The Incomparable Sexiness of a Hand-Brake Turn
It is a well-known fact that performing a hand-break turn in the presence of a girl is the ultimate turn-on. Or is it? In this article I will talk about the origins of this maneuver, my experiences performing it, and basic techniques.
First, lets talk about what is a hand-brake turn: It is the action of pulling or stepping (depending on the car) on the hand-brake in order to lock the back wheels. The theory behind it is that if you pull it at the right moment while making a turn, the back of the car will come around. This motion will culminate in you (the driver) making a very cool looking, full of tire squealing, and, to be honest, very rewarding tight turn.
I am sure you have seen movies where this technique is used quite frequently. It is very hard to be missed or confused with any other sort of turn. The one that could seem close would be the act of oversteering the car, popularly known as drifting (for that you would need a rear-wheel drive car or have an incredibly potent all wheel-drive car that delivers its power mainly to the back wheels). This requires a decent amount of power to break the tires loose; therefore, loosing grip and making the car’s tail swing towards the outer side of a corner. Note that this technique makes the tires loose as opposed to locking them as with the use of a hand-brake.
So what does all of this mean?
Well, for starters it means that you can perform a hand-break turn with any sort of car that has a mechanical hand-break. If it has the new electronically activated hand-brake switch thingy, it will not work, so do not try it you would most probably end up understeering and hugging a tree with your bonnet.
This maneuver had its origins in the world of rally racing. As I am sure most of you know, those guys are incredibly talented and utterly insane for the most part. If you do not agree with me wait till you watch this!
These guys are able to travel at obscene speeds in various and treacherous roads with a mixture of surfaces, in most cases with very little grip to work with. They need all the techniques and systems that their cars can offer. So, to make tight turns -most of them tighter than 90 degrees- they recur to the use of the hand-brake.
How to start perfecting this automotive art form?
The first time I performed a hand-brake turn I did it at night, in an empty parking lot with lots of room in case something went wrong. To do it is fairly simple, you get the car up to a descent speed of say, 40mph and turn the wheel violently and put as much lock as you can (without overcooking the turn), once the car starts turning you pull the hand-brake as hard as you can (Note: it is easier if you have your thumb pressing the safety lock, that way when you have the car facing the right direction you can disengage it with ease) the back of the car will come around in some cases quite violently. You have to be ready, especially if you have a small hatchback with a short distance between axels. Those tend to be quite snappy when doing this motion. A medium size sedan will be way more progressive and “elegant” at doing so. I believe it goes without saying to not try it in your mom’s SUV, it can end quite bad, more so if it is your first time trying it. It is also important to note that weather is a factor. If the surface is wet or with snow, the easier the back wheels will loose grip while engaging the hand-brake. The car will naturally react to it faster and more violently, making it more difficult; therefore, even more exciting and rewarding. Be sure to first try it in the dry and then go from there to more slippery conditions.
After you have gotten used to the car’s reaction on an open space at various speeds, conditions and different turning angles you can proceed to do it on an empty road with a tight turn: > or = to 90 degrees. Please do it in a road that has a decent asphalt condition, a pothole could make things go array. Again, get to a decent speed — as fast as necessary — be sure to feel comfortable and safe at that speed. Then take the turn with a good amount of wheel lock and once the car starts turning pull the hand-brake. Release it as soon as the car is facing the right direction; make any corrections if needed and step on the gas with confidence, in other words “floor it.”
Please note that this whole “flooring it” thing works with front and all-wheel drive cars only. The traction and grip on the front tires will get you out of the skid with extreme ease. However, if you have a rear-wheel drive car (especially if it has above 300hp) you have to be extremely careful with the throttle. Remember that the hand-brake works by locking the rear wheels therefore, reducing the grip underneath them. Now, you have centrifuge force and inertia winning the battle against grip, hence the back of the car is sliding. Imaging what would happen if you add another force (torque) to the cocktail, you would end with no grip in the back wheels whatsoever; this causing you to overcook the corner and oversteer the car out of the road, ending up wrapping a tree with it.
So, is it the ultimate turn-on?
In my experience it depends. There is no greater feeling than performing a clean hand-brake turn when showing-off to your friends or girlfriend. The ego-boost produced by the proper execution of this maneuver is quite simply off the chart. In my personal experience I have received multiple complements from the people present when I performed a clean hand-brake turn. However, I did noticed that 100% of the guys that have had the honor of seeing this in action, thought it was the coolest thing ever. As for the girls… Not so much. I once tried it with my best female friend and it did not end good, do not get me wrong, the turn was flawless. Yet — she got so horrified that we would roll-over putting her life in danger — that she got mad and in turn, she did not talk to me that day for several hours. She definitely needed a fresh set of trousers after that experience. So, my advice is to get a feel for the lucky girl you are trying to impress with your godlike driving skills. Make sure she enjoys roller coasters, for example. If you do it with the right girl and she gets thrilled by it; there is no greater feeling. So get your Röhl driving shoes on and begin practicing, one day, all considerations taken into account, it might just pay off.
