I completely lost Control of my Z today in the wet, its been raining all day here on the Gold Coast and I was doing a U-turn near Brisbane road. I wasn't speeding at all and there must have been oil on the road anyway I ended up doing a complete 360 and pulled into some randoms drive way to let the cars go past, lucky they weren't too close only thing damaged is my neck oh and my pride. I'm glad it didn't turn out worse as I don't have ABS or an airbag. This happened in an NA btw just shows they do have some power. Maybe my tires are a crap brand.
yeh they do have heaps of power, i have one too and i dont even try to speed and it always kicks out.... might b my tyres...
sorry to hear and glad you're ok but if it was all non speeding, and sensible driving, how is this about the power of the mighty NA? I "nearly" span my old 95 falcon in the wet once. But it was all my fault. New to "big" engined RWD cars and whilst going round a corner at 80kph, wondered what would happend if i stabbed my foot down..... ...i found out
Well, I was stationary waiting to do the U-turn and a little over steer happened since it was a very tight U-turn and there was defiantly oil on the road, it didn't take much at all for the rear to kick out like it did. I wasn't speeding it happened at around 35/40kmph. The road also has a lean to it which didn't help, was raining, oily road, and down hill and of course the MIGHTY NA POWER the na's have a lot of torque when taking off.
Tight U-turn at 40kph? Exactly what did you expect to happen? There wasn't any oil on the road.... you just gave it too much loud pedal. Cheap lesson right there. :zlove:
Doing a "very tight U-turn" on a wet road, at 35-40kph, IS speeding(even if you don't think so), so forget "oil on the road" and substitute "inexperienced loose nut on steering wheel" as the possible cause. I'm glad you didn't get hurt and I hope you've learned from the experience.:zlove:
Traction Control GB closes 19th of september its actually a GB in the UK (racelogic is a UK company and the UK zedders are running it) but we're jumping on board their gb for cheap prices if it saves u from a crash, then it's cheap... on top of that, its fun (launch control etc) :zlove:
Hey that was max I'm not sure what the speed was but it wasn't much at all. I'm gonna check my tyres out when the rain stops.
yeah check em out no ones having a go... just... thats what happens. no need to blame oil or whatever My TT also stepped out badly on wet road on way to work the other morning (as mentioned in another post) I was coming out, turning left, as gently as possible. Didn't even feel it loose traction, just suddenly the back of my car is taking the corner faster than the front lol it happens, and we learn. First time (the falcon incident) I panicked, counter steered, AND backed off, and tank slapping fish tailing ensued. Was VERY scary. Few times after that (even when "inviting" it), same thing These days (and i hope i dont curse myself here), its more of a natural correction. Countersteer (but not too much) and line her up, and keep the power nice and constant. She comes good.
Yeah lesson learned but I wasn't speeding that was a maximum guess I'm not gonna say I was doing 2kmph but I'm the guy that everyone gets pissed off at for driving slowly in the rain :biggrin: this was honestly just one of those things that can and does happen even at correct speeds. Next time I'll use 2nd gear when doing a U-turn in the wet its an auto btw so drive wasnt a good choice.
Thats happened to me in my NA before, very scary, I did it coming out of a round about, one second your driving normal next second your facing on coming traffic Im doing a defensive diving course soon as well, so maybe thats a good idea...
May I suggest a skid pan day appearance for you at our next outing there. It does give you an appreciation of how your car handles in the wet, and also how YOU handle the car in the wet. You quickly learn how to correct these situations should they occur. Should be a mandatory step in obtaining a license I think.
You are turning from a stop... drive will suffice. We both realise you were going too fast for the conditions, as evidenced by the spin. I'd suggest you get yourself out on a skidpan asap to discover the limitations of car and driver in a safe environment... and have a ball doing it EDIT: Greg pipped me to the post. As an aside, I was speaking to a couple of Swedish exchange students yesterday and they explained that in their country it was required to prove driving ability on an icerink... skando flicks etc... before getting a driving permit.
Could not agree more this WOULD bring the road toll down. oooooh crazy though occuring......... what if "structured clubs" (which i know this isn't... its a "forum") set an example by insisting that memmbers attend (or provide proof of attendance) to a AHG day (skidpan, MC, or simular) BEFORE you're allowed to drive on a cruise ok that wouldn't be popular. Just thinking out loud really.
Done a defencive they help with things.. happened to me in other cars.. havnt had issues in the ZX yet.. appart from some wheel slippage here and there and slight slide outs that actually felt rather nice hehe. but yeah.. NA's do kick... but in the wet.. a U turn (meaning ur weight it completely shifted if doing it with a fair amount of speed).. possibly baldish tires LOL.. and if there was oil.. then ur definately going to spin unless you literally idled around the turn process LOL. Well.. long as no one was hurt.. your pride will recover .. just neXt time do it in a commadore or something! LOL.
Knowing how to handle the conditions and knowing your car is really important. On my old rear tyres, the back on the car would slide out around a particular long corner in the wet at just under 30km/h (for Brisbane residents, its the corner after the tunnel that goes underneath the story bridge if you were heading towards the southside). The problem was that the tyres looked pretty good from a glance, but the rear camber had worn away the inside of the tyres.
hahah iv done that a few times...i did it once in the 300 doing a u turn in the dry...was actually trying to step it out...but not face the wrong way haha...and i did it a few times in my old car witch was a 1976 toyota crown in the wet... lol but thats coz that thing was like driving a boat...u turn and the car will sit on the weels lol or if u apply brakes it will rock back and forth for abit i miss that thing...was fun to thrash around...shame the motor went bang
