▪ I. understeer, v.
1. (underˈsteer.) [under-1 4 b.] To steer under something.
| 1573 Twyne æneid x. E e j, In sight she deare apeerd With left hand coutching waues, and smoth herself she vndersteerd [L. subremigat]. |
2. (Chiefly ˈundersteer.) [under-1 10 a.] intr. To exhibit understeer. Hence ˈundersteering vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1936 Proc. Inst. Automobile Engineers XXX. 730 If a car under-steers, more rudder is required at the higher speeds. Ibid., The under-steering of the parallel front road springs is..due to the lack of cornering power. 1948 R. Dean-Averns Automobile Chassis Design ii. 49 Under⁓steering vehicles,..when put into a turn, endeavour to straighten up and require constant increase of lock as the speed on the bend is increased. 1966 J. Miles in T. Wisdom High-Performance Driving v. 47 If the wheels are pointing exactly round the line of the circle some cars will actually travel in a wider circle. These are under-steering cars. 1970 Motoring Which? Apr. 45/1 Both tended to understeer (run wide of the corners). 1972 Sci. Amer. Aug. 20/2 Of the three characteristics understeering is the most desirable. |
▪ II. ˈundersteer, n.
[under-1 10 b.]
A tendency in a motor vehicle to take too wide a turn when made to deviate from the straight.
| 1936 [see oversteer n.]. 1957 S. Moss In Track of Speed xii. 149, I..watched Castellotte sorting out his Ferrari, the front wheels on full understeer with the inside one off the ground. 1964 Which? Apr. 36/2 The Bedford Romany had light steering and very little under⁓steer—it was hardly necessary to turn the steering wheel more when going faster round a bend. 1971 Daily Tel. 31 Mar. 11/5 A disadvantage of the bigger engine is the heavier steering and even more marked understeer, made worse by the steep roll angles in fast cornering. 1981 G. G. Hilditch Further Look at Buses i. 8/2 You make your approach run perhaps changing down..and then wind on a bit of lock. The bus doesn't notice thanks to a wonderful degree of understeer so you add a few more degrees..and the resulting oversteer runs away with you. |