Skid Pan Training
What is a skid and how can a skid pan training session help me?
A skid develops when the tyres of a vehicle have been pushed beyond their level of grip on a given surface and they lose traction. Most people describe a skid as a total loss of steering control combined with a vague, light feel to the steering wheel – this is know as a front wheel skid. Sometimes however, a skid can manifest itself in the form of a rear wheel skid, which tends to occur more in rear wheel drive cars. This is when the rear wheels lose traction. In this situation the driver can often feel the back of the car come around on itself!
A Skid pan training session will help you become a safer driver, by actually recreating a skid in a safe environment.
Although this advice will give you a basic understanding of skids, there is no way of telling how you may react in a real emergency situation without real life experience. This is why if you are serious about learning the life saving art of skid control, you must complete a skid pan training session.
Skid pan training can be for people of all ages and driving experience level.
Our Millbrook Ultima Course allows you to experience skids, where you will learn not just how to control them, but to learn how to give the cars ESP system clues about where you want to be on the road - More Info Millbrook has a specially designed skid pan training area.
A skid pan is normally a disused piece of land (tarmac or concrete) which is constantly covered in a thin layer of water to enable skid training to take place. The cars used normally have slick tyres to easily invoke a skid - allowing participants to lean how to detect and deal with a skid in a safe and controlled environment. Our courses at Millbrook Proving Ground use the very best skid pan training facilities.
.What is a Front Wheel Skid? - Under-steer
.A front wheel skid is when the front wheels of a vehicle lose ..traction. Cars which are powered by the front wheels (front wheel ..drive) tend to suffer from this problem a great deal more than cars .with rear wheel drive. This is mainly due to the fact that the front .wheels are driving the car and so demand more of the tyres grip than the rear tyres. Front wheel skids usually occur under heavy breaking, where the front wheels lock-up or when trying to go around a corner too quickly for the road conditions. A front wheel skid is also known as under-steer, as the car will typically carry on in a straight direction, regardless of how much steering input you apply.
.What is a Rear Wheel Skid? - Over-steer
.A rear wheel skid occurs when the rear wheels lose traction. This tends to happen either under heavy braking, especially if there is a fault with the rear brakes (which applies to cars with front or rear wheel drive), or more commonly when going around a corner too quickly! In this respect, rear wheel cars tend to suffer from rear wheel skids (also known as over-steer) more than front wheel drive cars, as the rear wheels propel the car, and so put extra demands on the tyres. When a car over-steers, it will feel like it is trying to “spin” itself around. However, unlike under-steer, you still have the ability to control the front wheels. Effective control of the front wheels in this situation can quickly remedy over-steer, but this takes practise, which is where a skid pan is of such use.
How to Resolve a Skid.
Front Wheel Skid – If you encounter under-steer, you should try and keep the wheels in the direction of the skid (so they don’t bite when they gain traction again!) and remove feet from pedals, engine braking will help you gain control. Try and remain calm and anticipate getting the car on course once you have steering control back.
Rear Wheel Skid – If you encounter over-steer, you need to steer into the skid. For example, if you are going around an island or roundabout, and the car’s rear slides out to the left, you need to carefully steer left (towards the skid) to counteract the effect. You must also remember to remove feet from the pedals, to allow engine braking to take effect. As with dealing with a front wheel skid, smoothness, staying calm and early detection are essential.
Rally drivers can use oversteer to their advantage when competing on a special stage rally like above which is a Peugeot 206 WRC exiting a hairpin corner. Allowing the backend of the car to step out (over-steer) enables the driver to slide the car through the corner. A normal Peugeot 206 costs around £9,000. The WRC variety above, when produced cost around £500,000, and as you can guess was not available to the general public!
