spirited driving

[SteveS]

That's the thoughts i'm going with, i'm not going to be using my car as a race car by any stretch of the imagination, as long as the pzeros will 'suffice' in wet conditions i'll be fine. I don't plan on hammering the accelerator round corners, so i don't expect to have a tailend pulling out. That being said, never drove a RWD outside of a track and in perfect conditions before :eyebulge:

I guess we're "fortunate" in that our cars will be arriving at much the same time as the better weather ;)

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[Manders Mustang]

I guess we're "fortunate" in that our cars will be arriving at much the same time as the better weather ;)

Yep, or so we're told!:frusty:. March couldn't be a better month, rain should be slowing down, I'm hoping i get a lot of dry weather to get used to the car before I see some rain, but knowing my luck it'll be wet the day I pick it up :doh:

 

[SteveS]

Here's some spirited driving just popped up on my FB courtesy of Monster. Apologies if someone else has already posted elsewhere

[ame]

 

[Ian whu]

Can snow in March

Yep, or so we're told!:frusty:. March couldn't be a better month, rain should be slowing down, I'm hoping i get a lot of dry weather to get used to the car before I see some rain, but knowing my luck it'll be wet the day I pick it up :doh:

 

[Manders Mustang]

Can snow in March

Can snow in bl00dy August, it is England afterall, fortunatley I live in the Midlands and the usual worst we get is heavy rain. Rarely get snow.

 

[stevec]

Okay, I am gonna say this out loud.
I cannot do anything like spirited driving with this car in the wet!!

It was dry when I left work last night and I decided that I was gonna take my 15 year old out in the Mustang and give him the drive he has been asking for since I bought it. He wants me to 'give it some stick'

So we had a bite to eat, I changed and out the front door we went.....to be greeted by RAIN!

So we went out anyway and I did my usual thing of just giving the Stang a bit of right peddle only when the wheels were in line.

So anyway, we were driving along, not that fast but faster than I had been and we approached the rear of another car, so I backed off to give us some space to speed up again.

Before I knew it we had built some sufficient space and another car was appearing in my rear mirrors. We were doing about 40 mph and I squirted the throttle in 3rd gear. And OMG did I have a moment, yes, one of those moments when you start thinking 'this could be embarrassing at best and painful at worst'

My wonderful car obeyed my command and accelerated. Maybe I forgot to tell her that I wanted to carry on in the direction we were heading or maybe, she just ignored me. Either way, we ended up at around a 45 degree angle with the road and me backing off the throttle a bit quick.

Once she was all straighten up and my heart thumped back in to a semi normal pace and we were on the correct side of the road, the Ford Focus Zetec overtook me and then the car in front with ease and confidence. I me? Well, obviously I told my boy everything was in control and what an idiot that bloke in the Focus is....he's gonna kill somebody!!

As I parked the Stang up and walked away, I looked back at her. She just sat there looking nonchalant and slightly arrogant before simply switching off her lights and relaxing slightly. I just nodded and thought 'Dont worry, you have the upper hand at the moment and thats fine, you can have it. Come the summer and a trip or two to Brands and some instruction I will own you.....and I mean 'own' you. Be warned, you will be mine.

And then I went and had a strong cup of tea!!..........and changed again.

 

[Gryphon]

My wonderful car obeyed my command and accelerated. Maybe I forgot to tell her that I wanted to carry on in the direction we were heading or maybe, she just ignored me. Either way, we ended up at around a 45 degree angle with the road and me backing off the throttle a bit quick.

Sounds like a proper car to me :lol:

If it's not trying to kill you, someone at the factory set it up wrong.

 

[GregT]

Okay, I am gonna say this out loud.
I cannot do anything like spirited driving with this car in the wet!!

It was dry when I left work last night and I decided that I was gonna take my 15 year old out in the Mustang and give him the drive he has been asking for since I bought it. He wants me to 'give it some stick'

So we had a bite to eat, I changed and out the front door we went.....to be greeted by RAIN!

So we went out anyway and I did my usual thing of just giving the Stang a bit of right peddle only when the wheels were in line.

So anyway, we were driving along, not that fast but faster than I had been and we approached the rear of another car, so I backed off to give us some space to speed up again.

Before I knew it we had built some sufficient space and another car was appearing in my rear mirrors. We were doing about 40 mph and I squirted the throttle in 3rd gear. And OMG did I have a moment, yes, one of those moments when you start thinking 'this could be embarrassing at best and painful at worst'

My wonderful car obeyed my command and accelerated. Maybe I forgot to tell her that I wanted to carry on in the direction we were heading or maybe, she just ignored me. Either way, we ended up at around a 45 degree angle with the road and me backing off the throttle a bit quick.

Once she was all straighten up and my heart thumped back in to a semi normal pace and we were on the correct side of the road, the Ford Focus Zetec overtook me and then the car in front with ease and confidence. I me? Well, obviously I told my boy everything was in control and what an idiot that bloke in the Focus is....he's gonna kill somebody!!

As I parked the Stang up and walked away, I looked back at her. She just sat there looking nonchalant and slightly arrogant before simply switching off her lights and relaxing slightly. I just nodded and thought 'Dont worry, you have the upper hand at the moment and thats fine, you can have it. Come the summer and a trip or two to Brands and some instruction I will own you.....and I mean 'own' you. Be warned, you will be mine.

And then I went and had a strong cup of tea!!..........and changed again.

Steve,
That is funny! :clap2: I recall Big G saying something about 3rd gear in the wet - you can still spin up the tyres. I'm sure a few others are going to experience this. Just hope it isn't me.

When I had my test drive recently I thought it would happen as it was really really greasy. Maybe coz' we had a rear seat passenger like the fabled bag of cement in a Capri it kept the car stuck down!
Greg

 

[SteveS]

Okay, I am gonna say this out loud.
I cannot do anything like spirited driving with this car in the wet!!

Love it
This'll be me...

 

[croyde]

My Mercury Grand Marquis was a handfull in the wet, I hope the Mustang fares better.

Mind you the Mercury was basic ie no traction control or ABS, so I just took it easy but it'll be a bit embarrassing to have to concede to a Focus just because it is wet.

 

[Gibbo205]

Okay, I am gonna say this out loud.
I cannot do anything like spirited driving with this car in the wet!!

It was dry when I left work last night and I decided that I was gonna take my 15 year old out in the Mustang and give him the drive he has been asking for since I bought it. He wants me to 'give it some stick'

So we had a bite to eat, I changed and out the front door we went.....to be greeted by RAIN!

So we went out anyway and I did my usual thing of just giving the Stang a bit of right peddle only when the wheels were in line.

So anyway, we were driving along, not that fast but faster than I had been and we approached the rear of another car, so I backed off to give us some space to speed up again.

Before I knew it we had built some sufficient space and another car was appearing in my rear mirrors. We were doing about 40 mph and I squirted the throttle in 3rd gear. And OMG did I have a moment, yes, one of those moments when you start thinking 'this could be embarrassing at best and painful at worst'

My wonderful car obeyed my command and accelerated. Maybe I forgot to tell her that I wanted to carry on in the direction we were heading or maybe, she just ignored me. Either way, we ended up at around a 45 degree angle with the road and me backing off the throttle a bit quick.

Once she was all straighten up and my heart thumped back in to a semi normal pace and we were on the correct side of the road, the Ford Focus Zetec overtook me and then the car in front with ease and confidence. I me? Well, obviously I told my boy everything was in control and what an idiot that bloke in the Focus is....he's gonna kill somebody!!

As I parked the Stang up and walked away, I looked back at her. She just sat there looking nonchalant and slightly arrogant before simply switching off her lights and relaxing slightly. I just nodded and thought 'Dont worry, you have the upper hand at the moment and thats fine, you can have it. Come the summer and a trip or two to Brands and some instruction I will own you.....and I mean 'own' you. Be warned, you will be mine.

And then I went and had a strong cup of tea!!..........and changed again.

Hi m8

The S550 should actually handle quite well in the wet and you should be able to progress pretty damn fast, IF YOUR SMOOTH. Check the Harris video for proof of this. However if greasy, no car handles well!

Do you have any kind of driver or track driving at all? If you don't I recommend you do a full drift day to learn car control, trust me it will make you far quicker and safer at the same time.

My E46 M3 in damp/wet in the hands of an in-experienced drivers would just end up in a field on its roof. But I can really hustle it in the wet, OK not to the same ability as I could my EVO (4WD torque vectoring) or 911, but pretty close. In my 911 C2S nothing could come close to me in the wet, not even the EVO, but a 911 are incredible in the wet due to rear engine layout.

However the biggest impact in allowing me to progress faster in the wet in my M3 was driver training and more suitable tyres.

I'd recommend you do following:

1. Driver training, drift day, skidpad day, advance track driving day. Money well spent.
2. Be very smooth with your inputs, it sounds to me like your just stomping on the gas peddle hard, you need to be smooth, work with your car and tyres. Stomping the peddle is shocking the tyres and they just break loose.
3. As I already mentioned in this thread or another, the Pzero is a very poor cold/wet performance tyre, it is shockingly bad and also very un-predictable and not progressive at all when it lets go. So take your time or simply get a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports fitted, you will be amazed at the difference they make in these damp/cold winter conditions.
4. Get yourself either the BMR CB005 cradle lockout kit or the Steeda cradle allignment kit, sounds to me like your car is suffering from factory miss-allignment of the cradle, get this kit, less than 1hr to install and then get a full allignment on the car done. Allign your car to these specifications:

Front:
Camber: -1.25 (-1.40)
Caster: +7.50
Toe: +0.02 toe in either side (+0.04 total toe across the front axle) (0.00 neutral toe)

Rear:
Camber: -1.50 (-1.60)
Toe: +0.15 toe in either side (+0.30 total toe in across rear axle) (0.13 positive either side so total 0.26 across rear axle)


Using the above settings will give you optimal grip in wet conditions and make the car a lot more progressive and controllable at the limits. (In brackets figures are what I would recommend for dry/summer or MPSS tyres)

I've spent years setting up RWD cars and also researching S550 platform since it was released.


Be careful with that Pony m8, she can bite. ;)

 

[stevec]

Hi m8

The S550 should actually handle quite well in the wet and you should be able to progress pretty damn fast, IF YOUR SMOOTH. Check the Harris video for proof of this. However if greasy, no car handles well!

Do you have any kind of driver or track driving at all? If you don't I recommend you do a full drift day to learn car control, trust me it will make you far quicker and safer at the same time.

My E46 M3 in damp/wet in the hands of an in-experienced drivers would just end up in a field on its roof. But I can really hustle it in the wet, OK not to the same ability as I could my EVO (4WD torque vectoring) or 911, but pretty close. In my 911 C2S nothing could come close to me in the wet, not even the EVO, but a 911 are incredible in the wet due to rear engine layout.

However the biggest impact in allowing me to progress faster in the wet in my M3 was driver training and more suitable tyres.

I'd recommend you do following:

1. Driver training, drift day, skidpad day, advance track driving day. Money well spent.
2. Be very smooth with your inputs, it sounds to me like your just stomping on the gas peddle hard, you need to be smooth, work with your car and tyres. Stomping the peddle is shocking the tyres and they just break loose.
3. As I already mentioned in this thread or another, the Pzero is a very poor cold/wet performance tyre, it is shockingly bad and also very un-predictable and not progressive at all when it lets go. So take your time or simply get a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports fitted, you will be amazed at the difference they make in these damp/cold winter conditions.
4. Get yourself either the BMR CB005 cradle lockout kit or the Steeda cradle allignment kit, sounds to me like your car is suffering from factory miss-allignment of the cradle, get this kit, less than 1hr to install and then get a full allignment on the car done. Allign your car to these specifications:

Front:
Camber: -1.25 (-1.40)
Caster: +7.50
Toe: +0.02 toe in either side (+0.04 total toe across the front axle) (0.00 neutral toe)

Rear:
Camber: -1.50 (-1.60)
Toe: +0.15 toe in either side (+0.30 total toe in across rear axle) (0.13 positive either side so total 0.26 across rear axle)


Using the above settings will give you optimal grip in wet conditions and make the car a lot more progressive and controllable at the limits. (In brackets figures are what I would recommend for dry/summer or MPSS tyres)

I've spent years setting up RWD cars and also researching S550 platform since it was released.


Be careful with that Pony m8, she can bite. ;)

Thanks, I was kind of hoping for a reply like this.

Regarding the training. I have already decided on a novice track day at Brand Hatch in march and have also been talking to a guy that teaching performance driving in your own car on the track and on the roads.

Advice taken on board re smooth inputs etc. I plan on going out tomorrow and just driving within myself and will take these comments on board.

After the weekend I will review the tyre thing. I am considering fitting MPSS tyres but I need to be convinced I need them. The fact is, I don't drive fast that often.

Regarding your item 4. If I really am suffering from factory mis-alinement maybe I should go back to Ford. Part of me wants to say this is not the case but I will say the car always

BTW everyone, I love this car more every single day. I have not had a passion for driving like I have now for about 15 years, maybe more. Motorway, traffic, town, country, cruising, I love them all. There is NOTHING about this car that makes me like it less. In fact, some of the not so good things about it, make me love it more!

 

[Manders Mustang]

Thanks, I was kind of hoping for a reply like this.

Regarding the training. I have already decided on a novice track day at Brand Hatch in march and have also been talking to a guy that teaching performance driving in your own car on the track and on the roads.

Advice taken on board re smooth inputs etc. I plan on going out tomorrow and just driving within myself and will take these comments on board.

After the weekend I will review the tyre thing. I am considering fitting MPSS tyres but I need to be convinced I need them. The fact is, I don't drive fast that often.

Regarding your item 4. If I really am suffering from factory mis-alinement maybe I should go back to Ford. Part of me wants to say this is not the case but I will say the car always

BTW everyone, I love this car more every single day. I have not had a passion for driving like I have now for about 15 years, maybe more. Motorway, traffic, town, country, cruising, I love them all. There is NOTHING about this car that makes me like it less. In fact, some of the not so good things about it, make me love it more!

Intrigued to hear the flaws in the car that you love.

(Before the naysayers come - Even the most expensive cars have 'flaws', Lamborghini's off centre pedals, Ford GTs doors, Ferarri's general visibility etc. And now for some cliche cr4p - Flaws make you fall in love :love:* with the car)

 

[McDoodle]

Love it
This'll be me...

What you have to remember is that, in a car like the V8 s550 with a lot of power and a wall of torque, you can't just nail the throttle like you can in a 150bhp four-pot. In the dry you can probably spin the wheels up in 1st to 4th, in the wet you need to drive MUCH more smoothly. Smooth and progressive on the steering, smooth and progressive on the brakes and definitely smooth and progressive on the power. Imagine you have an egg between your foot and the brake/throttle and drive as if you're trying not to break it.

Took mine out for only the second time today - given the recent weather it was no surprise to find that the roads were drying in places but damp in others, so far from ideal. Started to press on a couple of times, and I have to say I was impressed with how composed it was - even though I haven't switched out of 'normal' mode yet. At slower speeds I was a bit worried that the gearbox felt a little baukly across the gate, but it gets easier the faster you go. The minor concerns over the clutch pedal travel however still remain. Brakes are good but I'm finding it difficult to hit the brake and throttle at the same - maybe would be better if I was fully committed to the brakes, I was still only going fairly steady on them. But got to say, given the size and weight of the car I was pretty impressed

 

[WaxDaddy]

Not seen that FRS since but a little update on the spirited driving...

The car now feels much more composed in the wet! Not sure if it's just the tyres bedding in or just me getting used to how the car drives but it feels much more stable now!

Starting to get some really good times on my test route I take all my cars on

Also really impressed with the top end of the car :ford:

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