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.

The driver starts by using steering input to transfer weight to the outside tires; the handbrake is then used to lock the rear wheels, thus upsetting the adhesion between the tires and the road surface. With practice, the car can be placed accurately by releasing the handbrake and accelerating the vehicle. The technique is used in some forms of motorsport, for example rallying, autotesting, and motorkhana.

Many sports cars, especially English makes such as MG and Triumph, as late as the early 1970s were offered with a fly-off handbrake option for competition purposes—the button on the end of the lever has to be pressed before the brake will lock on, which is the reverse of the normal arrangement—allowing for faster and more controlled application in a handbrake turn, and was less liable to be accidentally locked on while doing such a maneuver.

In a rear-wheel drive manual transmission vehicle, it is also necessary to operate the clutch to prevent the handbrake from stalling the engine.