Why do people drive with both hands on the steering wheel?

[nan0bug]

Originally posted by: Dari
well, I tried driving with both hands the other day. But things changed quickly cause my right-hand had far more control My left-hand ended up being a drag. At least for me, I have far more control with one hand than with two. Whenever I get into trouble (raining, emergency turns) my left hand would usually over-react.

You guys here have to remember that driving is like walking or eating, it's all done mostly subconcously (sic?). If you have both hands at the wheel, and one has more control, you can overdo things. With one hand gripping the wheel at 12:00, IMHO, you get far better control over the wheels.

I actually don't remember how i drove when I was getting my license. But I do remember that I wasn't doing more than 30 mph, so two-hands wasn't really a factor.

Again, if you're going 100-160 mph, a little nudge on the steering wheel can have you going a greater distance than 10 mph. BMW's active steering tries to balance that but it's difficult when you, not the car, prefer to be in control.

As for those talking about fish-tailing and needing two-hands, it's pure bs. Whenever I'm in that situation, you just have to respond (opposite) to what the car is doing. That, again, requires delicate control.

As for going off road or encountering big bumps, one-hand at 12:00 naturally goes in the opposite direction of the front-wheels, giving you balance. It's much easier to go with the flow with one hand than it is with both hands trying to go straight. Turning the wheels in the opposite direction of where the car/truck is heading is better if you wanna go straight than getting both hands to steer the car in that direction. Again, for me, this all plays out subconsciously, letting me think about what to do next.

For those talking about getting smacked in the fact because of the positioning of the hand. Well, I'll have no hands on the wheel cause I'll be bailing out of the car (j/k). Seriously, I haven't come to that point because, like I said earlier, the brakes are your friend.

Stop masturbating so much with your right hand and it won't be so much more powerful than your left.

 

[KokomoGST]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Vic
In a RWD car, you increase throttle to induce oversteer and decrease throttle to reduce it. If you are in an oversteer slide in an RWD with a manual trans, it is generally safer to throw in the clutch than to drop the gas suddenly, as coming off the throttle too quickly could cause an overcorrection.

In an FWD car, you decrease throttle to induce oversteer and increase to reduce it. Too much throttle can induce an nasty understeer condition.

AWD cars balance between the 2, with a tendency to understeer at turn-on and then to oversteer out of the apex.

Snap oversteer? If you are at the edge of traction around a curve and lift off the throttle, that back end will whip around faster than the speed of light.

Actually, on a RWD car adding throttle brings the back end IN, and widens your turn due to the change in weight distribution. It's counterintuitive, but what happens is that the weight shifts to the back, tightening the rear end and giving the front end (turning tires) less traction.

It really depends where you are in the traction circle to some degree though. If your front tires have grip and there is no grip left from cornering for the rear tires... asking the rear tires for thrust will spin the car. If you're at that transition where the rear tires are using less and less grip for cornering as you exit the turn and you feed in a tad more throttle than you should, it'll induce some controllable oversteer with the weight shift off of the front tires. It really depends on your setup and what's happening at that particular point in the friction circle. For instance, the general rule is to throttle out of oversteer in FWD cars. However, if you cause too much weight shift, you can induce a pendulum effect as your tail wags back and you've now induced a full spin as your rear and front tires break traction.

I'm sure everyone that's experienced severe snap oversteer in any car on dry pavement will tell you that if you don't have your thumbs in the right place or you don't have a good grip... your steering wheel is going to rip your friggin thumbs off and pretty much go out of your hands. Admittedly I have a tendency to use "KungFu Death Grip"TM on my steering wheel when I autoX but I've slowly been able to break that habit by practicing my shuffle method and Zaccone methods of steering more. BTW, don't hook your thumbs inside the steering wheel esp if you're driving hard if you didn't get that already.

Wow... that was totally off topic.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: jagec
Snap oversteer? If you are at the edge of traction around a curve and lift off the throttle, that back end will whip around faster than the speed of light.

Actually, on a RWD car adding throttle brings the back end IN, and widens your turn due to the change in weight distribution. It's counterintuitive, but what happens is that the weight shifts to the back, tightening the rear end and giving the front end (turning tires) less traction.

You're talking pre-apex, dry sticky pavement, i.e. a situation where the driver purposefully created the edge of traction situation. Would be nice if this wasn't in a thread started by a dipsh!t arguing about how he doesn't have the simple coordination required to steert with both hands.
So I was discussing post-apex, low traction situations where the driver has already lost control, probably on accident, and then how to regain that control. Basics.

As for your argument about adding throttle bringing the ass end of an RWD back in, I invite you to do this. On a slick rainy day in an RWD car, enter a 90 degree turn at a moderate speed, turn the wheel hard and then punch the throttle. Try my way and then your way. I'm sure you'll realize just how wrong you are about your way as you're on the phone with your insurance company. Because your way assumes the ass end already has traction, therefore applying throttle will push an oversteer into understeer. That's an assumption that I will not make until the ass end is firmly back underneath me.

 

[Jeff7181]

Around town I always have two hands on the wheel because contrary to the OP, you have more control with both hands. Try to make a turn with the wheel at full left or right lock with one hand... ad torque steer with a front wheel drive car, a pothole, and a little too much speed and it's definately a handful with just one hand on the wheel.

As far as the left hand at 12:00... one of my college room mates was in an accident when driving like that and his airbag deployed... broke his forearm cause it slammed against his forehead... he also got a broken nose and one hell of a bruised up face.

 

[TTM77]

I drive both 1 and 2 hands. That would make me have 3 hands. LOL j/k 😀

1 hand give you flexibility. And for me I use the other hand to hang on b/c my car seat doesn't hold me still.

2 hands give you more control. When there is a bump or what so ever that might push Ur car the wrong way, you would want both hands to keep your steering wheel where it is.

12 position - give you an even turn to either side. But not so good with air bags

3/9 - give you a little more angle turns but bad with air bags. U'll hit yourside in the head when the airbag deploy (for being dump and stupid to get into accident).

For me, if I am in no hurry and want to relax then I'll use 1 hand in 12 or 3/9.. whichever comfortable at the time.

If I am in a hurry/watch out for cop kinda mood then both hands in 3/9 and floor the gas paddle and all eyes on the road. Radadetector/stupid driver detector/etc turns on. LOL I'll do this also during bad weather (except for the gas paddle part). 🙂

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: SampSon
I can't believe any of you are questioning the fact that you have more control with two hands on the wheel.

Are you morons?

Lol thanks. Someone had to say it as blunt a possible.