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A bootleg turn is a driving maneuver intended to reverse the direction of travel of a forward-moving automobile by 180 degrees in a minimum amount of time while staying within the width of a two-lane road. This maneuver is also known as a smuggler's turn, powerslide, or simply bootlegger.
The driver performs the turn by putting the vehicle quickly into a lower gear, usually the second, and quickly turning the wheel in the direction of the opposite lane. If performed correctly, it will cause the vehicle to enter a controlled skid, enter the opposite lane, and turn completely around. In a perfect bootleg turn, the car will be at a complete stop at the end of the maneuver and ready to accelerate and depart in the opposite direction.
It is easier to initiate this with some cars by applying a flick of the steering wheel the wrong way initially, before turning it in the direction the driver wants to go. This maneuver (known in racing as a Scandinavian flick) increases the load transfer to the outer wheels.
Classic bootleg turns can be performed only on cars with a manual transmission and are most easily accomplished with a rear wheel drive car, as the spinning back wheels aid in the turn. This is because the maneuver is essentially a controlled fishtail-like spin-out. Vehicles with an automatic transmission can be modified to make a bootleg turn possible. This is a most common modification for stunt vehicles used in motion pictures, to reduce the stress on the stunt driver to change gears while turning.
Drivers of cars with a handbrake connected to the rear wheels can enter a controlled turning skid by employing the handbrake, locking the wheels, and turning the steering wheel sharply in either direction. This maneuver can also be called a bootleg turn, but is more precisely described as a handbrake turn. Using the handbrake to break the traction of the rear wheels is much simpler than trying to do this by power alone.
The name of the turn originates from its use by bootleggers transporting illegal liquor to escape from police officers. Bootleggers were notorious for using modified high-speed cars to transport their goods and for using daring driving maneuvers to escape authorities. The man credited with inventing the bootlegger turn is Robert Glenn "Junior" Johnson, who ran liquor from his father's moonshine still and went on to become a highly successful NASCAR racer.
Other nations and languages have their own colloquial names for the maneuver. For instance, it is known as "Cavalo-de-pau" (wooden horse) or "Baianada" (a pejorative reference to the state Bahia) in Brazil.
A "moonshiner's turn", or J-turn, begins instead with a stationary automobile accelerating straight backward for a few seconds before the steering wheel is turned quickly to complete a skidded 180 degree turn.
In the 1979 made for TV film Death Car on the Freeway protagonist Janette Clausen (Shelley Hack) is taught this maneuver in a defensive driving course, here referred to as a “bootlegger’s turnaround.” She ultimately evades the killer by use of it, which results in his crash and presumed death.
The presidential limousine performs an emergency bootleg turn near the start of "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I", the first episode of season 2 of U.S. television series The West Wing .
In the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales , whilst being pursued by Captain Salazar, Captain Jack Sparrow uses an anchor to force the Wicked Wench pirate ship into a sharp 180-degree turn.
Similar maneuvers are used in many car chases in film and TV, including numerous episodes of Knight Rider and similar shows.
Left-foot braking is the technique of using the left foot to operate the brake pedal in an automobile, leaving the right foot dedicated to the throttle pedal. It contrasts with the practice of using the left foot to operate the clutch pedal, leaving the right foot to share the duties of controlling both brake and gas pedals.
Opposite lock, also commonly known as countersteer, is a colloquial term used to mean the steering associated with the deliberate use of oversteer to turn a vehicle rapidly without losing momentum. It is typified by the classic rallying style of rear-wheel drive cars, where a car travels around a bend with a large drift angle. The terms "opposite lock" and "counter-steering" refer to the position of the steering wheel during the maneuver, which is turned in the opposite direction to that of the bend.
The handbrake turn is a driving technique used to deliberately slide a car sideways, either for the purpose of quickly negotiating a very tight bend, or for turning around well within the vehicle's own turning diameter.
Steering is a system of components, linkages, and other parts that allows a driver to control the direction of a vehicle.
Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of a vehicle to steering. Oversteer is what occurs when a car turns (steers) by more than the amount commanded by the driver. Conversely, understeer is what occurs when a car steers less than the amount commanded by the driver.
The PIT maneuver or TVI is a pursuit tactic in which a pursuing vehicle forces a fleeing vehicle to turn sideways abruptly, causing the driver to lose control and stop. It was developed by BSR Inc. and first used by the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, United States. Other interpretations of the acronym "PIT" include pursuit immobilization technique, pursuit intervention technique, parallel immobilization technique, and precision intervention tactic. The technique is also known as tactical ramming, legal intervention, and fishtailing.
Tire rotation is the practice of moving the wheels and tires of an automobile from one position to another, to ensure even tire wear. Even tire wear extends the useful life of a set of tires, but the value of this is disputed.
Automobile handling and vehicle handling are descriptions of the way a wheeled vehicle responds and reacts to the inputs of a driver, as well as how it moves along a track or road. It is commonly judged by how a vehicle performs particularly during cornering, acceleration, and braking as well as on the vehicle's directional stability when moving in steady state condition.
Electronic brakeforce distribution or electronic brakeforce limitation (EBL) is an automobile brake technology that automatically varies the amount of force applied to each of a vehicle's wheels, based on road conditions, speed, loading, etc, thus providing intelligent control of both brake balance and overall brake force. Always coupled with anti-lock braking systems (ABS), EBD can apply more or less braking pressure to each wheel in order to maximize stopping power whilst maintaining vehicular control. Typically, the front end carries more weight and EBD distributes less braking pressure to the rear brakes so the rear brakes do not lock up and cause a skid. In some systems, EBD distributes more braking pressure at the rear brakes during initial brake application before the effects of weight transfer become apparent.
Countersteering is used by single-track vehicle operators, such as cyclists and motorcyclists, to initiate a turn toward a given direction by momentarily steering counter to the desired direction. To negotiate a turn successfully, the combined center of mass of the rider and the single-track vehicle must first be leaned in the direction of the turn, and steering briefly in the opposite direction causes that lean. The rider's action of countersteering is sometimes referred to as "giving a steering command".
Trail braking is a driving and motorcycle riding technique where the brakes are used beyond the entrance to a turn (turn-in), and then gradually released. Depending on a number of factors, the driver fully releases brake pressure at any point between turn-in and the apex of the turn.
Fishtailing is a vehicle handling problem which occurs when the rear wheels lose traction, resulting in oversteer. This can be caused by low-friction surfaces. Rear-drive vehicles with sufficient power can induce this loss of traction on any surface, which is called power-oversteer.
Lift-off oversteer is a form of sudden oversteer. While cornering, a driver who closes the throttle, usually at a high speed, can cause such sudden deceleration that the vertical load on the tires shifts from rear to front, in a process called load transfer. This decrease in vertical load on the rear tires in turn decreases their traction by lowering their lateral force, making the vehicle steer more tightly into the turn. In other words, easing off the accelerator in a fast turn can cause a car's rear tires to loosen their grip so much that the driver loses control and drifts outwards, even leaving the road tailfirst.
A J-turn is a driving maneuver in which a reversing vehicle is spun 180 degrees and continues, facing forward, without changing direction of travel. The J-turn is also called a "moonshiner's turn", a "reverse 180", a reverse flick, a "Rockford Turn", a "Rockford Spin", or simply a "Rockford" popularized by the 1970s TV show The Rockford Files. A J-turn differs from a bootleg turn in that the vehicle begins in reverse gear. It is often performed by stunt drivers in film and television shows. It can be performed both on dry and snowy surfaces; the latter is preferable while learning the skill.
The Scandinavian flick, Finnish flick, pendulum turn, or Scandi flick is a technique used predominantly in ice racing and rallying. The technique induces oversteer using weight transfer to carry a vehicle through a turn while simultaneously reducing speed.
The turning radius of a vehicle defines the minimum dimension of available space required for that vehicle to make a semi-circular U-turn without skidding. The Oxford English Dictionary describes turning circle as "the smallest circle within which a ship, motor vehicle, etc., can be turned round completely". The term thus refers to a theoretical minimal circle in which for example an aeroplane, a ground vehicle or a watercraft can be turned around.
S-AWC is the brand name of an advanced full-time four-wheel drive system developed by Mitsubishi Motors. The technology, specifically developed for the new 2007 Lancer Evolution, the 2010 Outlander, the 2014 Outlander, the Outlander PHEV and the Eclipse Cross have an advanced version of Mitsubishi Motors' AWC system. Mitsubishi Motors first exhibited S-AWC integration control technology in the Concept-X model at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show in 2005. According to Mitsubishi Motors, "the ultimate embodiment of the company's AWC philosophy is the S-AWC system, a 4WD-based integrated vehicle dynamics control system".
Canada's Worst Driver is a Canadian television series that aired on Discovery Channel from 2005 to 2018, based on Britain's Worst Driver. It and sister series Canada's Worst Handyman (2006–2011) are the two highest-rated programs on Discovery Channel. The series was produced by Proper Television whose president, Guy O'Sullivan, was the director for the original Britain's Worst Driver series; as such, Canada's Worst Driver is considered to be the production company's flagship show. Unlike other Worst Driver series around the world, the Canadian version emphasizes the learning process of the contestants and the science of driving and, as such, is often more serious than the other Worst Driver shows, which are mainly played for laughs. It is the longest running of any Worst Driver series to date with 14 seasons and 115 episodes.
An automobile skid is an automobile handling condition where one or more tires are slipping relative to the road, and the overall handling of the vehicle has been affected.
Crosswind stabilization (CWS) is a relatively new advanced driver-assistance system in cars and trucks that was first featured in a 2009 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. CWS assists drivers in controlling a vehicle during strong wind conditions such as driving over a bridge or when overtaking a semi-truck. CWS uses yaw rate, lateral acceleration, steering angle, and velocity sensors to determine how much assistance to give the driver in a certain scenario whether it be at different speeds or while turning. Using different components throughout the vehicle like brakes, differentials, and suspension, CWS can implement the readings from force sensors to properly assist the driver in a given situation.