Drifting gone wrong!!

[FRSfan111]

Originally Posted by Mandy

I keep all my spirited driving to back roads; fortunately there are no ditches near where I live.

Ha I go to historic highway, unfortunately it's a down hill pass so one side is a stone wall and the other side is a cliff, no room for error, but so much fun.

[F3dzo]

Actually I was lucky I didn't end up across the street!

[CircuitJerk]

Be careful! Great way to twist your chassis. Can't count how many times I've seen someone do that only to end up with warped and misaligned panels and lumpy rooflines.

[Black Tire]

Ouch! I'm glad that you only had some cosmetic damage.

Did you have the traction control and VSC on or off?

Even when these are "off" there is still some intrusive control. In my experience, the result of this is that the car will appear to be gripping fine and stable for longer than is really good, because the tires can only do so much. When the limit of adhesion is exceeded with any driver aid still active in this car, the change is abrupt resulting in a spin or off road excursion. In my experience, it does not seem possible to approach the limit with driver's aids active and still have some control.

I you think this may have been a problem for you, try using the pedal dance next time:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...ht=Pedal+dance

The downside of this is that it requires a cautious approach and some time and patience to develop the necessary car control skills. With all of the driver's aids (except anti-lock brakes) removed, you are on your own to control the car in any slip/skid situation. Once skills are developed though, the car is more controllable at the limit after the pedal dance has been applied.

A last word of caution: public roads are so variable that surprises can happen no matter what you do or how good you are. I was driving behind another car on a twisty public road, and even though I was well within my cars limits I almost spun. Why? Because the car ahead of me dipped a wheel off the edge of the road (I didn't see it happen) which spread loose gravel on the curve which almost totally eliminated any traction. If you can, get to a track where the surface is more consistent and there is often times generous run off areas if something does go wrong.

[Huehuecoyotl]

looks more FIA rallye than drift!

[F3dzo]

Originally Posted by CircuitJerk

Be careful! Great way to twist your chassis. Can't count how many times I've seen someone do that only to end up with warped and misaligned panels and lumpy rooflines.

How can I check??? Body shop??

[F3dzo]

Originally Posted by Black Tire

Ouch! I'm glad that you only had some cosmetic damage.

Did you have the traction control and VSC on or off?

Even when these are "off" there is still some intrusive control. In my experience, the result of this is that the car will appear to be gripping fine and stable for longer than is really good, because the tires can only do so much. When the limit of adhesion is exceeded with any driver aid still active in this car, the change is abrupt resulting in a spin or off road excursion. In my experience, it does not seem possible to approach the limit with driver's aids active and still have some control.

I you think this may have been a problem for you, try using the pedal dance next time:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...ht=Pedal+dance

The downside of this is that it requires a cautious approach and some time and patience to develop the necessary car control skills. With all of the driver's aids (except anti-lock brakes) removed, you are on your own to control the car in any slip/skid situation. Once skills are developed though, the car is more controllable at the limit after the pedal dance has been applied.

A last word of caution: public roads are so variable that surprises can happen no matter what you do or how good you are. I was driving behind another car on a twisty public road, and even though I was well within my cars limits I almost spun. Why? Because the car ahead of me dipped a wheel off the edge of the road (I didn't see it happen) which spread loose gravel on the curve which almost totally eliminated any traction. If you can, get to a track where the surface is more consistent and there is often times generous run off areas if something does go wrong.

This experience actually woke more interest in learn to control my car in unexpected circumstances. The aids were off by the way. So it's a lot of grey area

[CircuitJerk]

Originally Posted by F3dzo

How can I check??? Body shop??

If it's not noticeable, then you're probably okay.
Signs are uneven fender gaps but you have to have a good recollection of what they looked like from the start.
The roof can be a good indicator. If there are ripples, or dents, it can be in indication that an excessive amount of stress was applied.

[lazyluka]

Am I doing it right?

[ame]http://youtu.be/ugQjtjTaVYA[/ame]

[BRZnut]

Why would you do that?? All the dirt/rocks can't be good!!

[Cade01]

I had an experience much like this recently. I took the car and my son to a parking lot for a couple power slides, left to head home. We left from a side road to the empty, wet, expressway, and quickly realized the traction control was still off. Well, needless to say the car got a bit sideways, headed towards the shoulder, and right into the grass on the other side. Fortunately I was able to keep up my momentum because the grass was super wet and the ground was really soft. After a lot of sliding around and tire spinning we got back to the road and went about our business with the traction control on. As soon as we hit the road surface I hear from the back seat THAT! WAS! AWESOME!!!!! Crazy kid, I'm up front worrying and he's having a blast. The only damage was dirty wheels and some grass stuck in the wheelwells and on the diff.

[Obja]

wet blacktop parking lots>>>>>>>>>