Car saved us both
 

Heavy rain today, and I lost traction at highway speeds while changing lanes. It was my fault because I changed lanes too fast for the conditions and could have been going slower (supercharged on E85 not helping the situation). The rear end fishtailed to one side then whipped back the other way. I thought for sure the car was going to spin out and hit the meridian. Meanwhile traction control and vehicle stability control starts doing their thing. I’m not sure if the electronic steering will move the wheel too, but regardless, I felt individual tires breaking in pulses, as the car almost magically straightened out. Suddenly I was going 55mph in a straight line again in the correct lane. That s*#% is pretty f*#%ng amazing.

It reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear going sideways in a R34 Skyline GTR and showing how the computer sorts the car to going straight again. I know not everyone likes the nannies, but in these situations they are just amazing to have.

https://youtu.be/oAp1CXnAqGs

glad to hear you & your twin get to fight another day. i had a very similar experience with my first 86 when i was driving from AZ to ID in the middle of winter on the factory all seasons. i lost all traction while going 80 while it was snowing and my car started veering off into the opposing lanes before doing the tc song & dance.

qwow glad your ok good to know that the tc will keep me from losing it

It will help but as Irace said (or implied) there is no substitute to driving to the conditions.

Man I saw this and got all worried. Then saw everything turned out fine. Good thing you are safe!

glad to here it all worked out and that you were able to reach your destination.

are you running stock size wheels/tires or the ones mentioned in your build thread? [XXR 530 18x7.50 +38 BFG Sport Comp 235/40/18; XXR 530 18x8.75 +33 BFG SC 265/35/18]

do you think any of the suspension and other brace mods helped or hindered the recovery efforts?

car looks nice.

I'm glad you're ok, and that the other people, if any, on the road around you are OK too. Driving 80mph in snow is an incredibly stupid thing to do. I'm sorry... it just needed to be said.

Thanks :thumbup: positive karma points for you!

Hey, I know I came off as obnoxious and judgemental..believe it or not, I thought twice about posting that. You're probably a great guy living a kind, helpful life. On the off chance that a new driver is reading this thread and gets the idea that the nannies make doing 80mph in snow a good idea, much less safe, I figured I'd maybe try and save a life and tell the truth. That's all.

@Go Frogs

Thanks. I have that setup still. I don’t think anything would have made much of a difference once the car lost traction. To prevent it, better suspension could have helped, maybe, but it was more of a conditions situation with my driving and the surface (wet with bumps) being primary factors. As for recovery, I’m good about not over-reacting; motorcycle riding has taught me that, how to alter my trajectory with small changes. I only let off the gas and tried to gently resist some of the movement, but in general, I let the car go straight until it gained more traction. This would have needed to change if I didn’t have plenty of space to exhaust. The car sorted the rest. Considering it was breaking individual tires, which I couldn’t do with my foot, I consider the results of the car to be beyond expert level. It is really rather spectacular.

Do you not have the Big brake kit on your thread? That would absolutely help the effectiveness of the tcs system.

The traction control system on the 86 is spectacular, especially considering it has a high threshold for intervention on a car that doesn’t understeer much at all. Good to hear it saved you.

I leave the nannies full on when its raining. It was raining today in SoCal, and I just put the standard wheel/tires back on...man, I forgot just how skidish this thing can be in the wet with the stock tires. Its hysterical. Fun, but not ideal for carrying any sort of speed. Idk HOW people like Leh Keen race in wet conditions. The balls...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAvN0EzEacU[/ame]