Skip to main content

VBOX Automotive Insights

How to measure Slip Angle

Slip angle is one of the most important parameters in vehicle dynamics testing, but it is more than a single measurement. Body slip and tyre slip tell different stories - and both change depending on where on the vehicle you measure them.

On a wet grip circuit, we set out to show exactly how those two measurements diverge - provoking neutral steer, oversteer and understeer in a controlled test, using a VBOX 4 Dynamics data logger paired with a VBOX IMU05 inertial sensor.

The story is in the data: during oversteer, rear tyre slip angles exceeded 30 degrees, while the front tyres, steering into the slide, recorded barely 3 degrees in the opposite direction.

It's a clear demonstration of why slip angle is essential to understanding what's happening at every corner of the car during vehicle development and testing.

Read The Full Guide

Our full Slip Angle guide explains exactly how body slip and tyre slip are calculated, how the bicycle model explains what's happening at each wheel, and how slip angle is translated to any point on the car.
Download the guide (PDF)

VBOX 4 Dynamics

One half of the Dynamics Duo - a high-accuracy GNSS data logger that measures course-over-ground directly, giving a single, consistent reference for vehicle motion under real test conditions.
Read more

IMU05

The other half - an inertial measurement unit that bridges the gaps GNSS alone can't reach, delivering pitch, roll, body heading and slip angle directly, without estimation or post-processing.
Read more
Back to News Overview