Why does the driver reduce the speed of the gdz when cornering. Cornering

1) Slow down your speed.

2) Dramatically increase the speed.

3) "Squeeze out" the clutch and change gears.

4) Change the trajectory by decreasing the turning radius (turn steering wheel).

Now I will explain. I will try to be brief, but convincing. First of all, let's agree that in this case turn, we call the movement of the car under an arc turned by a certain angle of the wheels. This can happen both on a real bend in the road, and on a straight section, at intersections, etc.

1). Why is it impossible to sharply reduce the speed on the turning arc? Let's remember what happens to a car when it brakes when it moves in a straight line. Where does all its mass go? straight ahead, while the wheels try to turn the car to the side. As long as the speed is low, the wheels win even when braking. But at the “boundary”, and even more so at the “critical” speed of movement under the corner of the turn, when the delicate balance of force is already disturbed and the centrifugal force begins to dominate, the inertial forces arising during braking or when “releasing the gas” (sometimes even this is enough) act directly helping precisely the centrifugal force. The result is that the car tends to slide to the outer radius, straighten the turning arc and move in a straight line. By the way, in such situations, with the beginning of sliding, you will feel the difference in the behavior of cars with different types of drive.

2) Why can't you increase the speed dramatically? If, moving out at the corner of the turn at a “low” speed, you press the gas, the speed of your car will increase, the effect of centrifugal force will increase accordingly, at first it will become “borderline” or only then “critical”. passed the turn, at best reaching the beginning of the "boundary" speed. Well, with the exception of the "especially gifted" who have time to reach the "critical" speed at each turn. A if you are already moving on the "border"? Add gas, the speed will become "critical" and the car will slip. Once again, I want to remind you that a person acquires the habit of “adding gas” at the arc of a turn while passing turns at a “lower” speed, since she forgives him for this, he ceases to notice and be afraid of this action. Getting into a turn at the "boundary" speed, he reflexively "adds gas" and then, feeling an even greater heel or sliding of the car, releases it with fright or presses the brake - we return to the first point (you cannot slow down). As a result, the car begins to lose its trajectory. It’s good if it’s still so, otherwise it happened that a person “wedges” out of surprise, he thinks that he is pressing the brake (the first defensive reaction), and he himself forgot to move his foot from the gas to the brake, now the fun begins, at least endure the saints. In general, options are possible. And if briefly. With an increase in speed, the effect of centrifugal force on the car increases and this can provoke a lateral slip of the car off the road.

3) Why you can not change gears and squeeze the clutch.

Here it would not hurt to remember what is in the gearbox: something is spinning there. Yes, those same gears that we have already talked about. Some of them are larger, others are smaller, and they spin faster or slower, respectively, transferring engine speed through the rest of the transmission to the wheels. At the same engine speed, the “higher” the gear, the faster the wheels will spin. In short, if you turn on a “lower” gear, the gear will try to spin the wheels more slowly, and if you turn on a “higher” gear, faster. In conditions of insufficient grip of the wheels with the road that occurs at the "boundary" and "critical" cornering speeds, this is the same as braking sharply or adding gas. We return to the first two points - it is dangerous to slow down on the turning arc, you can not add gas. For advanced "racers" I remind you of the most common reaction of a car, the sliding of the drive axle.

4) Why it is impossible to change the trajectory by reducing the turning radius (turn the steering wheel to the center of the turn).

To begin with, we agree that any turn (roadway) has a width and we can build the trajectory of the turn in different ways. Either on the outside of the turn, or on the inside, or in the middle, or something else. The choice is yours. We remember that the steeper the turn, the slower it must be passed. Let's return to the conditions of insufficient grip of the car's wheels with the road at "boundary" and "critical" speeds. If for your trajectory of cornering, the speed is such that the car barely keeps on the arc of the turn, or is already slowly sliding to the side, under the action of centrifugal force. Then, in this case, as soon as we turn the steering wheel more abruptly, we will immediately get all the “charms” of movement at too high a speed for the increased steepness of the turn. The car slips even more out of the corner. Attempts to slow down lead to even more slippage. Once again, let me dig into your brains and remind you that, having got used to the unambiguity of the responses of the car at a low speed, in this situation, where the responses of the car are inadequate, we get lost and either “freeze in a deep sorry”, or automatically perform control actions from another operas.

As it turned out, it is practically impossible to change the already started action on the turning arc, all the basic methods of driving a car: working with gas, brake, gear shifting, steering threaten with loss of controllability. Of course this is so, but still there are some nuances. Well, firstly, let me remind you once again that the “low” speed forgives us everything. Most drivers go through turns on it, and if for any reason you had to do something from the above, tell yourself “Down, down!” and next time try not to repeat the mistake, so as not to get used to the dangerous action. Secondly, a skilled driver can afford to change the trajectory by adjusting the degree of slippage. To do this, you must not only complete a one-time course of counter-emergency training, but then continue training throughout your entire automotive life. Thirdly, on modern cars, “smart” electronics correct your wrong actions when the car slips. But still! Develop a safe habit of cornering with constant light throttle to maintain the vehicle speed you braked to in preparation for the corner, no braking, no shifting, in one turn of the steering wheel (no turning it back out of the corner). Because, either the electronics will fail at the wrong moment, or the car will get caught without all these systems (believe me, they are still produced enough by manufacturers), and even though these systems help, they still help in average situations and for those who understand at least something in slips

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turns

Turning technique

The recommendations in this chapter can be summarized in two sections. The first ones involve actions that protect the car from getting into critical situations, the second - counter-emergency control methods. Among those and others, there are options that are quite affordable even for an untrained driver, although some of the most effective techniques require a higher level of professional skill and systematic training work.

Proactive Actions

• When approaching a turn, try to determine the steepness of the curve (category of the turn) and its complexity (length of the curve, shape of the curvature, nature of the pavement, the presence of a shoulder, the slope of the roadbed, types of bumps). Focus not to make a mistake and not underestimate the turn category.
• Determine the critical speed of an approaching turn and compare it with your actual vehicle to determine the best braking method: either light or emergency. Consider your own capabilities (skill).
• By slowing down before an unknown turn, you will lose less than 1 second, because you can start acceleration at the exit earlier. But you will get a safety margin that will exclude the possibility of getting into a critical situation.
• Move the vehicle to the outside of the roadbed before entering the turn to increase the radius of travel and reduce centrifugal force. If the road is two-lane with oncoming traffic, then the shift is performed on the occupied lane.
• It is almost impossible to continue intensive braking and try to simultaneously go to the arc. Complete one operation first, and then move on to the next. You can apply the brakes on the curve, but first you complete the entrance.
• Shift down during the approach phase while the vehicle is stable on the road. In a turn, this action can break stability.
• If you are in doubt about which gear to go around a corner, protect yourself from a critical situation by shifting to a lower gear. This will allow you to maintain engine power at a relatively high RPM.

Counter-emergency actions

• Before starting the maneuver, load the front wheels with the weight of the car, using one of the braking options for this: engine (sharply stop the fuel supply), downshifting, service brake (stepped or intermittent reception). Be sure to time the maneuver to the moment of release in the last braking force.
• After beginning to enter the turn, immediately apply traction to the drive wheels (depress the throttle pedal gently). This will increase the vehicle's handling and ability to counteract centrifugal force.
• Do not try to immediately go to the inner radius. By reducing the radius, you increase the centrifugal force and create difficulties for yourself in the second part of the turn. Build a path with a maximum radius (smoothing path), starting and ending the turn on the outside, and at the steepest part, transitioning inward.
• If the vehicle is approaching a turn in high gear, it is possible to downshift corresponding to a certain category of turn already on the arc. But the inclusion must be "soft" so that there is no acceleration or deceleration, which will lead to skidding of the car.
• Do not use impulse braking techniques (stepped and intermittent) on a turn at a critical speed. They can cause the vehicle to lose stability due to short-term or long-term blocking of the wheels. Benefit from gentle braking with a small constant force, but remember that this is also limited. You will be able to extinguish the excess speed by no more than 20 km/h.
• Beware of bumps under the outer wheels of the car. These wheels provide stability. A wheel jumping or falling into a hole can cause side slip. Roughness on the turn is best overcome in a straight line, using the "double stroke" trajectory for this. This toolpath includes two mini-turns and a transition line or curve in between.
• On a front-wheel drive car, a sharp short-term closing of the throttle in an arc causes the rear axle to slip. This moment can be used to reorient the car inside the turn. However, this must be followed by traction to create a stabilizing moment and increase the stability of the car.
• Pass a sharp turn in a high-speed way not along a classic arc, but along a polyhedron (broken path). Such a trajectory will allow you to avoid a blunder. Achieve this with short steering impulses with an amplitude of less than 1 cm and variable throttling.
• Before increasing the crankshaft speed to the maximum, put the car at the exit of the turn on four points of support, having achieved the same load on all wheels. To do this, you need to align it and move it to the outside of the turn.
• If before entering the turn you failed to extinguish the critical speed, then stop braking and sharply enter the car into an arc, directing it to the inner side of the road. The centrifugal force will immediately rip it into a side slip, which will allow you to extinguish the excessive speed.
• When the car is sliding with the front wheels, don't make the mistake of turning the steering wheel to a steeper angle and even harder to depress the brake pedal. Decrease (!) the steering angle of the wheels, load the front wheels with braking and make a re-entry.
• If you find yourself in a situation involving side-slip (drift) or rotation of the car, and, while struggling to stabilize it, you lose power, try to quickly change to a lower gear. This will restore power to the car.
• Beware of the vehicle's side-slip turning into a spin. Eliminate braking and sudden throttling in such a situation. Take advantage of the quick engagement and disengagement of the clutch. This technique will allow you to equalize the speed of rotation of all wheels.
• While in the curve, maintain a constant steady thrust of the engine. You can load the sliding front wheel and stop the sliding of the rear wheels with a short "gas cover". But it is impossible to completely stop throttling. This will cause a loss of vehicle stability and controllability.
• Respond to the resulting skid by sharp jerky taxiing in the direction of the skid and a quick return (alignment) of the steering wheel to its original position.
• When a front-wheel drive vehicle skids, it is not necessary to respond by turning the steering wheel in the direction of the skid. For alignment, you can use the sliding of the front axle, caused by sharp throttling.
• Controlled skidding in a corner on slippery roads can do the double good of slowing down the vehicle and helping to counteract the centrifugal force if you increase the engine speed. However, to use it for good, you need to have the skill to stabilize the car in such an unstable state.
• A skid can turn into a spin; if you are late in reacting, take stabilizing action at low speed or drastically increase the engine speed.
• By reacting to a skid late with the throttle closed, you run the risk of causing a skid in the opposite direction. Do not wait for it to occur and stay ahead of it by jerky steering at the moment when the car changes the direction of the skid and, as it were, “freezes” in an unstable position.
• A skid can turn into an uncontrolled side slip if you block all wheels by braking. Both when skidding and when rotating, do not use the brake pedal. The position of the car is regulated only by throttling and high-speed taxiing.
• If you have turned 180 ° in a skid, immediately disengage the clutch, and if you do not have time, turn the steering wheel all the way in the direction of rotation. This will "turn" the car to a 360° angle and you will be able to move in the forward direction again.
• Remember that it is very dangerous after an unexpected rotation or a critical skid to be across the road both in the stream of cars and on a narrow carriageway. By blocking the road, you force other drivers into a collision. Use rotational inertia or steering and throttling techniques to "turn" the car to a 180° or 360° angle. Even if your car is in the oncoming lane, it is much easier to go around it if it has not stood across the traffic and blocked the road.
• When, after your mistake, the car will take out from the roadway and the two outer wheels will be in a deep ditch, do not immediately try to return it to the road by a sharp turn of the steering wheel. In an unstable deep tilt position, this action will result in a rollover. First, return the car to stability, and then try to return it to the road.

Turning tactics

There is a whole area of ​​driving knowledge, skills and abilities associated with cornering at high speed. It is no coincidence that all high-speed motor sports: circuit racing, rallying, cross-country racing, track racing, etc. are connected to one degree or another with the skill of cornering. The riders of the highest qualifications have a technique and control tactics that are simply filigree and super stable. Watching Formula 1 races, you are often amazed that the difference in the results of passing a circle longer than 3 km with a dozen difficult turns is hundredths of a second for different athletes. But even great riders make mistakes. Most often this happens because they exceed the so-called "speed barrier" - the level of psychological, physiological and technical safety.

Getting into an extreme situation on the track, the racer can only rely on the reflex reactions of his body, which are brought to a high degree of automatism. It is practically impossible to "pump" an acute situation through the consciousness - there is no necessary time for reflection. Or a reaction of anticipation (anticipation), or - an accident of varying severity.

If you compare a super racer on the track in the limit mode with an ordinary motorist who is trying too fast to pass a corner on a country road, then the second is obviously in a more dangerous situation. And it's not about skill level. There is another problem, no less important - the ability to predict one's own safety.

The racer, unlike an ordinary driver, really evaluates the speed limit and prepares for any surprises on the road. His heart during the race is constantly working in the limit mode (170-180 beats per minute). Having merged with the car into one whole, it receives express information from the working systems of the car, keeping the trajectory of movement, stability on the road, and controllability of the car by continuous correction. Understanding and anticipating the car's reactions to their own control actions, the racer intuitively gets ahead of problem situations, preventing the car from getting out of control.

An unprepared driver, getting into an acute situation on a turning arc, begins to understand the problem only after a mistake has been made and the car loses stability or controllability. Most often, the reaction to an error is inadequate due to a lack of skill and the necessary protective control technologies.

But still, the beginning of all problems is connected with the psychological perception of the situation and the forecast of the possibility of overcoming the turn at the speed at which the driver begins this maneuver.

Security Forecast

Experienced racers seriously believe that each turn has "its own last name, first name and patronymic", or rather the critical speed at which it can be overcome in accordance with skill, experience, surface condition and type of car.

Therefore, the first condition for the skill of predicting the situation is the driver's ability to compare the geometry (steepness) of the turn and the speed of the car at speeds over 200 km/h" and ending in the eighteenth, when the turn turns into a 180° turn and the vehicle's speed drops below 40 km/h. Athletes of the Master of Sports level slightly simplify the assessment and distinguish between up to 12 categories.

Experienced professional drivers and novice athletes believe that 7 categories are quite enough. In their version, a 90 ° turn has the serial number "5" and the critical speed of its passage ranges from 60 to 80 km / h, depending on the quality of the surface (ice or asphalt) and the width of the roadway.

The lower the driver's qualification, the more simplified and not always correct the turn assessment. Many quite experienced drivers believe that there are only 4 categories of turns: steep long, sharp and reverse. And the most inexperienced recognize only 2 categories: right and left.

Notes.
1. The following symbols are adopted in the table:
I-V - transfer number; PR - steering wheel turn; Z - loading of the front wheels; TD - engine braking; T - braking with a service brake; TS - parking brake braking; KP - gearbox.
2. The range of critical speed is not only related to the steepness of the arc, but also to the coefficient of grip of the tires with the road.

But after all, even a slight mistake in underestimating the steepness of the turn puts the driver in the face of a real critical situation.

Many times in my coaching career I have encountered such mistakes even by experienced athletes.

At the Russian Rally Championship, in the right turn of category No. 3 (critical speed of about 120 km / h), Viktor Eremin, the champion in the Volga car class, turned over four times. I was genuinely surprised by his crash in a perfectly standard turn, so I asked him to comment on his mistake. He explained to me that he went through this high-speed section twice in training and carefully dictated to the navigator the categories of all turns. But approaching this "unfortunate" he caught up with the truck and, passing the oncoming car, crawled after it at a speed of 40-50 km/h. It was impossible to see the geometry of the road because of the dusty truck, and only after the turn did he say to the navigator: "Write down the right one cool, then we'll check and clarify."

During the check, the situation completely repeated itself, only now two carts with hay were driving around on the road and we had to slow down to a complete stop. When the navigator asked: "Shall we correct or leave it as it is?" Victor replied that there was no need to correct it. And already during the race, the navigator read the written term "Right one is cool", and Victor entered the turn at a speed of 155 km / h. And only after the entrance I realized that this was a turn of category No. 3 and a speed of 120 km / h was needed here.

With this example, I wanted to explain how an erroneous prediction leads to an accident even for experienced drivers. For those who have not acquired the necessary experience and mature caution, the best way out is reinsurance and overbraking before turning any category. There is always an opportunity to start acceleration earlier and return the extinguished speed. Probably, the Russian proverb will be true here: "Slower you drive - you will continue."

Difficulty of turns

By way of passing turns are divided into easy, difficult and very difficult. The differences between them are determined not so much by the steepness of the arc, but by the tactical pattern of the passage trajectory.

Simple turns of any category have a relatively short break and a constant radius. To pass such a turn in high-speed mode, two technologies are most often used. On an asphalt surface, after loading the front wheels with the weight of the car (engine braking after a sharp release of the gas pedal, switching to a lower gear at the last moment before the maneuver, the last impulse of braking with a service brake), you need to turn the steering wheel sharply enough and immediately return it smoothly to the “straight” position. This maneuver can be called the "rotation - alignment" method. If the speed is low and there is no need to fear loss of control, both actions are performed smoothly, but the first part of the arc should be steeper than the next.

On slippery roads, when hard steering can cause the front wheels to slip, the vehicle turns at the minimum steering angle due to the slip of the rear axle. A rear-wheel drive car is transferred to a metered skid by slipping the drive wheels, a front-wheel drive car - by a sharp release of gas at the beginning of the arc, or by "gas-brake" reception. This technique is performed without releasing the gas, and the rear wheels are blocked by braking with the left foot. An all-wheel drive car is directed into a turn in one way or another, but the first option involves spinning all four wheels.

Difficult turns differ from simple turns primarily in the length of the arc, i.e. between turning the car and its alignment there is an additional phase of movement along the arc. Therefore, here the way of passing can be characterized as follows: "turn - balance - alignment". Each of the phases has its own characteristics and difficulties.

• In the first phase arc entry uses a two-stage "smooth - fast" steering technology. At first, the steering wheel turns gently. The car reacts to this with a slight roll, which "loads" the so-called front thrust wheel (outer relative to the turn). This situation is used to quickly turn the steering wheel to the desired angle. Although these two actions differ in speed of execution, they must be inseparable. The ideal condition for entering the arc)" is the consistent application of the following techniques: "loading" (transferring part of the car's weight to the front wheels), "overloading" (shifting the weight on the thrust wheel), "sending to the arc" (turning the wheels to the required angle) and "traction" (bringing the drive wheels into an arc). Professionally trained racers say that this technology allows you to literally "screw" into the turn, preventing the steered wheels from slipping. It is very important that the wheels are turned to the desired angle at the entrance, excluding further turning in a turn.
• In the second phase When the car is kept on the arc, it is important to create a traction balance that ensures the balance of the "car-road" system, correction of the trajectory and controllability of the car with short steering actions. The way in which the accelerator can be used to keep the car on a curve without side slip is called "zero" or "balancing" gas by athletes. Naturally, both a fully released and a sharply pressed gas pedal on the arc will not allow maintaining this rather unstable balance. A fully released gas pedal on a front-wheel drive car is especially dangerous. It provokes the occurrence of skidding, and in some cases, the rotation of the car.
• In the third phase the vehicle is aligned for straight-line driving. It is accompanied by "yielding steering", when the athlete prevents the wheels from self-aligning and smoothly increases traction. In this phase, a hard pull on a rear-wheel drive car creates a skid, a front-wheel drift on a front-wheel drive car, and a rhythmic skid on a four-wheel drive car.

0-1. An approach. Reduce speed to optimum. Offset of the car outside the lane to build a smoothing trajectory. Activate the optimal transmission. 2. Login. Transfer of the car to an arc of rotation after braking is completed. Increasing the downforce of the steered wheels by artificially loading the front axle with the weight of the car. The use of steering technologies that prevent the front wheels from slipping off the path. 3. Movement in an arc. Balance of stability and controllability with dosed traction, trajectory correction by the steering wheel. Cutting off the steep part of the arc. 4. Exit. Path alignment. Moving the vehicle outward to evenly load the wheels and create room for increased traction.

On a slippery road, it is difficult to achieve effective loading of the front wheels and, moreover, the redistribution of weight on the thrust wheel. Therefore, it is better to accompany the entrance to the turn by slipping the rear wheels. To immediately create the desired sliding angle, either a “counter-shift” is used (a smooth envelope maneuver that swings and turns the car at the entrance), or a “counter-skid” (mini-skid in the direction opposite to the turn), which turns the car with an intense overhang of the rear axle.

Directly on the arc of a complex high-speed turn, drivers of cars with different drives use different methods of passing.

• RWD are kept on a slippery road in a "controlled skid", where part of the thrust is used to move forward, the other part resists the centrifugal force. By slipping the rear wheels, the necessary balance of traction and the angle of the car's turn relative to the trajectory are maintained.
• For front wheel drive two technologies are more typical. Either when the wheels are turned, the traction is adjusted so that excessive slip does not straighten the trajectory of movement, or a polyhedral trajectory is built when, with the rear wheels sliding (the "gas-brake" technique), you can direct the car inside the turn.
• For all-wheel drive three technologies. One is reminiscent of the technology used by rear wheel drive vehicles and is accompanied by a series of skid-leveling actions. The other is similar to the front-wheel drive method, in which the wheels are turned inward, and traction is limited by the angle of their rotation. The third method is typical only for all-wheel drive vehicles. The car is heading into the corner, and then a powerful spin of all wheels puts it into a lateral controlled slip

Very difficult turns are characterized by non-standard trajectory or too long bending geometry. There are a great many models of such turns. Firstly, these are the so-called articulated turns with the same radii. One of the varieties of such a turn is the "hippodrome". Rallists record it in the transcript as a left 3-3-3. These types of turns are found on mountain roads with steeper slopes, such as 5-5-5 or 4-4. Entering such a turn with excess of the critical speed automatically highlights the extreme mode of movement on the arc on the verge of loss of stability and controllability of the car. Standard braking techniques become dangerous, and athletes reduce speed by side-sliding the car. It requires, above all, a level of skill. A driver who is not too familiar with high-speed control technologies is best to use "overbraking" before entering such a turn.

Even more difficult are long turns with a smooth start and turn on the arc, especially in those cases when they are closed for a full view, which does not allow the driver to outline visual reference points for building the optimal trajectory. Looking ahead in a smooth arc, the driver enters the turn at high speed, not assuming that the steepness will increase. An experienced athlete, getting into such a situation, understands that by turning the wheels he will lose control. Therefore, non-standard actions are most often used: straighten the territory, slow down and turn the car again; move the car into a deep skid to reduce speed and direct the "face" of the car inward; to rip the car into a side slip and use it as a way of braking. You can, of course, try to brake with a service brake on an arc, but this braking should be dosed, careful, and the effort should be constant so as not to cause the front wheels to drift or the car to skid.

It should be noted that the safest car in difficult turns should be considered front-wheel drive. It can be easily forced to slide off the rear wheels to turn on the arc. But in order to do this, you need to master the "gas-brake" technology, which allows you to turn the car not with the front, but with the rear (!) wheels.

Another type of complex turns are S-shaped, when two arcs of different directions are connected by a common trajectory of the car. It is possible to build a safe trajectory on them due to a steeper maneuver on the first element, but not vice versa. If you quickly overcome the first part, then the final arc will have a greater steepness, and, consequently, a greater risk of loss of vehicle stability when changing direction.

In many cases, drivers unknowingly convert a simple turn into a difficult one due to inaccuracies in the construction of the trajectory of movement or due to errors in piloting technique.

The most common mistake- when the driver, fearing a high speed of movement, smoothly shifts the car inside the turn in advance and is forced to turn the wheels to a larger angle on an arc. The complication of the situation can also be associated with intense braking at the entrance to the turn, the complete release of the gas pedal on the arc, and sudden braking. These actions and many others do not allow the car to stay on the optimal trajectory and force the driver to make more and more gross mistakes, which, in high-speed mode, throw him off the roadway.

dangerous turns

If we consider the turns according to the degree of danger, then we can distinguish three levels, each of which requires a certain psychological concentration, increased, and in some cases the utmost attention, the accuracy of control actions and the accuracy of the movement trajectory.

• First level- these are turns that do not yet cause acute stress, but are already alarming according to the forecast. So, for example, a turn of medium steepness (categories 1, 2 and 3) after a long straight line requires increased attention, since it is necessary to accurately determine the beginning and end of braking, the landmark for starting the maneuver, and the nature of the trajectory. Prolonged movement in a straight line dulls attention, weakens the level of tension, and therefore an unprepared maneuver can cause inaccuracy in the transition to the desired trajectory. The situation is aggravated by slippery surfaces, bumps in the entrance, poor quality tires and suspension of the car, poor lighting and, most importantly, a low level of skill.

  An experienced driver before such a turn either slows down or increases the level of psychological tension (concentrates in proportion to the degree of danger and the complexity of the turn). On a mountainous or country winding road, increased attention is required when passing tighter turns, bundles of several elements, jumps and closed turns that are not completely visible. Right turns are considered more dangerous, because a gross mistake during their passage is fraught with an exit into the oncoming lane and the possibility of a head-on collision.

• Second level- dangerous turns, during the passage of which any mistake, even a minor one, immediately creates an extreme situation. The most characteristic are dangerous turns with a low friction coefficient (ice, snow, puddle, sand). The real danger is the roughness of the road, especially in those cases when they are under the "thrust" wheel (front outer relative to the direction of rotation). Throwing, jumping and failure of the wheel into the pit immediately deprive the car of stability and controllability. Dangerous turns with a negative slope, on the descent, at a break in the road (springboard). Naturally, just every difficult turn can become dangerous if you make a mistake in piloting.
• Third level- very dangerous turns in which high-speed traffic should be excluded. For example, a sharp turn in the middle of which the railway crossing rails are raised high. If you enter such a turn at speed, then the thrust wheel loaded with the weight of the car receives a crushing blow, the tubeless tire flies off the rim, and the disc (forged, stamped or any other) is destroyed and cannot be restored. But it happens that an injured disc is only the beginning of a problem that affects the car's suspension elements, body spars, and tie rods. Everything can end with a rollover onto the roof. It is possible to overcome a very dangerous turn with bumps only after braking, almost to a complete stop of the car or to such a speed at which an accident or breakdown of the chassis of the car is excluded.

Right turns are almost always more dangerous than left turns due to the possibility of a head-on collision. The reflex reaction of the driver to the loss of control in a turn by sharp braking throws the car into the oncoming lane. Early inward movement of the car due to stress in response to overspeed creates a threat of overshoot in the tightest part of the corner. A released "gas" pedal on a front-wheel drive car provokes a skid and side slip into the oncoming lane. The reason for the vehicle to move outward may be a maneuver around an obstacle on the turning arc. An error in predicting the steepness and difficulty of the turn provokes driving in the oncoming lane.

! Turning any steepness after a long straight section requires increased attention due to loss of vigilance. !! Turning should be considered dangerous if the outer ("thrust") wheels get into a slippery surface, unevenness, viscous soil, water. Any turn can become dangerous due to erroneous actions of the driver (complete cessation of traction, turning the sliding wheels, sudden braking, early entry). !!! Turns are considered very dangerous if there are serious bends in the roadway, wide puddles, transverse obstacles (bumps, ledges, deep pits, tram rails, etc.).

Dangers posed by the driver himself

Most of the problems of loss of stability and controllability of the car on the turning arc are created by the driver himself as a result of erroneous actions. Although all controls - three pedals, steering wheel, two levers - are designed for optimal driving comfort, each of these controls is fraught with potential danger.

So, turning the steering wheel on a turning arc threatens to cause drift of the front wheels, braking with a complete blocking of the wheels leads to longitudinal uncontrolled slip, a sharp brake impulse provokes a skid, engaging a downshift on an arc without regassing and delaying the engagement of the clutch creates a drift or skid, depending on the characteristics. the drive of the car, disengaging the clutch (coasting) leads to the removal, the gas pedal released on the arc deprives the car of controllability.

If when driving in a straight line these errors are easily compensated and eliminated, then in a turn, especially at high speed, they become the causes of severe accidents.

I remember one of these extreme situations, which we accidentally witnessed on an ordinary road under ideal driving conditions.

We were approaching a Category 1 corner (critical speed around 150 km/h) at just over 130 km/h with a large margin of safety. A car VAZ-2107 started to meet us at the same speed. Not knowing the “loading” technique, the driver sent the car too smoothly into a turn and immediately completely released the gas pedal, fearing high speed. When the car began to endure a little, he sharply turned the wheels inward and tore the front wheels into a slip. Frightened by the squeak, squeal of tires and the demolition of the car, instead of helping the car to stay on the road with engine thrust, he sharply pressed the brake and did not release it until the car stopped with a powerful blow against a century-old tree.

Although we parted on the road instantly, we immediately realized the danger of the situation due to a preliminary maneuver and an incorrectly chosen trajectory. When the oncoming car disappeared from the rear mirror field of view, I immediately realized that he could not avoid misfortune. We immediately braked urgently and turned back. The sight was terrible. The tree entered the cabin from the passenger side and the right arm of a woman fastened with seat belts was torn off. She was unconscious, because she received multiple head injuries. The man, who was not wearing a seat belt, was hit in the chest and all of his front teeth were knocked out on the steering wheel.

Having broken down the passenger door, Yevgeny Barienikov, a teacher at the Center for Higher Driving Skills, and I first of all tried to stop the woman’s bleeding and, without taking her out of the car, fearing spinal injuries, quickly bandaged her using bandages from two car first-aid kits. Since at this early hour (4.30 am) there was not a single car on the road, E. Barienikov rushed for an ambulance, and I tried to help the man who came to his senses. He tried to talk to me, I tried to check his reflexes for the possibility of a concussion or a more severe injury. But, fortunately for him, he suffered easily. He was saved by the fact that he rested his hands on the steering wheel upon impact.

But in general, the result of his trip was deplorable. A driver with more than twenty years of experience turned out to be technically and psychologically unprepared for a not very difficult traffic situation, aggravating it with his actions.

High-speed cornering

Passing through a city intersection, or slowly moving in a stream of cars along a winding country road, we usually do not think about any special control technologies and optimal trajectories. But in vain! By winding kilometers of road on the wheels of a car, we form our own driving style, and by repeating it many times, we work out correct and sometimes incorrect actions that, in critical situations, throw us off the road to the side of the road or, even worse, into the oncoming traffic lane.

The main regulator of safety in a turn is speed. Raising it from minimal to critical, we consistently move from the zone of relative safety to the zone of risk, and then to the extreme and. God forbid, catastrophic. Under normal conditions (relative safety zone and low-speed traffic), the mistake made can be corrected in various ways:

• turn the steering wheel if you do not fit into the turn;
• change gear if you forgot to do it before turning; release the gas pedal if the speed is too high;
• slow down to a complete stop, if necessary.

In the risk zone (high-speed traffic, low friction coefficient), the program of control actions has many restrictions, and any, even a minor mistake, deprives the car of stability, controllability, or both at the same time.

Turn the steering wheel sharply on a slippery road when entering a turn - create a "drift" - slipping of the front wheels.

Turn the steering wheel even further to stay on the road - you get a little controllable forward sliding.

Apply the brakes hard and block the wheels - you will slide straight, despite the turned wheels.

Release the gas completely - you will feel the car drift to the outside of the turn on the rear wheel drive or skid on the front wheel drive.

Press the gas pedal sharply - get a skid on a rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive car.

To avoid all these misfortunes, you need to have a clear forecast of the car's behavior on your own actions in order to avoid mistakes, or such a level of driving skill that you can maintain stability and controllability with special techniques - self-insurance methods.

A mistake made in the risk zone immediately sends us to the zone of critical situations: lateral or longitudinal sliding, critical skidding, rotation and even capsizing.

A motorist without experience, who does not have special training, is doomed to failure because only correct reflex actions, brought to automatism, save here. If someone from the "inexperienced" and overcame such a situation, then we can consider this pure luck. Most often, in such situations, the driver does something that cannot be done in any way: brakes sharply, reacts with the steering wheel in the opposite direction, sits in the pose of an idol, shackled by stress and confusion.

Even top-class racing drivers cannot always overcome the dangerous situations created at a critical speed associated with the rotation of the car. But they cannot be accused of incompetence and misunderstanding of their car and the competitive situation. Riding on the edge of human capabilities constantly forces them to be in the zone of ultimate risk. The nervous system becomes blunted from extreme psychological stress and reacts to a mistake with a delay of 0.01-0.02 seconds. This delay often cannot be corrected in order to restore lost stability to the car.

After an extreme zone of movement, when it was not possible to correct the situation, we immediately find ourselves in a catastrophic zone when the car slides or flies off the roadway (depending on the initial speed) onto the side of the road. In order not to have to repair the car and resort to the services of doctors, in this zone you need to continue to actively fight for safety, and not sit in shock, passively watching the behavior of your car. In most cases, you need to force yourself to release the brake pedal reflexively in order to move from uncontrolled ballistic sliding to maneuvering, dodging trees, poles and other obstacles.

If an accident cannot be avoided, you need to try to avoid a frontal impact - the most dangerous situation for the life and health of the driver and passengers. Where the brake will not help, you need to apply emergency contact braking, crushing the corners of the bumper and the front fenders of the car on obstacles. These details contain the energy-absorbing properties of the passive safety of a modern car.

Falling out of the trajectory of the movement in the turn, some drivers are faced with the problem of rollover. Most often, they themselves provoke it with their wrong actions. When a leaning car rolls onto the side of the road, the driver turns the steering wheel to bring it back onto the road. This is where the error lies. Think back to what you did when you were riding a bike or motorcycle. To avoid falling when leaning sideways, you need to turn the steering wheel in the direction of the rollover. Similar actions are needed for the motorist. First, turn the steering wheel in the direction of the slope, and only after the roll is extinguished, and the car has four points of support, return it to the road. This recommendation is difficult to implement, because it involves initially refusing to return to the road and directing the car to the zone of imminent danger. But there is no other way. Otherwise, you will have to tumble through the roof and at the last moment remember that the seat belt is not fastened, so necessary in such a situation.

Of particular danger are fraught with turns on a slippery road in winter conditions. This danger is significantly increased on all-weather and, especially, on summer tires. The front steerable wheels become "vulnerable", and a sharp turn entry can create a partial loss of control - the phenomenon of "drift" of the front wheels. Most often, an inexperienced driver reacts to the unwillingness of the car to start turning with a reflex turn of the wheels to an even greater angle, which strengthens the "drift". This error is usually followed by the next one - sudden braking, leading to longitudinal slip with complete blocking of the wheels. As a result of a chain of successive errors that were imperceptible under normal conditions (dry asphalt), the car already at the beginning of the turn falls out of the desired trajectory and, sliding, goes to the side of the road.

High speed on the way to a long or sharp turn provokes the driver to another typical mistake - an early shift of the car to the inner radius. Clinging immediately inside, the driver is forced to start a turn with a small angle of rotation of the wheels, and in the course of opening the turn, turn the steering wheel on an arc. It's playing with fire, especially when you need to slow down. Steeply turned wheels in the middle of the arc, and even against the background of braking, instantly create a drift of the front wheels. Then, most often, the erroneous actions discussed in the previous episode follow, and the result is an uncontrolled longitudinal slip onto the side of the road or into the oncoming lane.

Rapid movement in a turn creates conditions for the unstable balance of the car. Even a slight roll, which cannot be avoided, loads the outer wheels with the weight of the car and unloads the inner ones. Therefore, when turning, the wheels react differently to control actions.

Excess or lack of traction, and even more intense braking, lead to skidding of the rear axle. A front-wheel drive car can react by skidding to a released gas pedal, a rear-wheel drive car can react to excessive traction (wheel slip), an all-wheel drive car is less predictable - it can react both as a front-wheel drive and as a rear-wheel drive. The skid angle depends on the duration or severity of the error, and if self-insurance actions are not taken (the driver's reaction to skidding), then the car can go into rotation or rhythmic skidding with lateral sliding of the rear axle.

Anti-slip and anti-lock braking systems help to avoid gross errors in the turn. However, they are intended only to insure against an error, but if it does occur, then the same systems will prevent the driver from taking active steps to stabilize the car that has lost stability and controllability.

Racing drivers believe that this is the driver's skill (an arsenal of control techniques), a sense of the car as one's own body, and a prediction of the car's behavior in response to control actions.

If today you still cannot boast of such qualities, then do without sharp experiments, slow down before turning, or at least concentrate if you have not had time to do this. Remember that speed does not forgive mistakes, therefore, by controlling the speed in the corner, you manage your safety within the limits of your skills and the real situation on the road. Do not count on intuition if you do not have significant; speed driving experience. Intuition is an unreliable "lady", it often depends on the psychological state of a person, positive and negative emotions, and many other factors. Turn on your favorite music louder, take a little break from the road, talk to the passenger and immediately your intuition will fail and miss the danger signal.

The lower the skill level, the more important the prediction. There are a lot of examples when, with "zero" training, drivers never get into emergency situations. Before such drivers, you need to take your hat off and marvel at their ability to guess the criticality of the situation, even by indirect signs.

Therefore, constantly train and practice smooth, soft actions with the controls. These skills will be very useful to you when driving at high speeds, and will allow you to maintain the balance of stability and control inherent in the design of any car.

Even in a pre-critical situation with a shortage of time and distance, when you realize that the speed is too high, restrain yourself from abrupt actions of the controls in the turn.

Turning technique

The term "technique" refers to an arsenal of driving skills with which you can overcome turns of varying steepness and complexity with completely guaranteed safety. Even if you are a cautious, prudent, attentive person and use your car only as a means of transportation, trying to stay away from stress, dashing chases and car racing, you still need to get acquainted with the ABC of high-speed driving. Do not hope that the most modern car, stuffed with computer and mechanical active safety devices (automatic transmission, power brake and steering booster, anti-slip and anti-lock braking system ABS, limited slip differentials, thrusters and stabilizing devices, etc.) will save you from trouble. Rely only on yourself, on your strengths, knowledge, skills and abilities, because there are no ideal drivers. But a professionally trained person behind the wheel, predicting road conditions, will try with the help of technical methods to either avoid or overcome a critical situation and correct the mistake made.

Normal driving does not require any special control technology, because even a relatively gross error can be corrected in the turn itself by slowing down or re-maneuvering if the first one was unsuccessful. But there is one very serious problem, which in a difficult situation can lead to a gross mistake and an accident. This is the memorization of non-technical and erroneous actions that, in light conditions, create apparent comfort. Among them, holding the steering wheel in the lower sector, shifting gears in a turn, hard braking, turning the steering wheel in a turn arc, etc. Performed every day, these elements and techniques eventually form a potentially dangerous driver. The most surprising thing is that many do not even suspect that their driving style is fundamentally vicious, and do not accept criticism in their address.

Several years ago, by order of Pepsi-Cola, we conducted training for employees in the city of Samara. At the airport we were met by one of the most experienced drivers of the company with solid experience. The road from the airport to the destination ran along the Zhiguli mountains. It wasn't specifically mountainous, but it still had a lot of twists and turns on the ups and downs and the flats. The driver knew the road very well, and we were driving at a speed of 100-110 km/h. Approaching the first corner, we - four teachers of the Center for Excellence in Driving - received nervous stress when the driver switched to neutral gear before the turn, and the car coasted into an arc. After the turn, he again turned on the fourth gear. Our "ace" did the same actions in every turn. We grabbed all the handles, rested our feet on the floor, pulled on the inertial seat belts to make them work. Don't think we're in an accident. This did not happen, and it must be said that the driver never slipped and did not get into a skid. But is it possible to joke like that with your safety? After all, by disconnecting the engine from the transmission, we lose the main opportunity to regulate the stability and controllability of the car.

We have already said above that there are up to 18 categories of turns along the steepness of the trajectory and many more additional features that make turns difficult, very difficult, and sometimes dangerous. Although the control technologies in different corners, with different friction coefficients, on different cars and by different drivers may differ, but there are general patterns and standard actions, without which it is impossible to create a guaranteed level of safety. We call these techniques basic - the ABC of driving skills. An experienced professional, and even more so a race car driver, always uses them in both slow and extreme driving modes. Thus, a reliable management style is created and a person does not need to have two faces, one relaxed and imposing, and the other aggressively sporty. It is best to own one universal technology that is suitable for any conditions, including extreme ones.

Phase character of turns

In naming the basic techniques of mastery necessary for cornering, one should immediately clarify the presence of four phases of passing. In motorsport, these are referred to as the phases of approach, corner entry, arcing and exit.

Approach phase

Most often, this is a straight section of the road that precedes the turn itself. In this phase, it is desirable to assess the real category (steepness) of the turn as early as possible, determine the critical speed of its passage, predict the degree of danger and mentally build the optimal trajectory, determining, if the turn is open, specific landmarks for braking and starting the maneuver.

Braking before a turn

The method of braking (standard, intensive or emergency) is selected depending on the speed of movement and the distance to the start of the turn. If it is necessary to extinguish the speed by more than 40 km / h, increased attention to this operation is required. Depending on the adhesion coefficient and the presence of irregularities, a braking technique is selected with a constant or pulsed application of force (intermittent, stepped, or a combination of techniques: smoothly, intermittently, stepwise, called variable braking). On cars equipped with ABS (anti-lock braking system), under standard conditions, a small effort is used that does not turn on ABS, and in extreme conditions, the system is turned on with a powerful push. Turning on ABS, the driver seems to be removed from control, because it is impossible to predict the deceleration dynamics that the computer controls according to its programs, one of which monitors directional stability and can reduce the braking effect by reacting to the slipperiness of the coating.

• complete braking before the start of the maneuver, since braking on an arc is much more dangerous due to uneven lateral wheel loading;
• stop braking before starting the maneuver, because in the entry phase, the rudder and brake act as antagonists. Or slow down, but go straight; or turn, but without braking. A compromise is possible on cars with ABS, here you can brake and turn, although this is not so easy.

Downshift before turning

Unfortunately, this technology has been completely lost by ordinary drivers and has remained only in the arsenal of racing drivers. We have long been accustomed to slow down in the gear we are driving in, and turn on the gear only after the engine has lost speed and dynamics.

Sequential downshifting will allow:

• reduce the risk of blocking the drive wheels, which is especially important for single-wheel drive vehicles;
• "charge" the car with engine torque. This thesis requires a special explanation.

Engine torque (in a simplified sense, "thrust") corresponds to a certain speed. For example, for the VAZ family, this range is from 2500 to 4000 rpm. In this mode, the engine responds well to the gas pedal. By releasing the pedal, you can load the front wheels, by pressing, add traction, by working the pedal alternately, you can adjust (!) The balance of stability and control on the turning arc. By selecting the right gear before the turn, we create additional safety opportunities. Losing engine speed when braking in a constant gear, we deprive ourselves of the ability to overcome difficult situations.

• combined braking before a turn with sequential downshifting is used for intensive or extreme deceleration of the car;
• in order to exclude lateral slipping and "yaw" of the car when the gears are engaged, it is desirable to use "regassing" (raising the engine speed until the gears are engaged);
• the choice of the required gear is determined by the steepness of the turn;
• after downshifting, the engine should not lose "torque";
• ideal for high-speed cornering will be the situation when the gear is engaged at the last moment before the maneuver and provides additional loading of the steered wheels;
• release the brake pedal before turning, preferably not sharply, in order to maintain the balance of vehicle stability;

"3hod" on the arc of rotation

A gentle maneuver performed before a turn to increase the radius of the arc and reduce the effect of centrifugal force on the car. "Entering" is an element of the so-called "smoothing trajectory" - the fastest and safest, i.e. before turning the car must be moved as far as possible to the outside. Racers use the entire roadway for this, rally drivers manage to drive to the opposite side of the road, and an ordinary driver can only use the lane width (3.75 m) so as not to conflict with the traffic police.

The higher the speed, the more urgent this maneuver is to create an additional safety margin. Inexperienced drivers most often do everything "exactly the opposite." This trajectory error leads to the drift of the front axle, which increases if hard braking is applied.

• the steeper the turn, the more the car should be driven to the outside of the trajectory before the start of the maneuver;
• at a high speed of movement, you need to avoid the error of an early shift inward and force yourself to make a "set";
• in urban conditions, a small “entry” will eliminate the possibility of hitting the curb with the rear inner wheel, a wide “entry” into the second lane will make your maneuver incomprehensible to the driver following you, and an inexperienced person will try to stick his car into the gap formed;
• if possible, the "set" should be done early and fairly smoothly. A sharp “entry” at the last moment can create the effect of rocking and skidding of the car in the phase of entering a turn.

Turn entry phase

When driving at low speed, to transfer the car to the turning arc, it is enough to turn the steering wheel to the desired angle and wait for the reaction of the car, which will follow immediately. Many uninformed drivers try to use the same technology at high speeds and often encounter the phenomenon of the car becoming reluctant to turn the steering wheel or start skidding with its front wheels off track.

Sports practice has created a whole series of options for entering a turn, depending on the speed and coefficient of adhesion.

The options for entering a turn differ in the way they are performed:

• smooth entry is used before turns of small steepness or on slippery roads, when it is very important to prevent side slipping of the front wheels;
• a sharp entry is a maneuver limited by the time frame (OD - 0.12 s) of artificially loading the front wheels with part of the car's weight after stopping braking;
• deep entry - a maneuver late in time and allowing, using the maximum load, to make the first part of the turn steeper, and the subsequent safer by increasing the radius;
• entry with power sliding - used by racers in road-ring races with the transfer to controlled sliding of the front wheels with side slip from 6 ° to 10 °.
• rear axle skid entry - used on slippery roads as a forced measure to improve safety. It can be used as a way of non-traditional braking in the driving phase, when braking with the service brake becomes dangerous, and the speed is still high. Most often, this method is used by rally drivers and racers on the track in order to maintain controllability of the front wheels and avoid front axle drift due to a small loss of stability.

Management techniques

Although the entry phase is short in time, it is very significant in maintaining or losing vehicle stability and control. It is not always easy to transfer a car moving at high speed in a straight line to a turning arc, because the beginning of building an arc of safe or dangerous movement in a turn depends on the accuracy of the driver's control actions. In the entry phase, the following techniques are used:

You can log in "on boot" with the following control actions:

• "Loading for gas discharge". At the same time, the gas pedal is released and the steering wheel is turned. Since the action of the braking forces is somewhat delayed, the pressing of the wheels occurs at the moment of the full amplitude of the rotation of the wheels. On cars with automatic transmission, which have some "thoughtfulness", the gas pedal is released first, and after a short pause, steering action follows.
• "loading" to downshift. The complexity of this technique lies in the fact that the gear must be switched on at the very last moment before the turn, which is beyond the power of an ordinary driver, but quite real for the riders. That is, the signal to turn the steering wheel is the moment the clutch pedal is released.
• "load" braking. To take advantage of the moment when the front suspension springs did not have time to straighten up and deprive the car of additional load, the signal to turn the steering wheel is to start releasing the brake pedal.
• increase the steering of the car. The design of any car has the properties of oversteer or understeer, or a certain balance of these properties. So sports and racing cars for driving at top speeds are most often set to understeer. If on a serial front-wheel drive car to install rims taken outward from a rear-wheel drive car, then it will acquire obvious oversteer properties. In pursuit of fashion, many drivers are forced to hold such a car on the road with both hands, because it reacts with a "yaw" even to a slight release of gas.

There is another property of the car that makes it difficult to turn at high speed. These are the gyroscopic (stabilizing) moments of the rotating wheels. To sharply send the car into a turn and create such an effect when the car literally “dives” into an arc, you need to use the “loading” technique, which, in addition to transferring weight, allows you to:

• reduce gyroscopic stabilization by braking;
• increase steering by compressing the front suspension.

Precise steering controls.

Depending on the speed of the car and the coefficient of adhesion of tires to the road, several methods of taxiing are used:

• on slippery roads, the steering is very smooth and the angle of rotation of the wheels is limited to prevent them from lateral slipping;
• on dry roads, if there is no need to apply the brakes, the steering is smooth and continuous to the optimum steering angle. Staggered steering (turn - pause - turn) is undesirable at any speed, except for slow "yard" maneuvering;
• entering at high speed into a standard gentle turn, where there is no need to intercept the steering wheel, is performed sharply after loading, and leveling off smoothly, simultaneously with an increase in traction;
• the tight turn is entered at a two-stage taxi speed after loading. At first, the steering wheel turns smoothly to create a roll of the car and put the weight on the "thrust" wheel (front outer). Then, without a break in time, the steering wheel turns quickly and to the final (desired) position, in order to eliminate the need to turn the wheels on an arc. This is highly undesirable, since the effect of loading will be less than at the entrance to the turn, and the additional turn on the arc can provoke slipping;
• loading - turning - traction. Although we have separately considered loading options, but without subsequent thrust, controllability on the arc will be reduced. Moving in an arc with the gas pedal released will provoke the removal of the car to the outside. Therefore, when the driver drops the gas out of fear, and even worse, slows down after entering the turn, he himself creates a critical situation;
• in a non-steep turn, after loading and turning the wheels, thrust is immediately sent to the drive wheels. By aligning the wheels, the traction is increased in order to bring it to the maximum when the wheels are in a "straight" position;
• in a tight turn with an extended arc, after loading and turning the wheels, limited traction is sent to the pull wheels, depending on the angle of the wheels. More angle - less thrust and vice versa;
• if loading is performed by braking with the left foot, then the gas pedal is not released when entering the turn, and traction gain is controlled by delaying the release of the brake pedal;
• Countershift . This term refers to a special maneuver that allows you to additionally turn the car to a certain angle when entering a turn on a slippery road. Before the main action (turning the wheels on the trajectory), a smooth envelope maneuver is performed in the direction opposite to the turn. Following it, the actual turn is performed, but rocking the car with two maneuvers (countershift and turn) allows you to artificially create a sliding of the rear axle to the desired angle. The phenomenon that occurs in this case is called "dynamic whip";
• counter skid. In slippery road conditions, when it is necessary to enter a turn at a supercritical speed (for example, the critical turning speed is 110 km/h, and on the approach the real speed is 150 km/h), a special technique is used to turn the car to the desired angle | to use side slip as a way of braking. Reception is performed according to a scheme similar to counter-shift, but in contrast to it, in the first phase, not a roll-in maneuver is used, but a small angle of dosed skid. Rhythmically rocking the car, you can create any angle of sliding in the entry phase up to a 180° turn;
• corner entry with rear axle skid. This technique is forced to apply external conditions and, in particular, a very slippery, icy road. Sending the car into an arc by turning the front wheels, an experienced driver is afraid of their lateral slipping (demolition). On a dry road, you can use the load, so as not to lose control at the very beginning of the turn. On a slippery road, such opportunities are limited and other control technologies should be sought. One of the ways to maintain controllability is the dosed slipping of the rear wheels (controlled skidding). This option allows you to turn the car to the desired angle at the minimum angle of rotation of the wheels. The secret of the reception lies in the fact that by losing part of the stability of the car (creating an artificial skid), the driver is guaranteed to maintain controllability, avoiding a large amplitude of rotation of the front wheels. The technique for performing the reception differs depending on the characteristics of the drive.

REAR DRIVE. The transfer of the car into a controlled drift is caused by the slipping of the rear wheels after the car has "accepted the maneuver", that is, it has reacted to the rotation of the front wheels. Dosing of the skid angle is carried out by one or several successive pulses of pressing the accelerator pedal.

FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE. The transfer of the car into a controlled skid is called in one of three ways:

1. Complete cessation of throttling (releasing the gas pedal) after turning the steering wheel;
2. Reception "gas-brake" (braking with the left foot with the accelerator pedal pressed);
3. Short on time on-off of the parking brake with the wheels turned;

FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE. The transfer of the car into a controlled skid is caused either by a short slip of the four wheels after the car is directed to the arc (a longer slip can cause longitudinal slip due to the slip of the front wheels), or by a short application of the parking brake, if the center lock allows this.

Curve phase

Driving a car on a turning arc at high speed, significant steepness and insufficient coefficient of adhesion of tires to the road is complicated by the need to keep the car on a given trajectory, the effect of centrifugal force pushing it outward, uneven loading of the wheels by the weight of the car (external ones are more loaded than internal relative to the turn) . To maintain stability and controllability in high-speed traffic, professionally trained drivers use the following techniques:

• hand position in the turn. If, during high-speed movement in a straight line, the ideal position of the hands is position 10-2 (according to the clock face), that is, symmetrically in the upper sector of the steering wheel, then in a turn it is desirable to shift them in the direction of turn. With a right turn, the left is in position 12, and the right is in 4, with a left turn, the right is 12, the left is 4. What is achieved by this position?
• Oddly enough, it is psychologically natural when the hands show us the direction of movement and allow us to return the car to the “straight” position after the maneuver. And, on the contrary, it is unnatural when the hands are symmetrical when turning (for example, 9-3).
• Bent at the elbow and shifted to position 4 or 8 (depending on the direction of rotation), the arm with strong flexor muscles prevents the steering wheel from self-aligning, and the other hand located on top helps it in this.

  The position of the hands creates a good opportunity not only to return the car to a straight line, but also to instantly and sharply react to a possible skid with an outward movement (reaction to a skid).

• Pre-capture. An experienced driver tries to turn the steering wheel without intercepting his hands, so as not to lose control over the position of the wheels hidden by the wings of the car, and immediately after the maneuver, return them to the “straight” position. However, in sharp turns when taxiing without interception, both hands are shifted with a cross to the lower sector, which is extremely undesirable and even dangerous. To exclude such situations, the driver, prior to the start of taxiing, shifts one of the hands by sliding along the rim of the steering wheel, thus increasing the steering amplitude without interception.
• Displacement of the main hand (the one that will turn the steering wheel with the pull of the flexor muscles down) until contact with the auxiliary. For example, before a right turn, the left hand remains in position 10, while the right hand moves either slightly or close to it. In some cases, capture can be carried out at points 9, 8 and 7, i.e. below the auxiliary hand.
• Offset of the auxiliary arm is used in cases where it is initially clear that the main arm does not have enough amplitude to turn to the desired angle, or if it ends up in the lower sector. The displacement of the hand in the opposite direction from the turn is performed by sliding it along the rim of the steering wheel before the start of the maneuver (for example, when turning right, the left hand drops to point 8). There is another way to change the position of the hand. When the main hand starts pulling and moves along with the rim, the auxiliary one remains in its original position, loosening the grip, i.e. the handlebar slides inside the unclenched hand. As soon as the main hand moves to the beginning of the lower sector, it is released from the thrust and the auxiliary starts to work. The freed primary may intercept in the upper sector, or maintain its final position if taxiing is completed.
• Taxiing on the turning arc. In the ideal-theoretical version, at the entrance to the turn, the steering wheel turns to the desired angle, this angle is maintained on the arc, and at the exit the wheels smoothly align to the “straight” position. In real conditions of high-speed movement on an arc of rotation, the hands non-stop perform the work of "steering", trying to keep the car on a given trajectory. This need arises due to the fact that the car is in an unstable balance (the centrifugal force of inertia loads the outer, relative to the turn, wheels; the resulting roll makes the side suspension work in intensive mode and react sharply to any irregularities; a high-profile standard tire, deforming, creates the effect side slip; the thrust wheel (front outer) in the direction of travel changes the contact patch with the road. All these phenomena and many others related to the operation of all vehicle systems create a certain imbalance in stability and controllability and require its correction with the help of the steering wheel.

  The lower the driver's qualification and the later he feels the car's reactions, the greater the steering amplitude is needed.

  In many cases, when the centrifugal force exceeds the traction of the wheels, side slip or apparent side slip occurs. First of all, it affects the turned front wheels (drift phenomenon). The car signals the driver about this phenomenon by squeaking, squealing, and then a loud screeching of tires. It should be noted that even before the sound of tires, the professional can recognize the beginning of loss of control by "light steering" (cessation of the desire for self-levelling).

  We often hear wheels screeching in US action movies related to chases, many are familiar with this phenomenon in real life, especially on mountain roads. Outwardly, it seems that this is a racing superman, fearless and impetuous. In fact, this is not skill, but a bluff. It's not a master who is driving, but an ordinary "teapot". His car cries, screams and, most importantly, loses speed, because. strongly turned wheels act as a brake.

  Riders in their practice use the so-called power sliding, when the angle of rotation of the wheels exceeds the angle of the trajectory by no more than 5 °. But their sporty low-profile tires allow you to maintain full control in the corner.

• throttling on the turning arc (engine thrust control). It is probably not very correct to consider the work of the gas pedal in a turn without steering, because these two controls are in total the orchestra of two instruments that the driver conducts for the benefit of his safety.

The balance of stability and control of the car in a turn depends on the accelerator pedal. But under one important condition: when the engine is operating at maximum torque (as mentioned earlier, for a family of serial VAZs, this is a range from 2500 to 4000 rpm). On sports cars, engine torque ranges depend on many parameters: engine cubic capacity, piston stroke, valve timing, on-board computer settings, etc. For example, for two-liter VAZs with an Opel engine, the torque range is from 6000 to 8000 rpm, for engines 1600 cm / cu, from 5500 to 9500 rpm. For turbocharged petrol engines, powerful thrust begins after the turbine starts in the range from 2100 to 7000 rpm. Working in the optimal traction mode, the accelerator pedal allows you to adjust the steering of the car (reduction of traction - oversteer, excess traction - insufficient).

If, when driving in a straight line, the accelerator pedal allows you to adjust acceleration, deceleration and maintaining speed, then in a turn, especially at high speed, it, like a tightrope walker's balancer, ensures the balance of the "car-road" system. In racing terminology, the expression "balancing gas" or in another wording - "zero gas" is often found, implying a very delicate work to maintain stability and controllability.

The amount of throttling depends on the angle of rotation of the wheels. The greater the angle of rotation, the less thrust. Most often, in high-speed mode, variable rather than constant throttling is used due to the fact that due to tire withdrawal, the contact patch changes in the direction of travel. In a rough version, this is a sharp release of the pedal and pressing again, in a more subtle one, the "more-less" mode. Top-class racers strive for constant revs in the cornering arc and briefly reduce them only at the moment when the car breaks off the trajectory.

The accelerator pedal allows you to compensate for steering errors in the curve when the front wheels slip sideways, but most often these two controls complement each other and work synchronously. So, for example, in the case of the demolition of the front axle, traction and the angle of rotation of the wheels are simultaneously reduced.

With a low speed of movement and a stable balance, there is no need to use any special techniques and technologies. It is possible to use slight steering at constant engine speeds. And at a constant angle of rotation of the wheels - a small amplitude work with the accelerator pedal. Increasing the speed to the critical one requires finer coordination of actions and compensation for errors, which are quite possible due to changes in the friction coefficient (roughness, slippery surface, quality of shock absorption capabilities).

In extreme mode, when the traction capabilities. the front wheels are limited and an increase in the angle of rotation will lead to their slipping, the accelerator pedal allows you to use additional extraordinary actions - steering with the rear sliding wheels. For rear-wheel drive vehicles, this is a controlled skid caused by arbitrary slipping of the drive wheels; for cars with front-wheel drive, this is the side slipping of the rear wheels using the “closed gas” effect, when they are blocked by braking with the left foot or applying the parking brake; for all-wheel drive vehicles, this is a combination of the methods and techniques of single-wheel drive vehicles.

The accelerator pedal allows you to use active safety techniques in situations of loss of vehicle stability, for example, in conditions of a rear axle skid. However, each of the drives (front, rear and all-wheel drive) requires a different version of these actions. So, rear-wheel drive will allow you to maintain stabilization by completely stopping throttling ("close the gas"), front-wheel drive - to increase traction, full - to reduce traction, but not completely stop it. An error in the reaction to a critical situation most often causes additional torque, and the application of braking instead of the necessary traction leads to side sliding of the car.

In contrast to steering technology, in which, with the exception of the slip phases, the reaction of the car is instantaneous, the actions of the accelerator pedal are delayed (fuel system inertia) and therefore must be advanced. The system of cars with automatic transmission is especially passive, and the cars of American manufacturers, which are clearly not ready for action in critical situations, are in the lead in this passivity.

Sport-racing mode is the most complex throttling technology, as slipping and lack of traction are two extremes to be avoided. The trade-off for top speed in controlled front-wheel slip mode is achieved by the driver's fine senses and timing of the reactions to the car's behavior. Athletes in pursuit of maximum speed in corners most often use two technologies for controlling the accelerator pedal: “driving at the moment” and “driving at maximum speed”. The first one is simpler, because used on vehicles with a wide range of traction. The second is more complex and requires engine settings, selection of gearbox gears, changes in body aerodynamics, suspension adjustments for a specific race track. In some cases, especially on vehicles with a limited engine size and short piston stroke, the technology "geometry under the engine" is used. This is the choice of such a trajectory of movement, in which it is possible to maintain traction in a very narrow operating range.

exit phase

Although the final part of the turn is simpler in nature of control actions than the previous two, it has a number of features that affect safety. Most often, problems arise due to the fact that it is required to eliminate the mistakes made earlier (removal of the car from the optimal trajectory, loss of engine traction, partial loss of stability and controllability).

Under ideal conditions, the trajectory of the movement is very smoothly aligned. In this case, the driver eliminates the self-alignment of the steering wheel, weakening the grip of the hands. It is advisable to mirror the taxiing in reverse order. If, when entering a turn, it was necessary to apply an active force to turn the steering wheel, now you need to apply braking to return it to the straight position. The fuel supply is also smoothly, gently and continuously increased, so that, if we are talking about high-speed passage, by the time the wheels are brought to the “straight” position, the engine has reached maximum speed. If one of the lower gears was used when moving along the arc, then after the exit is completed, the higher gear is immediately switched on.

One of the outstanding racers of the 80s, E. Tulenkov, recommends: "Before pressing the gas pedal to the floor, return the center of gravity under you." In this, at first glance, incomprehensible phrase, there is a deep meaning in building an exit trajectory. While the car is in an arc, the center of mass is shifted outward, and if you give a powerful or sharp thrust, the drive wheels will slip. For front-wheel drive, this is a stall of the front wheels, for rear-wheel drive it is skidding of the rear axle, for all-wheel drive it is lateral sliding of the entire car or skidding for those models where most of the engine torque is transmitted to the rear axle (options 30x70 or 40x60). In order to use full traction earlier, you need to “open” the trajectory, that is, direct the car outward. This maneuver is the logical conclusion of the so-called "smoothing trajectory", the elements of which are "setting", "cutting" and "opening".

In the heat of competitive action, many inexperienced riders make the exit error, whereby sending maximum thrust early causes the rear axle to skid rhythmically and then spin after the turn. For unprepared drivers, this situation often occurs during sharp maneuvers on a straight line and in any phase of a turn.

The roots of this situation among athletes are related to the psychological unpreparedness for extreme actions in the phase when the turn is almost completed and nothing foreshadows the loss of stability. A skid takes the driver by surprise, and actions with a slight delay and insufficient taxi speed create a signal for the next skid, but in a different direction. For an ordinary driver who does not have high-speed steering skills in his arsenal, the situation with the swinging of the rear axle is quite natural due to untimely actions, technical errors, passivity and slowness of motor reactions. A high-class racer in any phase of cornering is "charged" for a certain reaction and he does not need super-limiting steering speed for this.

Completing the trajectory of the exit from the turn, the athletes move the car outward as much as possible. Formula 1 supersportsmen even use the curbs of the race track for this. Law-abiding drivers don't have these options on public roads, but some vehicle movement in the marked lane is also an element of active safety.