Fish Tailing
 

I unno if its my being too aggressive during traffic or some sort or the tires are just crap...

i'm running those stock primacy tires, i was stuck in traffic and the roads are dry, maybe a lot of salt on the ground. Green light, i stepped on it to pass the slow ass car in front me:burnrubber:. I was on the left lane behind the slow poke, switched to right lane really fast, accelerate pass the car, switch left lane after I passed his front, then BAMB! the rear flew out! i went into four consecutive fish tails. At the time I had my VSC sport on, passing the vehicle at 60-70km/hr. WTH... why is it so easy to throw the tail out on a simple lane change?!?

Is it the weight? the tires? or me?

Light weight and eco tires = spinning tires

Sounds like driver error to me.

Hmmm... haven't experienced anything remotely like that. Maybe be a bit gentler with her.

Or your roads are REALLY dirty. In which case ^^ still applies. :)

well toronto roads are the shittiest "paved" roads u can possibly get imo... pot holes, lumps, cracks... anything u can think of... but i'm not gonna go bac and exam wtf was on the road lol... im just putting greater emphasis on these three factors

throw a couple bags of salt or sand in the back will do wonders for traction, i know my drive to work was scary before i did, give you a stiffer suspension as well

Yeah sounds like you're being too aggressive between throttle, steering, and weight transfer. The stock tires are certainly not R-comps, but they aren't complete garbage; still get surprising grip when loaded properly. They're still normal passenger car tires.

hmmm, i guess... though i think added weight n new tires is necessary for me, considering the fact i enjoy cutting lanes at nite. the crap part was that i didn't stomp the throttle. i was on 3rd gear, started releasing the throttle as i passed him so i don't go 20kms over speed limit lol... im so lost on wut happened... luckily i caught enuff traction to reverse the slip and bac on track.

Toronto is -18C these days, your summer rubber is going to be like circular bricks. OF COURSE you'll have less traction.
It's like you walk in the snow bare feet and asking "why are my feet so cold?"

This
and this.

Driver error all the way.

Why have sport mode on??? With the aggressive driving the rear will kick out. Leave all the aids on when the conditions arent the greatest.

i usually leave the sport mode on cuz i find the clutch less jerky after release, feels smoother. I agree, i didn't consider the weather condition cuz it was fine all day. i think i should slap on winters soon and just get the grip i need.

I can't believe you are running the stock summer tires in this weather. It doesn't matter if there's no snow on the ground, the temperatures alone will render the tires basically useless.

For the love of everyone else on the road, get winter tires!!!

maa bad haha, i wasn't suppose to drive the brz today, the other car wasn't in my garage when i left the house :/

I see, you're one of those guys in a sporty car who feels like he has to YANK the wheel hard when changing lanes, 'cuz it feels SPORTY, right?!

Well, you're doing it wrong...
Summer tires are crap in cold weather, but you shouldn't be on the brink of losing control simply changing lanes passing somebody.

News flash: Getting OFF the gas induces OVERsteer (i.e., "fishtailing").

This is Driving 101: ON the gas generally induces UNDERsteer (i.e., push), NOT OVERSTEER as the F&F franchinse might have you believe. Sure, if you have enough horsepower you can break rear traction, but in 3rd gear in an FT86 car? No way. The way you lost rear traction was overaggressive steering input and getting off the gas.

Be SMOOOVE! And take it easy out there...

no i don't cut if im not in traffic, i can't stand traffic, thats why i don't drive typically untill 11pm and after, im nocturnal due to the congestion of ppl and traffic in Toronto. Night life only for me. Im forced to drive in traffic today due to school, otherwise, screw driving before 10pm...

yea i guess i went over my head today with the road rage, i didn't think bout the tires i had on. I'll keep that in mind nxt time for sure :(

Wut? :(

You live in Florida, I dont think you have experienced snow/ice roads before. And yes the cold weather renders the stock michellin tires useless, I know that from experience. It has nothing to do with driver error, come up to Minnesota in negative degree weather and drive on our roads for a day with stock tires and write a review about it.

If you fishtail in the car it's because you made it fishtail. Personally, unless I want to slide the car around a bit around corners I leave all the drivers aides on.

It's driver error to expect summer tires to perform well during high-speed maneuvers in cold weather. Do you disagree?

I grew up in northern Ohio and have driven on ice.

If you drive a car with tires you know aren't capable of the conditions, and then drive it aggressively as he stated, it's driver error. Period. He's driving outside the known limits of the vehicle given the conditions. That is *not* a problem with the car.

Hell he's even turning on VSC sport. In negative 0 degree weather. Come on now....

^ Yes and yes to the two post above. My instincts kicked in because I saw your location and thought you was those typical FL boys with no experience in snow trying to tell us snow people we cant 'drive'. I forgot to think about 'driver error' having to do with the OP not changing his summer tires to winter tires. I apologize.

Another FL boy here that learned how to drive in (A LOT) of snow in NY, off Lake Ontario.

The OP needs to chill a bit, or wrecking will be imminent--gotta drive within the conditions--no matter where you live. My .02...

At the risk of pissing some people off, I'm guessing the OP is under 25 years old. That would explain a lot. Am I right?

I would say under 20, since he started the post with "I unno".

The OP made a comment about using sport because the clutch feels smoother. Am I mistaken here or does the VSC/Sport mode have nothing to do w the clutch/throttle?

Maybe he meant wheelspin is allowed when you dump the clutch so it's "smoother"?

But you are correct, VSC Sport has nothing to do with clutch operation.

As they say..."Quoted for truth"

Forgetting driving on them, you aren't even supposed to store your Michelin Primacy tires below 45F.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUjh9Id6Id8"]Shieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet - YouTube[/ame]

wait

what?

....fuck

It's driver error if your driving too fast for the conditions -"steeping on it" and "switched to the right lane really fast". Being raised in Colorado and driven in sub zero and snowy conditions, and on crappy roads, this is a driving style that is not appropriate for the conditions.

Sounds like lift of oversteer, were you turning at the same time?

If you make a sudden turn and back off the power you're transferring weight forward and outside the centre of gravity unloading the rear suspension.

Thanks you soooo much. The Wire is the best TV show (hell, screen media) I've ever seen.

But seriously.

A car does not do anything the driver does not tell it to. You upset the chassis through abrupt and incorrect inputs. Please be careful, this car isnt a beginner vehicle. If you respect the balance of the car, the car will respect your inputs.

One of two things:
Ypu hit a patch of ice you did not see OR
as you turned back into the left lane one of your rear tires crushes a really fat cat (too slow to get out of the way). The excess fat and hot tires caused the tire to lose traction and control then became difficult.

Advice: One, watch for animals, especially Dobermans and two:

Don't ever drive a Porsche 911 type of car. Inexperienced drivers have learned the hard way (about Fishtailing).

Traction control saved op most likely even with sport mode on. If he didn't lift, the car would have attempted to regain traction lifting for him. Is it that easy to have the rear slip out on primacies? Well, yeah, those things are worthless in snow and even in the rain. Worse thing you can do is cut throttle suddenly while sliding.

Respect the car, it most likely saved you from smacking a curb at the very least. Try that on an s2000 and you would most likely have lost it by being so badass.

Driver error. Calm the hell down.

I agree...WHAT? I have no choice, no heated garage, car gets to sit in the -20 degree weather, whether I want it to or not. Never heard storing tires under a certain temp was bad. My truck tires don't seem to mind...

Explain please?

The rubber compounds used in summer tires are contructed to operate in a certain temperature range. When extreme cold hits, the compound condenses and drops beyond the point it was designed to, causing undue stress on the tire, most commonly making the tire very VERY hard and as a result, traction is compromised. In extreme cases, the tire can crack and even shatter.
It also goes to note that you can impair the integrity of the tire simply by driving the summer tire in winter due to the friction of the tire on the road. The friction causes the exterior of the tire to heat up faster than the rest and can again, excellerate wear, crack, or even drop chunks on the road.

You Sir, are an idiot!

Sounds like you need to learn how not to endanger other people on the road by using your summers in the winter. Buy a dedicated winter setup or take the TTC.