What Is "Yaw"? in What Situations Can You Help Us?

All cars have something in common. Automotive Science . This branch structures its theme in technical knowledge about the operation of a car. A sub-branch of automotive science is physics, where there are very important attributes: pitch , roll , and yaw . The latter is the one we are going to deal with, which we can first define as the accidental or involuntary deviation of the vehicle in relation to its natural course .


Yaw occurs when a vehicle's weight shifts from its center of gravity to the left or right. This is a change that the driver will feel when he is inside his car. For example, when you are driving, suddenly brake and accelerate, the car moves on its transverse horizontal axis (pitch). This causes the vehicle to rotate around its center of gravity. Yaw occurs during turns . Anything that makes your car spin around its center of gravity is a yaw.


What does yaw mean?


Cross a stake from the top of a vehicle. The clockwise or counterclockwise movement of the stake and the car is called yaw. Other definition of yaw is, well, turn . Here, yaw is just a value. It has no force on a vehicle. However, it is very important for calculations. When a car turns, the wheels turn at different speeds. For example, those on the right side turn faster than those on the left side when the vehicle turns left.


A moving vehicle, by definition, leans and leans when it rounds a curve because it points in a different direction than it is moving at each point on the curve. This is because the wheels that are further from the inside of a curve cover more area than the wheels that are closer to the inside line. This creates an unbalanced force, and a vehicle spins because of it. Everything happens because of the differential boxes, but that's another story. That axial movement is yaw, which means the car is heading in a different direction than it is pointing.


Yaw is important because the air hits the car differently when it is at an angle to the oncoming air compared to when it hits the air head-on. Therefore, it places the vehicle in a position where the air helps it to turn slightly. Because the yaw can be caused by a different value in the centrifugal forces exerted on the front and rear wheels, or also by a difference in grip on them.


In the vast majority of cars, the rear axle describes a smaller radius than the front axle , so the centrifugal force will be greater in the latter than in the first, as long as we assume that the weight balance is equal on all wheels. Starting from the principle that the centrifugal force is inversely proportional to the radius of the curve and directly proportional to the weight supported by the axles, the center of gravity of the car moves towards the front so that the extra load on the front axle counteracts the value of the centrifugal forces.


In summary, if we want to make the car change direction, it is necessary to produce a certain yaw. If we take a curve with a certain turning radius and the yaw is not enough in relation to the speed of the vehicle in the curve, the well-known understeer occurs . If, on the other hand, the yaw is excessive, the so-called oversteer occurs . Therefore, in a curve, depending on where the vehicle's traction is located or the different force applied when braking, the vehicle will yaw, resulting in a skid (moor or ass).


What is yaw control?


Similar to the limited-slip differential, which controls the distribution of engine torque to the drive wheels, yaw control helps vehicles reduce understeer and oversteer and provides quicker cornering ability. And the system that cars have to control said yaw, and increase or decrease it so that it stays on the path marked by the wheels, is what we commonly know as stability control (ESP) .


If the yaw control is set too high, there is even a risk of creating too much slip and significantly increasing tire wear . Although, if it is in the optimum point, the turning capacity of the car is very outstanding . The adjustment of the yaw control is an important commitment depending on the design of the track to be faced, although this is already in a professional environment. In street cars, the calibration of the system and the suspension is done knowing what the safest reactions should be at all times.