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My car can turn left at greater speed than turning right

935 views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  Ng Luder 
#1 ·
I have observed this when going off highway ramps - my tires seem to lose traction quicker turning right than turning left. I have had my alignment adjusted just a month ago, and tire pressure is within normal range. I was thinking maybe it's due to weight transfer, since driver is sitting on the left side. Hmm, any thoughts? Or could it have anything to do with the ATTS? Thanks.

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'97 Flamenco Prelude SH
 
#2 ·
Its because of engine precipitation. Becase of the rotary motion of the crank and all of those pullies and everything and the engine sitting sideways, the engine has a natural precipitation, like a gyroscope or airplane engine. This is where the engine will rotate about the z axis when the rotary motion is in the z plane if you have x and y looking down on top of the engine. Its just like that experiment in high school physics where you take a bicycle wheel and put a rope on the end of the handle sticking out on the same axis of the axle and spine the wheel while holding the rope, the wheel will turn around the rope.

I dont remember which is which off the top of my head, and that was for a domestic so it might be different with the possition with our cars, but when you turn left or right, one way will cause your nose to rise and one way will cause it to dive due to the engine precipitation. Hope this helps ya out.


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If you only knew the power of the Lude...
'98 Red Base Prelude
"Straights are for fast cars. Turns are for fast drivers." - SCCA Solo2
AEM CAI, APEX-i VAFC, Neuspeed Ft Up Strut Bar, 28 mm Neuspeed RR Sway Bar, Neuspeed Sport Springs, Koni Yellows, and SH RR Deck installed. Shock knock cure done. Installing Quaife ATB Differential.
 
G
#3 ·
I think it's more due to the fact that your car is left weight biased. Try this with a passenger, and see if you notice the same thing.

If you look at a sprint car that's made to run ovals, you will notice that most of the weight is on the left side because the car only makes left hand turns on the oval (the tires are staggered too, but that's another topic).

I think the overall mass of our cars would cause the conering forces to be much greater than any gyroscopic action of the engine.

Also, if you have a gyroscope, it will resist rotation in any plane, except the plane of rotation (if I remember my physics correctly, and I was a physics minor, for crying out loud!). So, that wouldn't explain my the car tends to turn better in one direction than another.



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Billy
North Texas Prelude Owners Group
www.ntpog.org
 
#4 ·
I think that engine rotational thing only applies to engines mounted for RWD cars. I could be wrong.

Of course you corner to the left better!?!?! You're sitting with all your extra weight on the left side. LOL!
 
#6 ·
I agree...i think it's cause there's more weight on one side of the car.

--Sam

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With Great Powers Come Great Responsibilities--Never Underestimate the Power of the VTEC
 
#7 ·
A gyroscope does that, but there isnt one in the car. Thats why the nose will raise and dive in cornering. We had a discussion on this in class in one of my many engineering classes
. You can try it, going the same speed and acceleration, you should be able to notice this. It will happen in rwd and fwd cars, both have rotating parts. The weighting issue is true to an extent, but the suspension compensates for the little amount of weight of another person in the car.

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If you only knew the power of the Lude...
'98 Red Base Prelude
"Straights are for fast cars. Turns are for fast drivers." - SCCA Solo2
AEM CAI, APEX-i VAFC, Neuspeed Ft Up Strut Bar, 28 mm Neuspeed RR Sway Bar, Neuspeed Sport Springs, Koni Yellows, and SH RR Deck installed. Shock knock cure done. Installing Quaife ATB Differential.
 
#8 ·
The engine turns counterclockwise, when looking from the driver's side. Using the right-hand rule, curl fingers toward the direction of rotation, and my thumb points to the left (from the driver's point of view). That means the front of the car will have a tendency to go toward left. The higher the RPM the more it wants to go left. So if I'm turning right at high speed and high rpm (The front of the car will want to go left dramatically). Add to that the weight of the driver, that makes turning left smoother than turning right. That is the only logical explaination I can think of.

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'97 Flamenco Prelude SH

[This message has been edited by preluder888 (edited March 29, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by preluder888 (edited March 29, 2001).]
 
#9 ·
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by preluder888:
The engine turns counterclockwise, when looking from the driver's side. Using the right-hand rule, curl fingers toward the direction of rotation, and my thumb points to the left (from the driver's point of view). That means the front of the car will have a tendency to go toward left. </font>
wow, i remember that right hand rule too! good ol high school physics... even though that was the ONLY thing i remembered from that class since my teacher sucked big time...

anyways, i also belive its simply the location of the weight facto. the other things stated earlier appies to but the main caus i think is simply mass.
 
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