How to Flip Your Car 180 Degrees at Speed
For when you really, really don’t have time for a 3-point turn.
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In this How-To video from our upcoming Cars & Guns adventure, which we put together in partnership with Team O'Neil Rally School and Sig Sauer, we show you how to "flip" your car—to use your forward driving momentum to quickly switch directions using a fluid, 180-degree turn.
First, you need some speed before initiating the turn (let's say at least 30 mph or so) so that you have enough forward momentum to fully rotate the car. You may want to add steering input first, since there's so much rotation necessary; in fact, the first step after lifting off the gas and depressing the clutch is pulling the handbrake—only when the tires are locked do you add in a fullish turn of the wheel. Once the car is well on its way to rotated, you can drop the handbrake, let out the clutch, and get on the gas as you unwind the steering. Done.
(Note that it's easier if you don't think of the handbrake as separate steps—pull handbrake to "on" position; wait; lower handbrake to "off" position—but rather as one fluid application: apply maximum handbrake until you have enough rotation, then release. If you think of it that way, you're more likely to keep your hand on the brake, which saves some grasping and mis-timing.)
More How-To videos from the series to come all this week. Check out the full Cars & Guns trailer here, and come back for the finale on Friday, April 21.
