Bootleg turn
Encyclopedia
Driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, such as a car, truck or bus.Although direct operation of a bicycle and a mounted animal are commonly referred to as riding, such operators are legally considered drivers and are required to obey the rules of the road...
maneuver intended to reverse the direction of travel of a forward-moving automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
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 a bootlegger.
Technique
The turn is performed by putting the vehicle quickly into a lower gear, usually the second gearGear ratio
The gear ratio of a gear train is the ratio of the angular velocity of the input gear to the angular velocity of the output gear, also known as the speed ratio of the gear train. The gear ratio can be computed directly from the numbers of teeth of the various gears that engage to form the gear...
, and quickly turning the wheel in the direction of the opposite lane. If performed correctly, the vehicle will 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 on some cars by initially applying a flick of the steering wheel the wrong way, before turning it in the direction the driver wants to go. This maneuver (known in racing as a Scandinavian flick
Scandinavian flick
The Scandinavian flick, Finnish flick, Manji Drifting, or Pendulum turn, is a technique used in rallying. While approaching the turn the driver applies a slight steering input to the opposite direction of the turn, then steering into the turn, while sharply lifting off the throttle and lightly...
) 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 done on 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
Fishtailing
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...
spinout. Vehicles with an automatic transmission can be modified to make a bootleg turn possible. This is most commonly done for stunt vehicles used in motion pictures, to reduce the stress on the stunt driver to change gears while turning.
Cars with a handbrake on 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
Handbrake turn
The handbrake turn is a driving technique used to deliberately slide a car sideways, either for the purpose of negotiating a very tight bend quickly, or for turning around well within the vehicle's own turning circle....
. Using the handbrake to break the traction of the rear wheels is much simpler than trying to do this by power alone.
Origins
The name of the turn originates from the ProhibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
era of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, when bootleggers
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
transporting illegal liquor would use the maneuver 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
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
, who ran liquor from his father's moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
still and went on to become a highly successful NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
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
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
) in Brazil.
Related
A moonshiner's turn, or J-TurnJ-turn
A J-turn is a driving maneuver used to reverse a backwards-traveling vehicle so as to continue driving in the same direction, but with the vehicle pointed forward. The J-turn is also called "moonshiner's turn", based on the evasive driving tactics used by bootleggers. A J-turn differs from a...
, 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.
See also
- U-turnU-turn (maneuver)A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180 degree rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others it is treated as a more ordinary turn, merely extended...
- J-turnJ-turnA J-turn is a driving maneuver used to reverse a backwards-traveling vehicle so as to continue driving in the same direction, but with the vehicle pointed forward. The J-turn is also called "moonshiner's turn", based on the evasive driving tactics used by bootleggers. A J-turn differs from a...
- Handbrake turnHandbrake turnThe handbrake turn is a driving technique used to deliberately slide a car sideways, either for the purpose of negotiating a very tight bend quickly, or for turning around well within the vehicle's own turning circle....
- Crazy Ivan
- StuntStuntA stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...
- DriftingDrifting (motorsport)Drifting refers to a driving technique and to a motorsport where the driver intentionally over steers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed...