Lift-off oversteer

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Lift-off oversteer (also known as , trailing-throttle oversteer, throttle off oversteer, or lift-throttle oversteer) is a form of sudden oversteer. While cornering, a driver who closes the throttle (by lifting a foot off the accelerator, hence the name), 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 (that perpendicular to the direction of travel), 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.

Such uncontrolled drifting should not be confused with the sport of intentionally drifting a motor vehicle.^[1]