PMC

Effect of Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) During Oversteer and Understeer Scenarios

Velocity and control weight change in the oversteer case (passive user): (a) change, (b) change.

Velocity and control weight change in the oversteer case (active user): (a) change, (b) change.

High-speed turning strategy. Experienced drivers never follow a central path turning approach because of the high speed at which they travel. Instead, they follow a path, as highlighted by the quintessential approach in Fig. 8. It is essential to understand the way a sharp turn is made in order to appreciate the advantage of a slightly positive net Z-force. Each millisecond is critical in F1, and thus, drivers tend to waste as minimal time as possible at turns. Following the central path turning approach would require a greater amount of steering input resulting in heavy braking from very high triple-digit speeds. For avoiding the factors of loss of time and improving stability characteristics, the drivers reduce their speeds by a small amount and pass through the point of entry. Some amount of oversteer is desirable at this point, and drivers make the right use of their steering-brake combination in order to facilitate this. Drivers never want excessive oversteer because that would deviate them from their turning approach and possibly lead to an accident. A little bit of oversteer helps the drivers make their rear wheels spin more and record higher speeds during turns, ultimately resulting in lesser loss of time. As soon as they partially drift their way to exit point, they counter steer in order to do away with the oversteer and then accelerate again on the straight path.