Oversteer generally refers to a car’s tendency to lose grip on the rear wheels around corners or when pushed hard. This results in the back end sliding out. Oversteer can be easily seen in older rear wheel drive cars (such as Falcons and Commodores) when pushed hard around a bend or in the wet.

Understeer is the opposite of Oversteer and is generally more related to the front wheels. Understeer takes place when a car refuses to turn into a corner and insists on going straight ahead. Generally more cars are designed to understeer as oppose to oversteer as drivers will be comfortable with losing frontal grip than rear grip.

It has been mentioned the Understeer is a safer alternative to Oversteer.