Acceleration Feel / First fast car

[kilobravo]

Andy: No words can convey how badly I feel for you regarding the accident. I certainly hope you weren't injured but based on that photo, I'm concerned.

10-4 on leaving traction control enabled, at least in that vehicle...I know, I've been almost where you were one time and that was more than enough to gain further respect for the car.

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[DocGT]

Andy: No words can convey how badly I feel for you regarding the accident. I certainly hope you weren't injured but based on that photo, I'm concerned.

10-4 on leaving traction control enabled, at least in that vehicle...I know, I've been almost where you were one time and that was more than enough to gain further respect for the car.

To that point: does “track mode” completely disengage traction control or just loosen it a bit?

What do the different modes actually do, normal, sport, track?

 

[kilobravo]

Doc: I found this in the eSourcebook...

Hope I didn't downsample the page too far and it's still legible.

 

[gixxersixxerman]

My first "high HP" car was a 450+whp Scion FRS. It may not be high HP to some, but 450 whp and 2500lbs was a handful. The chassis and everything just wasn't up to the level it needed to handle it. BUT i spent many days at AutoX learning to handle the car in a safe environment, then moved up to track days. You learn more in a day at the autoX and a day at the track about your car then many months on the street, unless you are being so careless with you life and others around you doing stupid stuff in canyons and mountain roads. Even then i still think you cant quite get to the level of proper training at either events.

I'm sure others will agree, go to a AutoX, go to a Track day. Don't just jump on a track and over step your limits, but learn to push gradually. also DON'T care what anyone else thinks of you at the events. I seen more people push their limits and wreck their cars because "the guy in the Miata, FRS/BRZ, Golf, Civic, blah blah blah was talking shit about being faster" Doesn't matter if you're first or last at the event, you don't win trophies and prize money, its not a race.

 

[Andy13186]

Andy: No words can convey how badly I feel for you regarding the accident. I certainly hope you weren't injured but based on that photo, I'm concerned.

10-4 on leaving traction control enabled, at least in that vehicle...I know, I've been almost where you were one time and that was more than enough to gain further respect for the car.

Thankfully no major injuries just a burn on my forearm from the airbag and a bump on my left wrist , probably from the airbag blowing my hand off the wheel. I braced well thankfully. got a careless driving ticket but it could have been much worse. Car was totaled. Driver side headlight was like 75 feet away in a ditch.

 

[DCShelby]

Your insurance......must have gone up a bit!

 

[Andy13186]

Your insurance......must have gone up a bit!

actually I had accident forgiveness, and it went down when I got the mustang lol.

 

[V00D00]

Leave stability control on , I no lift shifted 1-2 in my 630 rwhp cts-v with it off and went into a pole at about 50 mph. Stability control would have kicked in and saved me there. The stability control in these modern mustangs is much less intrusive than it was in that CTS-V.

Can I ask what tires you had and outside temperature?

 

[Andy13186]

Can I ask what tires you had and outside temperature?

Bridgestone potenza re-11's it was 90* out. August 1 2018. It was completely my fault, I burned through first then no lift shifted into 2nd and went too sideways with stability completely disabled. I had never no-lift shifted 1-2 because I knew it would just blow the tires off but thats basically what I was trying to do at the time.. Goal was a 200 foot rolling burnout to like 70 mph, not a good idea with stability control disabled

 

[V00D00]

Bridgestone potenza re-11's it was 90* out. August 1 2018. It was completely my fault, I burned through first then no lift shifted into 2nd and went too sideways with stability completely disabled. I had never no-lift shifted 1-2 because I knew it would just blow the tires off but thats basically what I was trying to do at the time.. Goal was a 200 foot rolling burnout to like 70 mph, not a good idea with stability control disabled

yea, *some people dont understand when things happen in high HP applications, they happen fast. completely understandable situation. Most people add a lot of power, and forget they need a real tire, or dont understand the difference between 90* temps, and 50's, in relation to traction

 

[JR369]

OP,

Leave stability on. Play where you can't hurt anybody. Summer tire and lower temps are a recipe for disaster. As mentioned earlier RESPECT THE POWER. Punching supercharged cars like the GT500 and Hellcat at highway speeds and you'll feel the rear sliding out. Respect the speed heading into a corner. Learn to how it behaves driving it normally before feeling your oats on a sprint. And work up to that.

 

[kilobravo]

JR: VERY good advice.

 

[PP0001]

OP,

Leave stability on. Play where you can't hurt anybody. Summer tire and lower temps are a recipe for disaster. As mentioned earlier RESPECT THE POWER. Punching supercharged cars like the GT500 and Hellcat at highway speeds and you'll feel the rear sliding out. Respect the speed heading into a corner. Learn to how it behaves driving it normally before feeling your oats on a sprint. And work up to that.

DocGT, as someone who absolutely should have known better based on tracking cars since the early 70's both on the drag strip and road courses I did not adhere to none of the very good advice listed above by JR369 and must say that I am embarrassed but also very appreciative in order to provide the follow humiliating story.

Back in November 2009 I had just put down our Golden Retriever of 13 years and was very distraught over loosing our great friend "Buddy" but in any event shortly after that event I decided to take my brand new 2009 GT500 for a spirited rip in the back roads of South Carolina as just wanted to be on my own.

It was a cool Sunday morning which allowed for some increased HP out of my tuned and slightly modified brand new (200 miles) GT500.

As I had done many times before in the backroads of S.C. where no one was around I would disengage the traction control and then get my car rolling up to ~15 MPH and then as always I would hit the throttle and proceed sideways for quite a ways and then shift into 2nd gear and proceed sideways again until redline and then shift into 3rd whereby the car would start to straighten out.

It only takes once for something bad to happen and this was the time whereby the passenger side rear fender slightly brushed and came in contact with the guardrail in the right lane based on going sideways in 1st gear and subsequently turned my right front fender back into the same guard rail and then I bounced off the steel guardrail and headed directly into a concrete barrier in the oncoming lane.

Even though I was not in a very good or correct frame of mind that morning at least I had enough sense to do something this stupid in the backroads of S.C. but even at that it could have been horrific not so much for me but more importantly for other innocent individuals. Luckily no one was near me when this all happened and I am so thankful to this day for that.

I wrote this car off while still in 1st gear with the air bags deploying, broken glasses, minor cuts and bruises but it could have been much worse.

As @JR369 so correctly mentioned with vehicles such as our GT500's, leave the traction control on, only play when you are in a controlled environment, heat up your tires before some spirited driving, respect the power of a supercharged engine, full throttle acceleration at any time with ~760 HP is very dangerous and always be mentally alert and at the top of your game with this kind of performance vehicle.

As embarrassing and humiliating as it was to share this one time story with all of you I hope that it will help many to understand that a high horsepower supercharged engine as in our upcoming GT500's is nothing to mess with and that real bad things can happen very quickly if this vehicle is not treated with a great deal of respect.

 

[Andy13186]

I agree with pp0001 and I personally was extremely lucky in many ways. If I went into that pole driver side first I would not be alive. If I had passengers I think they would have been injured. If there were bystanders or other cars I could have injured or killed others and felt horrible forever and suffered much worse consequences. Definitely learned my lesson the hard way but got off easy and I hope others can learn from our mistakes without having to make them.

 

[w3rkn]

Time for a fresh discussion.

The fastest car I ever drove was a 2012 mustang GT convertible with just a little over 400hp. This will be my first true high performance vehicle.

What is this thing going to feel like?
Is it going to be like a wave of torque or is it going to be more violent?

Is this the type of car you can just “floor it” in or you are going to end up in a ditch?

Any advice on how to learn to handle this kind of power on the road?

Thanks for your inputs!

I would have to say the experience is more than you've anticipated.

On the streets/highway the GT500 will not feel that much different from a firm-planted Mustang. It feels light and nimble and comfortable on the road... it is the modulation between the pedal and the tarmac that makes this car so different. It is the instantaneous acceleration at any speeds, as you dip your foot into the throttle. So precise and acute... it makes playing with the car, fun.

You can step the backend out on the highway if you want to... and that is plenty of torque for nearly anyone. There mere fact the GT500 gave such confidence made it all the more desirable, and felt at ease when driving with all the nannies turned back on. There is something altogether different going on with the suspension though. Remarkable!


Or so I am told...

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