What Would You Do?

[the_random_hero]

Ok, picture this. You're about to enter a roundabout, turning left onto a big downhill 180* bend to merge onto the motorway. Just as you're about to enter the roundabout, you notice a car has suddenly put its blinkers on to turn your way and there's no way you can safely stop in time, yet speeding up will get you through the roundabout without any issues. You speed up to a safe speed to go around the corner and enter the downhill bend, and lift your foot off the accelerator as you notice you're slightly above the speed you would normally do around the bend. Suddenly, you feel the weight shifting from the rear to the front of the vehicle, quickly followed by the *****-end of the car sliding out underneath you. On the inside of the bend there is a big ditch, with a couple of power poles not too far from where you're heading.

What do you do? Yes, this situation did happen to me today and I managed to avoid an accident. I was in the Paseo, so FWD without a buttload of power behind it.

Edited May 27, 2009 by the_random_hero

[DJKOR]

To tell the truth, I really don't know what would happen. When stuff like that occurs, it's all like auto-pilot. The actions required to avoid the accident just happen. I can think things I would do to avoid it, but the circumstances usually vary depending on how the car is moving, and your mind somehow takes control.

[the_random_hero]

Well, given that we're talking about the hypothetical, what would you think that you should do?

[whitestivo]

pray

whitestivo

[Camry95]

Drift the ***** round the hairpin and have some fun :D

Edited May 26, 2009 by Camry95

[cuppas]

hook it. handbrake. gas it outta there =D

[lateralus]

i would try to lightly touch the brakes, keep the wheels pointed straight ahead and let the rear wheels correct themselves. i'd probably be fanging it around the bend through :P

but as djkor said, you panic and you just do things without thinking. afterwards you'd be thinking "why the hell did i do that for". unless youre actually a good driver (i know we all think we are) and you can handle little things like that ok, most of us would probably panic and overcorrect on everything.

[Guest]

it depends alot on what sort of car you are driving (FWD, RWD, AWD, size, weight power, etc)

In a RWD or AWD, with the right skills, you could quite easily 'power out' or drift the corner..

in an FWD your options are somewhat more limited, you would need to try and correct the slide (steering) and 'pull' yourself out.

although, having had similar things happen to me (a*se end of the car getting a bit sideways unintentionaly around a corner), I would usually say a gentle application of the right foot and some counter steering would help.

But as daryl said, its really one of those things that you don't really know exactly what you will do until it happens.

Edited May 26, 2009 by mick.wheelz

[mrcrazyrolla]

When this happened to me (i was running on stockies...don't ask):

A quick j-erk to the direction your back wheels are sliding to. That will counter the slide.

Then you must lightly tap the brakes (ONLY ONCE THE REAR HAS STOPPED SLIDING) enough to slow down to the right exit speed.

Hopefully you still have enough room to safely steer your way out of the bend.

I got my 17"s back on asap after it happened :)

Edited May 26, 2009 by mrcrazyrolla

[MT]

Back off oversteer... shouldnt have got off the throttle. Thats the most common way FWD cars crash.

Once you get to that limit, you are pretty much gone, only the very lucky survive that. Best way to counter it is left foot braking while keeping the power on.

[the_random_hero]

Back off oversteer... shouldnt have got off the throttle. Thats the most common way FWD cars crash.

Once you get to that limit, you are pretty much gone, only the very lucky survive that. Best way to counter it is left foot braking while keeping the power on.

Yep, it's something I had in the back of my mind but wasn't thinking at the time. 200k kms old suspension just means it's worse as the front end goes down.

Panic reaction was to do what everybody has said (apart from the kiddies still fantasizing about Fast and Furious), but I realised that I would probably end up hitting one of the poles. I ended up stabbing the brakes and going to full lock the way I was already turning, which lead to the car pivoting around on the front wheels and stopping in the middle of the road, facing the wrong way. Not as graceful as I would have liked, but did the job.

Edited May 27, 2009 by the_random_hero

[VF-X]

scream like a sissy

[Hiro]

Correcting lift-off oversteer in a FWD car requires little bit of opposite lock (but you take it back to neutral once the back end gets back in line), and throttle. Braking will just make things worse.

Then again, there are times when it just can't be corrected - generally FWD cars understeer (which is good in that it is relatively safe and easily corrected) but once lift-off oversteer kicks in it needs to be controlled VERY quickly otherwise you're screwed. I had a situation a few years ago where I hit standing water just before a corner and aquaplaned straight ahead. Coming out of the water I already had my wheels turned, so the front of the car kicked around. Loaded up opposite lock, but tapped the brakes a little too much (was more concerned about getting out of the oncoming traffic), and the rear end did a full 180, swinging out halfway into oncoming traffic, and ending up actually jumping the gutter side-on and facing back the way I had come. Scared the ***** out of me

[MT]

Correcting lift-off oversteer in a FWD car requires little bit of opposite lock (but you take it back to neutral once the back end gets back in line), and throttle. Braking will just make things worse.

Then again, there are times when it just can't be corrected - generally FWD cars understeer (which is good in that it is relatively safe and easily corrected) but once lift-off oversteer kicks in it needs to be controlled VERY quickly otherwise you're screwed. I had a situation a few years ago where I hit standing water just before a corner and aquaplaned straight ahead. Coming out of the water I already had my wheels turned, so the front of the car kicked around. Loaded up opposite lock, but tapped the brakes a little too much (was more concerned about getting out of the oncoming traffic), and the rear end did a full 180, swinging out halfway into oncoming traffic, and ending up actually jumping the gutter side-on and facing back the way I had come. Scared the ***** out of me

Wow, I did almost exactly the same thing when I first got my licence, same situation exactly, except a quieter street and I ended up destroying this old bloke's lawn... strange that you did the same thing.

When i'm driving the rolla rally car on dirt, the back of the rolla loves to hang out a lot surprisingly, and the best way to counter it is steer in the direction you want to go and nail it, always keep the power on, even if its just lightly!

[MT]

Back off oversteer... shouldnt have got off the throttle. Thats the most common way FWD cars crash.

Once you get to that limit, you are pretty much gone, only the very lucky survive that. Best way to counter it is left foot braking while keeping the power on.

Yep, it's something I had in the back of my mind but wasn't thinking at the time. 200k kms old suspension just means it's worse as the front end goes down.

Panic reaction was to do what everybody has said (apart from the kiddies still fantasizing about Fast and Furious), but I realised that I would probably end up hitting one of the poles. I ended up stabbing the brakes and going to full lock the way I was already turning, which lead to the car pivoting around on the front wheels and stopping in the middle of the road, facing the wrong way. Not as graceful as I would have liked, but did the job.

Yep, its all well and good for me to say thats how you fix it, but in the real situation, what you did was probably one of the better options.

I guess the best option is what all the fast drivers tell me, slow in, fast out :P

[the_random_hero]

Back off oversteer... shouldnt have got off the throttle. Thats the most common way FWD cars crash.

Once you get to that limit, you are pretty much gone, only the very lucky survive that. Best way to counter it is left foot braking while keeping the power on.

Yep, it's something I had in the back of my mind but wasn't thinking at the time. 200k kms old suspension just means it's worse as the front end goes down.

Panic reaction was to do what everybody has said (apart from the kiddies still fantasizing about Fast and Furious), but I realised that I would probably end up hitting one of the poles. I ended up stabbing the brakes and going to full lock the way I was already turning, which lead to the car pivoting around on the front wheels and stopping in the middle of the road, facing the wrong way. Not as graceful as I would have liked, but did the job.

Yep, its all well and good for me to say thats how you fix it, but in the real situation, what you did was probably one of the better options.

I guess the best option is what all the fast drivers tell me, slow in, fast out :P

That's for little girls :P I've actually tracked down TRD adjustables for my car, which should be going in in a couple of weeks time :)