, faster than the front, the car
will rotate further in the direction
of the turn, increasing the
attitude angle, . The turn
Instantaneous Turn
radius, R will shorten as shown.
Centre
The vehicle will steer a tighter
path, as shown.
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Inst. Dir.
Travel

Intended
Vehicle Path

Oversteer
Vehicle Path

Cornering Understeer, a wider

Copyright C Racing Car Technology 2007
path.
Note:
The front tyres
are not sliding.

Vehicle
C/L

CofG

If slip angles increase at the

front, faster than the rear, the
car will rotate out of the turn,
reducing the attitude angle.
Turn radius, R is lengthened,
as shown. The vehicle will
steer a wider path as shown.

Understeer
Vehicle Path

Inst. Dir.
Travel

Instantaneous Turn
Centre
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Intended
Vehicle
path

Attitude Angle at the Centre of

Gravity
Rear axle attitude angle

Attitude Angle

Front axle attitude angle

Attitude angle, the angle between vehicle centre line and direction of travel, is
also known as float angle, body slip angle, beta angle. It is a function of
the front and rear slip angles, as shown in previous diagrams.
The attitude angle varies at different points along the centre line of the car. For
our purposes, we consider it at the centre of gravity. In the next slide we
demonstrate how unbalanced lateral forces at the front and rear tyres will cause a
change in attitude angle, and thus be an instant indicator to the driver of the
understeer/oversteer balance of the car.

For more details see our w

Balanced, or unbalanced
lateral forces at the
tyres
Moments around the centre of
b

gravity will leave us with a net

rotational force around the CG.

CG

Front

Attitude Angle
FR

FF

For neutral steer, FF x a = FR x b, ie the rotational forces are

balanced. FF x a > FR x b, the car is in oversteer increasing attitude
angle. FF x a < FR x b, the car is in understeer decreasing attitude
angle.
It is clear from the previous slides that the car is not rotating around
the CG. The turn centre is moving and turn radius is lengthening and
shortening.
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Oversteer and Understeer

Maximising grip at all four tyres is the initial aim. So tyre

selection, temps, pressures, cambers, toe etc are of
prime importantance. But because of the transient
nature of handling, (corner entry, mid corner, exit), it also
works out we also maximise overall grip with attention to
spring frequency - springs, ARBs and shocks controlling
ride, roll pitch rate.
But suspension tuners also have to be able to balance
the car for oversteer/understeer - grip of the front wheel
pair versus grip of the rear wheel pair as per previous
slides. Ideally we look to stick the loose end so as to
increase overall grip. Sometimes that cannot be done.
So for example, we might choose a compromise balance
that optimises corner exit acceleration at the expense of
some mid corner grip.
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Whats ahead in the Technical

Pages?

The article further explores the notion of the attitude angle being the
primary source of feedback to the driver. The driver can feel the
change in attitude of the car, over and above the expected attitude
angle generated by the vehicle when in neutral steer. The driver is
extremely sensitive to the car balance, but largely unaware of
overall grip. But give him/her a little extra grip and he will use it and
go faster, while reporting the car unchanged.
Although a very intuitive concept for drivers, it remains largely
ignored by mainstream suspension tuners and race engineers. This
may be because of the difficulty of constructing a reasonable, easy
to understand model. By taking a new perspective on understeer
and oversteer, as per the diagrams in this intro, we offer a model
that can predict and explain the motion of the car.
To get the full article, please subscribe on the front page of our web
site. Or contact me direct about subscribing without using Paypal, if
you prefer. info@racing-car-technology.com.au
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