Hand Brake Turns

[Zak33]

OK....this is for PRIVATE ROADS only.

I dont wanna hear about the way you use it to turn around when you realise the car park is full



Why do wheels go forward? Cos the least resistance is FORWARD.

It rolls for damn sake, its easy

Why does the back roughly follow the front? It cuts the corner a little bit, but it still goes roughly forward?

Cos its easiest.....its like water on a plane of glass....it'll go the easiest route. Its lazy.

So is your back axle....its LAZY.

Lots of people try to execute hand brake turns.....lots of them fail EVERY TIME Its not too easy to be honest. Once you nail it, its a doddle tho.

You need.....A GOOD HANDBRAKE. (doh)

Because the following applies.........

IF WE CAN LOCK THAT WHEEL SO DAMN SOLID that it wont turn AT ALL.....then the tyre just DOESN'T CARE which way it goes....

because resistance is the same in every direction........it can't roll AT ALL.....so skidding sideways is the exact same thing as going "forward" or even "diagonally". It just doesnt care.

HOWEVER.....you need BIG energy to get a rubber tyre to slide on the road...... and for a Handbrake turn...you also need some resitance up front.....

you need the front wheels turning in a different direction........

So......this is it in ORDER.....

forward motion.........then a firm but not monsterous turn of the wheel.....so the front turns AND the back begins to follow.....AND the rear suspension flexes and the rear of the car begins to roll a bit....

THEN.....the handbrake come on HARD and QUICKLY..and with ALL DRIVING....smooth as silk......

now the front of the car is gonna get confused ......and the rear of the car now should request to go straight onward....in its current trajectory.....

so the front of the car, the front wheels of which are pointing an ENTIRELY different way to the inertia of the back of the car....and these fronts have no resitance to rolling and dont wana slide sideways cops its too much like hard work.........will continue to turn the corner.

Dont forget...the rears JUST DONT CARE about the way they are pointing....the tyres are locked solid..and cos we have requested more than they can deliver, they are now capable of passing the front by

However....as most of you have front wheel drive the next question is WHAT NOW?

Cos if you put the power down too early....the fronts will lose grip sideways and you will just go very very wide

Nope...not until the rear has made a good distance journey and passed you by.....does the power go in......smoothly.

What else? Loads.....

KEEP YOUR THUMB ON THE HANDBRAKE BUTTON.....cos we want it to go off in just a second........dont let it go..or brake is locked on....

AND.......be ware that as the arse end whips past.....the steering wheel will turn in front of your very eyes!

Cos the front wheels are not moving much but the whoe rear of the car is moving past it......the wheel unwinds in front of you....

BUT you cant let go.....you gotta steer with one hand......you roll your knuckles over the top of the wheel and re grab......and then...when you are NEALRY pointing the right way you put the handbrake back down (thumb on button) dip the clutch simultaneously and whip your left hand from the handbrake to the gear lever and into first... and clutch up and away ya go.

ANYONE thinks this is dangerous.....it IS

Anyone thinks its of no use......you're wrong. Its ace in snow and allows the driver to deftly change direction when all around are skidding forwards into each other.
Its for SLOW SPEEDS.

It is HARDEST in long wheel base cars....(ie big distance from front to back axle)

Its hardest in cars with modern rear disk brakes....that sounds daft BUT rear drums are so much easier and smoother and more powerfull ON CABLE handbrake.....not same as hydraulic foot brake.

Its really bloody hard on cars like Cavaliers, which have a rear disk BUT a tiny little drum handbrake built in that is so snatchy but ultimately weak that it makes it really hard.

Its easy in the rain.....its hard in the dry.

Its easiest with speed to lose to the REAR wheels....its hard to predict how fast you need for a set turn....

Its easy to stall

Its hard to get right.

It will get you nicked..its just for you to know how to do........

and if enough people say its a bad thing to have here on a public forum....I'll delete it

BE CAREFULL.....a wet field of grass is best.....15 mph is sufficient on wet grass for ANY car.

[Tumble]

Originally posted by Zak33
BE CAREFULL.....a wet field of grass is best.....15 mph is sufficient on wet grass for ANY car.

But don't for gawd's sake, try this in a Land-Rover..... you will be in a world of hurt, you see the handbrake on a Landy works on the transmission, not the wheels (apart from the Freelander, which is a BMW anyway, so it don't count). Landy's are for power-sliding in fields Tell us how to do one of them Zak!

[Butuz]

Hmmm i always found that the best way to do handbrake turns was to pull the handbrake up sharp just before you yank the steering left or right.

Maybe it was the dodgy rear drums in me mini, aint never done a handbrake turn in me focarse

Butuz

[Lowe]

No no no, turn, then apply. Never before you start the turn else you'll not get a decent "whip around".

I had some fun on a carpark once when it was snowy for about 15 mins at 3am till the coppers saw what I was doing and told me to **** off.

I was gutted since I was getting the hand of it.

I'd never do it in the Clio though, handbrake isn't that good, lol.

[Punky]

cheers for the lesson, i just gotto pass my test and wait for it to snow now, haha.

[kaillum]

covered this on the rally day that I went to last year... and I had the problem of handbrake on before turning the wheel... well, 1st time was in an old Pug 306 with a cable handbrake... and I just couldnt get the hang of it... car was goin all over the place, and not in the direction i wanted it to...

but the second half was in a little Hyundai Coupe, left hand drive with a fly off hydraulic handbrake... great fun to drive, and real easy to get the hang of handbrakin it.. drivin that car kinda made the day for me

[[GSV]Trig]

Damn you all and your drum brakes, when I did a hand brake turn in my Cav it makes the loudest clunk as the backend locks up, whips round like a mofo tho and if u can time it all rite and your in the right gear u can give it some beanz and then wheelspin off....


On private roads of course....

[Zak33]

Originally posted by [GSV]Trig
Damn you all and your drum brakes, when I did a hand brake turn in my Cav it makes the loudest clunk as the backend locks up,

Dont Trig....you know it hurts the car that little drumbrake is like a rod through the spokes of a bike....it just goes ON.....no smoothness. Makes my shoulders scrunch with the thought...I've gone all squeamish now........*shivers*

Cavs are NOT handbrake cars....only the old 1.4/1.6/1/8 models.........they had drums.....NOT THE GSI mate...please

The reason NOT to apply the handbrake BEFORE the turn is cos it scrubs speed off........and what we need is the arse end to keep momentum.


Now onto Tumble.....who needs mental help ASAP

Drifting a Landy........err.......um.........er.........tilt it over the edge of a 1 in 1 slop, then try to get back UP the slope.....with FULL POWER>....

its bound to go sideways.....

YOU'RE the 4x4 meister.....I'll leave you to explain that

[Skii]

And I wouldn't even dream of trying it in mine

[Zak33]

Originally posted by Skii
And I wouldn't even dream of trying it in mine

sorry, but this deserves a much despised......

lol

[Big RICHARD]

Drifting a landy huh?

Easy to do, not quite so easy to explain to your average layperson!

Travelling reasonably quickly start to turn into your corner. As you start to feel the sideways 'g'-force give it a bit of power and gradually increase the power, SMOOTHLY. Eventually you won't be turning entirely and the whole car will be sliding sideways as well as going forwards. This is where power sliding gets difficult. You need to remove some steering and as you straighten the wheel you need to keep the power consistent. If you start to slide too much (the back end starts to come round you) then reduce the power (slight movements, unless you are going to lose it). If you need more steering give it a bit more power (this is the one that could take you off the road/track/etc. so be VERY careful).

You are now in your very own power slide.


This works because the back wheels have less weight on them, so start to slide under power quicker than the front wheels on a 4x4.

[[GSV]Trig]

Originally posted by Zak33
Dont Trig....you know it hurts the car

Hence only trying it once, on gravel


Weird how the ABS lite came on straight away tho

[Maldonado]

neeeeeeeeeeed to try handbrake turns!!!


neeeeeeeeeeed gravel!

[headbrace]

Originally posted by Lowe
I was gutted since I was getting hand off it.

I really worry about your love of cars

I wonder how easy it would be to do one in my triumph herald

[Butuz]

Erk dont do a handbrake turn in a triumph herald!!! The rear suspension aint designed to handle the wheels going sideways on that and you may find that the suspention will flick the back end up and damage itself badly, or could even roll the car if you do a particularly vicious/fast handbrake.

Lol handrake in a herald/vitesse, its a scary lottery of either looking cool, wreaking your car, or dying

Butuz

[J4MES]

zak, you sell many cars??