Oversteer on roundabouts - What line should I take to avoid?
Discussion
Hi all
I have recently bought a e39 BMW 523i and I seem to provoke (unwanted) oversteer every now and again.
Now don't get me wrong, I love a bit of oversteer but when I say unwanted, I mean when I have passengers etc.
All the times that it has happened have been exiting roundabouts and turning right (3rd exit) at moderate speeds.
My natural line to take around a roundabout would be a 'late apex' approach. (artists impression to follow)
FYI: I never experience understeer, the suspension and tyres are faultless and off an excellent quality - It is my driving is what I am saying.
What is a better line to take through a roundabout?
Any help very much welcome?
I have recently bought a e39 BMW 523i and I seem to provoke (unwanted) oversteer every now and again.
Now don't get me wrong, I love a bit of oversteer but when I say unwanted, I mean when I have passengers etc.
All the times that it has happened have been exiting roundabouts and turning right (3rd exit) at moderate speeds.
My natural line to take around a roundabout would be a 'late apex' approach. (artists impression to follow)
FYI: I never experience understeer, the suspension and tyres are faultless and off an excellent quality - It is my driving is what I am saying.
What is a better line to take through a roundabout?
Any help very much welcome?
AnotherGareth said:
If you want a quick exit then you adjust your course to that end, but the problem you're having appears to be a lack of control with the accelerator.
I find it hard to believe that it is down to a lack of accelarater control as I am loading the throttle progressively and with no aggresion.It seems to be more an issue of lateral load which is possible caused by the line I am taking, ie late turn in and loading the front wheels 1st before applying throttle.
Is the load transfer upsetting the balance of RWD and front vs rear grip rate?
I guess things to check would be how much tread you have left on the rear tyres and what pressure you're running them at. In these greasy conditions of late, this makes a massive difference to the amount of traction you have.
That said, my old M3 used to do this just by getting on the throttle nice and early, but that had a fast road/track setup and was quite oversteery anyway. Could it be that your geo is set rather more racy than most 523s perhaps?
That said, my old M3 used to do this just by getting on the throttle nice and early, but that had a fast road/track setup and was quite oversteery anyway. Could it be that your geo is set rather more racy than most 523s perhaps?
wolfy1988 said:
It is not oversteering 'wildly' it is more of a slight kick if that makes sense.
Not really- You're driving 'moderately' fast with a smooth style and without abrupt throttle use, and the back end is occasionally and unexpectedly stepping out? A standard 523i will not do that without provocation. 
Kozy said:
Why can't you go around it as a constant rate turn like anyone else would? That line looks retarded and I would steer well clear of anyone driving like that as it would mark them out as a potential liability.
IAM fundamentalist?I know of a number roundabouts with unusual entry and exits. Part of my life's work is to achieve the perfect line around these
Kozy said:
Why can't you go around it as a constant rate turn like anyone else would? That line looks retarded and I would steer well clear of anyone driving like that as it would mark them out as a potential liability.
This.Take a central position in your lane, drive a normal course round the roundabout, and accelerate as you unwind the steering wheel after the 12 o'clock position on your diagram.
Kozy said:
Why can't you go around it as a constant rate turn like anyone else would? That line looks retarded and I would steer well clear of anyone driving like that as it would mark them out as a potential liability.
I have to agree. I've never known anybody take a roundabout like that. Quite bizarre.Do you stay in lane or cut across them?
With regard to the oversteer, first guess would be throttle application, then tyres, then braking.
The blue line on your diagram would worry me, its only a matter of time before you collect someone if thats typical of your course round a roundabout.
Tyres and accelerator are usual suspects for oversteer; if its tyres slower in (and swap/inflate tyres correctly); if its accelerator slower out.
Tyres and accelerator are usual suspects for oversteer; if its tyres slower in (and swap/inflate tyres correctly); if its accelerator slower out.
IanMorewood said:
The blue line on your diagram would worry me, its only a matter of time before you collect someone if thats typical of your course round a roundabout.
Tyres and accelerator are usual suspects for oversteer; if its tyres slower in (and swap/inflate tyres correctly); if its accelerator slower out.
The blue line is massively exaggerated to emphasize the steered route that i adopt.Tyres and accelerator are usual suspects for oversteer; if its tyres slower in (and swap/inflate tyres correctly); if its accelerator slower out.
I would only ever taken this route round on a small empty/single lane roundabout that Ireland has so many of.
It has never struck me that this is, as someone said, to be a 'bizaar' way of doing it, when pushing on for example in previouse cars eg Puma, FTO etc it is an hugely rewarding cornering method.
But please understand that I am not in any way proclaiming to be a driving god, merely trying to identify the cause of the oversteer that has happens 3 times unexpectedly and I would like ad that when the back end does slide it slide by 30cm/15inchs no more!
Oh and the tryes are Winter spec Continentals pumped to manufacturer stated pressure.
Edited by wolfy1988 on Monday 4th February 13:47
IanMorewood said:
The blue line on your diagram would worry me, its only a matter of time before you collect someone if thats typical of your course round a roundabout.
Somehow I suspect that is his chosen line on a fairly small roundabout with good visibility and no traffic.Is this the Puritan Driving Forum?
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