Richard Burns Rally Web Training

This ‘online training center’ was originally posted on the Richard Burns Rally Web site along with the introduction text “To become a professional rally driver takes skill, dedication and practice. Visit the online training center to see if you have got what it takes.”

It was the first indication of the depth involved with this title.

The BASIC SKILLS section was text based:

Accelerating

You will gain maximum acceleration power on tarmac surfaces, with less efficient acceleration on loose surfaces such as gravel and snow.

On tarmac, acceleration is at its most efficient when the tires are at the point of losing traction. This means that from a standing start, the wheels must be very close to spinning. Conversely, if your revs are too low, the engine will not produce sufficient power to come near this traction limit; and if your revs are too high, you will exceed the traction limit, spin the wheels and reduce acceleration.

On slippery surfaces such as gravel and snow, acceleration is maximized with a small amount of wheelspin. Too much wheelspin will reduce your acceleration performance – no wheelspin results in a very slow start to your rally!

Gear changing keeps the engine working in the correct rev range to maximize acceleration and minimize excessive wheelspin.

Braking

In Rallying, braking is used to achieve two fundamental objectives – stopping the car and slowing the car when entering corners while keeping momentum. In the latter case, braking is at its most efficient when the tires are at the point of losing traction.

If you brake too hard you will lock the wheels, which will cause the steering to be unresponsive on both tarmac and gravel surfaces. However, in certain circumstances the locking of brakes on gravel can be beneficial and enable the driver to perform certain techniques such as the Scandinavian flick.

The efficiency of brakes is increased when they are warm.

Understeering

Understeer is when the front wheels lose traction and force the front of the car to head towards the outside of the bend. There are two causes of understeer:
– Incorrect car set-up
– Entering a corner too fast and subsequently braking too hard.

The car loses traction and in effect keeps moving in the same direction as it was facing when entering the corner, regardless of which direction the wheels are turned.

Four wheel drive cars suffer from this to a lesser degree due to independent suspension and differentials.

Oversteering

Oversteer is when the rear wheels lose traction and cause the rear of the car to head towards the outside of the bend. This makes the front of the car point towards the inside of the bend.

Oversteer is caused by:
– Incorrect car setup
– Turning too sharply when entering the corner which will cause the rear of the car to come around and the front of the car to point too deep into the corner.
– Entering the corner too quickly when you turn the car

However there are some rally techniques that use oversteer to enable them to be executed such as left foot braking and the Scandinavian flick. These types of techniques require the rear of the car to swing to the outside of the band to complete the maneuver effectively.

Four wheel drive cars suffer from this to a lesser degree due to independent suspension and differentials.

The ADVANCED TECHNIQUES section included a voiceover by Richard Burns and small animations that you can see below: