If you are holding the wheel at the same angle in a car, why does speeding up or slowing down change the radius of your turn?

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I generally feel like I can figure things out, but this has just always kept me stumped. A good example is going up or down one of those screw-shaped parts of some parking garages. You can find the correct angle for your speed, but if you slow down or speed up without changing the wheel, the turn becomes sharper or wider.

Why?

In: Physics

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In addition to what others have noted your suspension geometry can also change when you accelerate or decelerate due to the weight transferring momentarily to the front axel or rear axel. Put simply when the front of your car lifts up or drops down the actual angle of the tires can change even though you aren’t turning the steering wheel. This is only temporary and it will return to normal not long after you reach a steady speed because that up/down force comes from actively speeding up and slowing down.

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