Steering clear

Rauno Aaltonen knows a thing or two about driving. The winner of the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally (in a Mini, no less) was once asked to explain the difference between oversteer and understeer. He quipped: ‘Understeer is when you hit the tree with the front of your car first, oversteer with the rear.’

In fact, Rauno can expound on the many different kinds of oversteer and understeer for hours – they don’t call him ‘The Rally Professor’ for nothing. And as I was fortunate enough to find out many years ago, he can demonstrate them even better.

Among the Ti readership I suspect everybody knows what understeer and oversteer are, broadly speaking. But in reality, the picture is more complex than many may think. In fact, it’s more complex than some qualified automotive engineers may realise, depending on what kind of engineer they are. Allow me to explain…