While I was exiting the freeway today I almost spun out while turning. Here's what happened:
What it looked like: To exit the freeway you basically have to make a uphill long u-turn.
What I did: I downshifted to 4th at 45mph and get about 50% throttle on the way up the hill
What happened: The rear end kicked out on me (probably at 60-65MPH) and I had to countersteer( left then right again). Once I gained control I just gradually went on my way off the rest of the exit.
Suspension mods: Tires have good thread, spoon F&R strut tower bars

I guess this is what you call oversteer. Really freaked me out. I was stupid and won't be doing that again...

Question: What can I do to avoid this next time? Are there any techniques where I can take a turn fast in and fast out? I know I should probably slow down first then as I'm going out-end of the turn slightly gas it.

Cliff notes: Stupid immature driver almost spins on the freeway offramp.

 

Did you brake when you turn?

 

Don't shift in turns.

I've seen you tell others to go to autox, don't you? If not, start doing that and you'll learn car control.

 

did you rev match when downshifting? that could have thrown off the balance of the car...

 

glad your okay bro. well yeah, just next time, dont let off the gas on a turn like that. your rigth too, next time, just take it slow on entering the ramp and slowly apply more gas through it.

i hope i dont forget not to let off the gas on a turn like that..glad your okay

 

yeah, did u break while turning? thats a no no

brake before turn, dont accelerate too much while in the turn try to keep ur speed +/- 5 mph

 

"Secrets of Solo Racing" by Henry A Watts

Buy the above book. It is only $12 ( http://www.amazon.com ), but the information is priceless.


[Modified by davidnyc, 9:22 PM 2/3/2002]

 

Here's some more detail: I downshifted FIRST. Then went into the turn, and no braking at all. As I was on the gas and turning, the rear kicked out.

 

That's good to hear that you didn't shift in the turn. You didn't let off the throttle at all and the back end kicked out, huh? Odd...

 

I've been running what I did all day through my head. I kept on the gas because everyone tells me NOT to let off the throttle. I know I started to let off the throttle was it was starting to kick out on me. As I let it off I countersteered my way out. I guess maybe the reason is because I was going to fast for the turn?

 

There's the problem. In FFs you mash the gas and countersteer, don't let off.

 

how are your tire pressures ?, if you didn't mess up the car's balance perhaps your tire pressures are not optimal, are the rears down at all ?, give 'em a quick check, front and rear. You may have also hit a patch of sand or even oil on the road , making things a bit slick.


J.


[Modified by JSIR, 6:34 PM 2/3/2002]

 

I must be tired excuse my improper typing... I only let off the throttle because the end was kicking out. The right thing in that case would be to step on the gas when it's kicking out? Thanks for all the help so far.

 

Yes. You almost crashed because you let off the gas when the rear end started coming out. You need to put weight on the rear to make it grab and to do that you must get on the gas HARD.

 

that's a trip because the same thing happened to me last night, and I posted about it in another thread. I was wondering if the rear tower bar (I have skunk2) made me a little loose back there. I know sway bars do that....oh, I HAD to brake durning the turn to not ram a land rover that cut me off, but not really hard enough, IMO to make the back that light. Oh, were your tires cold?

 

I would have used left-foot braking in this case just so as not totally disrupt the balance of the car.

If it was so bad that I had to fully slam on the brakes, I'd take the Land Rover down with me rather than swerving and crashing while he drives off.

 

Why did you buy strut tower bars? You got them to make the rear end loose, right? Not because they're "spoon jdm parts"?

 

so now you are all about drifting eh. glad you didnt wreck your car before we put your header in.

 

Hmmm anyone else have this pet peeve?

It's tread.

 

strut tower bars make the rear loose? how, i thought it made it more stiff and easier to control..

 

yup, don't let off throttle...

tjtruong~ learned the hard way.. had to replace knuckle (spindle) and A Arm..


tj

 

If you upgrade your suspension properly it should require increasing amounts of skill rather than decreased skill.

For all you people who don't autox/track your car for whatever reason, PLEASE GET YOUR CAR OUT ON THE TRACK AND LEARN THE LIMITS OF THE CAR THERE. I'd hate to hear about anyone crashing where driver error came into play.

Be safe out there,
Reid

 

My pet peeve is "tunning". It's supposed to be spelled like this: TUNING

And then there's "breaks" used in the wrong context...the pedal you step on to stop your car is BRAKES , not using it correctly can cause BREAKS.

OK...english lesson over.

EDIT: Put quotations around the words used incorrectly.




[Modified by Tommy_Gunns, 9:04 PM 2/3/2002]

 

Having the rear end slip out can get your heart pumping. Your car seems fine so i'll ask how was the road conditions? Were there any oil, fine dust, water, or gravel on the road?

 

Ok first, are you sure it was your fault? I'm sure all of us have run across slippery surfaces from time to time. It could be the asphalt quality itself or maybe there was some oil slick on the road that made you spin out?

I had the same thing happen to me tho. I did a 180 degree spin doing a left turn on a turn I had mabbe used 40 times before. The difference was this time I was going to show my friend what my car could do, and I had copious amounts of Meguirs tire glaze on the sidewall, which rubbed on to the contact patch of the tire causing me to spin out. Your mishap was probably just one of these freak occurences.

Anyway. If you could tell someone how to drive through discussion, then most of us h-t members would be in Formula One by now, with all the time on the forums we spend. My advice, practice. Spend late nights practicing drifting on abandoned roads (they don't hold AutoX's every day). There is one rule of thumb though, whenever you do somethign in the car, shifting, braking, accelerating, do it smoothly. You will learn this by practice. The message here: practice. I think most people find by experimentation what works and what doesn't.

However the correct way to approach a curve, I think, is to have all your shifting done before hand, don't worry about the revs being high. When you finish braking immediatly get your foot on the gas, do this quickly to avoid upsetting the balance of the car. Then feather the gas through the turn. Make sure you're looking far ahead in the turn. Just my .02/4 cents.