Simple Oversteer/Understeer Question

[nukefission]

With all the reading I've done on oversteer/understeer, I haven't been able to extract the answer to this simple question: for either condition, do they occur under part throttle, WOT, deceleration, neutral.... ??? Which one?
Thanks.

[91eclipsegsx16boy]

well ever take a nice 90 deg turn too fast and notice that although your wheel is turned youre still headed straight? that's understeer. usually breaks help, but if youre in the right gear givin' it some gas will actually straighten ya up a bit. oversteer is usually WOT the ass end will kick out and too much youll spin.

that's my understanding
-aaron

[greenstreak]

Those conditions can be from any type of throttle position depending on the car and the suspension geometry.

[TrboMike]

Any car can be made to under or oversteer if you do something silly enough. When you read about a car having a tendency to over or understeer in magazines they're talking about near the limit in a corner.

You can go to a parking lot and jump on and off the gas while you yank the wheel and get it to plow (understeer) or spin (oversteer). But if you were holding a steady corner in a Corolla (a FWD car designed with a lot of understeer for safety) and stood on the gas it would go straight (bad understeer). If you were in a 70's Porsche 911 (engine behind rear axle and strong tendency to oversteer) and did the same thing that sucker would come around on you and you'd be going backwards in a second.

So when you read about a car under or oversteering they're usually talking about at or near the limit in a corner and you give it more or less gas and see how the car reacts.