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T E C H N I C A L : F W D T O R W D
the wheels facing where you want
them, trust the car and then react
by straightening out as it snaps
back! In a RWD car you need to be
less aggressive with the steering
and much calmer on the throttle.
Don’t panic and don’t brake.”
Hammond echoes this: “I think
the feeling of losing it in the first
place is the same but the similari-
ties stop there. I actually spun the
Porsche in the rain on my very first
lap in the car, and from that point
I had a good idea of the limit. The
key with RWD is to do the opposite
of what got you in trouble in the
first place, without reacting in ex-
tremes. Whipping it to the opposite
lockstop will just get you in trouble
– just mirror the actions that got
you in trouble and don’t ask more
than the tyres can give.”
A RWD car also grips differ-
ently when going round a corner
– which means finding that limit
and learning to manage oversteer
is really important. Johnson says:
“The most obvious difference to a
relative newcomer like me is that
when on the limit, my FWD cars
were keen to understeer and push
on, whereas the Porsche tends to
oversteer. I’m still adjusting and
learning the feel, but I find the
oversteer easier to manage now.”
While the differences are still
noticeable, the Porsche is a good
stepping-stone for anyone looking
to drive more powerful RWD cars
having come from an FWD back-
ground. Hammond says: “The Por-
sche runs on a Toyo R888R control
tyre that affords a lot of grip – so
it’s not as big a learning curve as
it could have been. The 924 has