A skidpad is a circular area of flat pavement used for various tests of a

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

's handling. The most common skidpad use is testing lateral acceleration, measured in

meters per second squared The metre per second squared is the Units of measurement, unit of acceleration in the International System of Units (SI). As a SI derived unit, derived unit, it is composed from the SI base units of length, the metre, and time, the second. Its sy ...

(m/s²) or the scaled unit ''g''-force. This usage has similarities to that of using a kick plate.

Measurement of grip

A car’s maximum number of ''g''-forces on a skid pad says something about the grip of the car on winding roads, or how fast it can drive in corners without losing grip. Some factors which can aid in achieving higher ''g''-forces are high power, wide tires, low mass, appropriate suspension setup and large downforce.

Test setup

The test is carried out on a circular track with a defined radius. A car driving on said track is slowly accelerated, until the outermost tires on the car begin to slip. Going any faster would cause the car to drive outside the defined radius. At this point, the speed of the car is recorded, and given the centripetal acceleration formula (by the formula ''v''²/''r'', that is velocity squared divided by radius) the car’s handling in terms of the maximum of lateral ''g''s can be derived.

Other uses

A new world record was accomplished in November 2020, when the Porsche Taycan set the '' Guinness World Records'' best mark for longest electric vehicle drift on the skidpad (measured in time). The car stayed sideways for in 55 minutes.

References

{{AutomotiveHandlingNav Automotive safety

Measurement of grip

Test setup

Other uses

See also

References