sigintel
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2015
- Threads
- 59
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 1,068
- Location
- Republic of Texas, God's Country
- First Name
- Ray
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 GT
Feel bad but not terrible.
Feel lucky.
Many of us made similar mistakes in judgement... And car control...
Glad you are ok and no one was hurt.
Prolly gonna get flamed on this but here goes...
Learning vehicle control in the wet is desirable where the speeds and energies involved are lower. But not on public roads....
One of the most entertaining parts of driving a Stang is tossing the rear out.
But how do you learn about vehicle behavior and limits and car control?
Empty WET flat asphalt parking lot. No light poles. Large preferred.
Not on ramp. Near traffic.
Honest lack of foresight on how violent it can be.
Next time rear comes out (small amounts at first! And in a wet parking lot):
take foot off gas and let go of the wheel. Rear will jerk back inline and you apply brakes.
Repeat. Lots. At low speed.
Stopping the front wheels from "castering" deepens spin.
"Helping" the wheels to caster will decrease spin -aka steering into spin.
To keep speeds low you can decrease traction.
Go inflate rear tires to 44psi to keep the speeds down.
Or take a couple tubs of lard, tire shine, soap etc and grease a corner of the lot up.
You shouldnt get up to more than 20 mph starting from 0.
Oh yea.. So what the heck is caster.
Front of car is kinda like a shopping cart. Wheels will automatically turn to line up with direction the cart is pushed to go.
In your wreck:
If you hit the passenger side, I am guessing the rear stepped out to the left and you didnt let the steering wheel slide in your hand to the left. Your clenched grip in the surprise moment kept the wheels from turning to the left by themselves. Thus driving you into the wall on right. It happened very quick.
This effect of the wheels lining themselves up with direction of travel is called caster.
Look at front of shopping cart. Notice how the axle the wheels roll on is actually always behind the pivot point when traveling forward.
The larger the distance, the higher the caster. This can also be measured as an angle measured from the vertical axis the wheel "casters" on.
So go learn to toss the car around. Just dont do it around people or in traffic or ....
Dont feel too bad. There are many professional drivers that tore up some cars when they were younger making similar or worse decisions.
Feel lucky.
Many of us made similar mistakes in judgement... And car control...
Glad you are ok and no one was hurt.
Prolly gonna get flamed on this but here goes...
Learning vehicle control in the wet is desirable where the speeds and energies involved are lower. But not on public roads....
One of the most entertaining parts of driving a Stang is tossing the rear out.
But how do you learn about vehicle behavior and limits and car control?
Empty WET flat asphalt parking lot. No light poles. Large preferred.
Not on ramp. Near traffic.
Honest lack of foresight on how violent it can be.
Next time rear comes out (small amounts at first! And in a wet parking lot):
take foot off gas and let go of the wheel. Rear will jerk back inline and you apply brakes.
Repeat. Lots. At low speed.
Stopping the front wheels from "castering" deepens spin.
"Helping" the wheels to caster will decrease spin -aka steering into spin.
To keep speeds low you can decrease traction.
Go inflate rear tires to 44psi to keep the speeds down.
Or take a couple tubs of lard, tire shine, soap etc and grease a corner of the lot up.
You shouldnt get up to more than 20 mph starting from 0.
Oh yea.. So what the heck is caster.
Front of car is kinda like a shopping cart. Wheels will automatically turn to line up with direction the cart is pushed to go.
In your wreck:
If you hit the passenger side, I am guessing the rear stepped out to the left and you didnt let the steering wheel slide in your hand to the left. Your clenched grip in the surprise moment kept the wheels from turning to the left by themselves. Thus driving you into the wall on right. It happened very quick.
This effect of the wheels lining themselves up with direction of travel is called caster.
Look at front of shopping cart. Notice how the axle the wheels roll on is actually always behind the pivot point when traveling forward.
The larger the distance, the higher the caster. This can also be measured as an angle measured from the vertical axis the wheel "casters" on.
So go learn to toss the car around. Just dont do it around people or in traffic or ....
Dont feel too bad. There are many professional drivers that tore up some cars when they were younger making similar or worse decisions.
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