One of the most famous rally techniques is the Scandanavian flick or a pendulum turn. The idea behind a pendulum turn is to get the car to rotate all the way around a tight corner. You can only get so much rotation out of the car just by coming fast into a corner and left foot braking. This is where a pendulum turn is useful.
To execute a pendulum turn, you come into the corner with a good amount of speed on the “wrong side of the road.” For a left turn you would place the car on the left side of road and the right side of the road for a right turn. The next step is while you are still a ways out from the corner, you need to lift, turn the opposite direction of the corner, and apply some brake. This will start slowing the car down and create some rotation. Then look to your apex, release the brake and turn back the other direction to release all that stored energy in your suspension. Done properly, the car will carry oversteer all the way around the corner and set you up for a quick exit.
This is a more advanced technique and demands good car control skills and familiarity with left foot braking. Pendulum turns do not work in vehicles with a high center of gravity or that are equipped with ABS. Because this skill is more advanced, it is best to practice it in wide open areas first.
If you want to learn how to do pendulum turns, come on out to Team O’Neil! We will do countless pendulum turns and get you very proficient at executing them smooth
