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A lot gets written about steering techniques. Push-pull, fixed input, rotational, palming-it-round-with-one-hand-like-a-van-driver and so on. This ignores and obscures what is really important about steering which is what one should be trying to achieve when steering:-
- Steering as little as possible
- A light, sensing grip on the wheel
- Early application of some steering to set the car
- Smooth application of the main input
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steering as little as possible
Steering is evil. It unsettles the car. It slows it down and creates drag. It uses up grip that could be used for other things, and it increases the likelihood of a driver error. Regrettably, when faced with a corner, not steering is more evil, but we should only steer as little as possible to get the car round a corner, so keeping our grip reserves intact, the car balanced and reducing drag.
A light, sensing grip on the wheel
Most modern cars have a very light steering wheel - power-steering and other features mean that it is rare that more than your fingertips are needed to turn the front wheels. And this is a good thing as the steering wheel is also your best guide to the level of grip available at the tyres - but you can only feel this with a light grip.
As you turn the wheel, the tyres try to push back. You can try this: notice how hard it to turn the wheel when stationary on tarmac (although don't make a habit of this as it damages your tyres). The key is to then compare this with wet grass, which feels much lighter at the wheel. There's a lot more to this subject, but suffice for the moment to note that there's no excuse for hanging on like grim death to the wheel, and many benefits in having a light fingertip touch.
Early application of some steering to set the car
Tyres work by deforming slightly as you turn the wheel so the rim and the tread are pointing in a different directions. This builds up over a few revolutions of the wheel, and takes about 1/4s to establish in the front wheels. As the rear wheels don't respond until the front wheels start moving, the rear tyres start helping the cornering after about half a second. This is the relaxation time of the tyre, and there's nothing you can do about it.
The answer is to turn a little bit. A tiny bit. A hint in the direction of the corner early on. This allows the tyres to get ready to respond to the main input more quickly and to get to their maximum grip quickly when you need it. The quicker the tyres respond, the less steering you will be inclined to put on.
Smooth application of the main input
So you've got yourself to the right point in the corner, you've hinted as above -- the car is balanced, you are settled under the power and now you want to get on with the corner. This would be a terrible time to chuck the wheel hard over. Cornering is where balance and grip are the most important and a really smooth steering input is required to keep it that way. It's also extremely uncomfortable for your passenger to have a huge steering input thrown onto them; it's really quite poor driving to throw the car at the corner.
Try turning the wheel more slowly and deliberately -- as if you are squeezing it round -- applying a constant force to the rim (with those fingertips) rather than aiming to get to maximum deflection as quickly as possible. And then once you have got to your chosen maximum deflection hold it there and let the car do the work to get round the corner.
Similarly - unwind the steering smoothly - this can be done more quickly that feeding it on, and with the power applied as you exit the corner, so that the corner never has a definite end - it just blends into the next straight.
The usual disclaimers apply - these are just my views from driving and do not constitute advice or instruction. Comments and debate are welcome in this thread, reputation points gratefully received.
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