Traction / fishtail

[bobpies]

Interesting moment yesterday that made me shit myself

Was on damp carriageway coming from a 40 to 70 zone and in 5th gear. Thought I would drop to 4th and give it a little gas as there was no one around . Nothing insane - just wanted to pull up to speed.

Dropped to 4th and started on the accelerator - back wheels lost traction - not great but ok a little wheel spin - but then immediately went into a fishtail. A couple mini left and rights and it was straight again but I was still a bit surprised.

As I say I've not had a rwd before but is it normal to fishtail going straight when breaking traction ? I've been very apprehensive on the gas since that. And my bum cheeks are permanently clenched through the first few gears when someone else is taking it for a spin.

Very tempted to find a track nearby to take it for a spin to figure it out a bit more

Sponsored

 

[Lone Survivor]

Very normal with 400+ hp, cold Pirellis, ambient temperature of @ 6deg, damp and inexperience.

Gently, gently in these circumstances

Doing some track tuition days is something that you'd benefit from. Get an expert to figure it out for you and give you a 'steer' on the car and your ability

 

[Manders Mustang]

Very normal with 400+ hp, cold Pirellis, ambient temperature of @ 6deg, damp and inexperience.

Gently, gently in these circumstances

^ this ;)!

MPSS if you want to put more power down, but they'll break traction if you hammer the accelerator in wank conditions!

 

[Twin Turbo]

How many miles on your car? It's still pretty new, isn't it? Brand new tyres at this time of year can take a good few hundred miles to break down the "releasing agent", as I believe it's called. It's like driving on ice until that happens

Also, the wet/snow mode was installed for a reason

 

[bobpies]

How many miles on your car? It's still pretty new, isn't it? Brand new tyres at this time of year can take a good few hundred miles to break down the "releasing agent", as I believe it's called. It's like driving on ice until that happens

Also, the wet/snow mode was installed for a reason

Yeh 300 miles on it.

I'd like a straight bit of road to play with the normal and wet modes to see what the craic is ideally. And just to see how it reacts really.

 

[Centurion07]

Very normal with 400+ hp, cold Pirellis, ambient temperature of @ 6deg, damp and inexperience.

Gently, gently in these circumstances

You're not the first to discover this^ and unfortunately you won't be the last.

 

[Eclipsar]

The Mustang is like a puppy as it always likes to wag its tail :lol::lol::lol:

 

[Nookie]

Must admit that I find myself driving mine like an old fart in a Honda Jazz quite a lot at the moment for the reasons above (cold, damp & new Pirelli's).

I've been gobsmacked by just how easy it breaks traction on cold tyres (they do get better when warm).

The huge amount of torque at low levels of acceleration is surprising... as I found out within 50 yards of the dealer on pickup day when I found myself doing a little arse wiggle when pulling away from the traffic lights on a straight road with bugger all throttle.

My 'shortie' TPMS valves arrived just before Xmas so my local tyre fitter has now been given the new wheels to mount the MPSS on, and I'll hopefully hear from them tomorrow and be able to get them finally installed on the car (pics will of course follow), which will hopefully give me some peace-of-mind with the weather as it is at the moment... although I'm still gonna be just 'cruising' until I've had a bit more time to get used to the dynamics of the car.

Great fun though and lovin' every minute of it, as spent so much time with boring FWD cars (mostly from the VAG stable) over the last ten years and it's so good to be in a 'drivers' car again.

 

[marks]

Interesting moment yesterday that made me shit myself

Was on damp carriageway coming from a 40 to 70 zone and in 5th gear. Thought I would drop to 4th and give it a little gas as there was no one around . Nothing insane - just wanted to pull up to speed.

Dropped to 4th and started on the accelerator - back wheels lost traction - not great but ok a little wheel spin - but then immediately went into a fishtail. A couple mini left and rights and it was straight again but I was still a bit surprised.

As I say I've not had a rwd before but is it normal to fishtail going straight when breaking traction ? I've been very apprehensive on the gas since that. And my bum cheeks are permanently clenched through the first few gears when someone else is taking it for a spin.

Very tempted to find a track nearby to take it for a spin to figure it out a bit more

Learnt on an e36 M3 not to stamp on the accelerator in damp/wet conditions, although losing traction in 4th gear seems extreme. But yes as you say good idea to find out a cars limits in a safe area like on a track.

 

[croyde]

Wet Snow mode sorts out the wobbles apart from cold tyres.

Shame it doesn't default. Turned off engine to get fuel then took off and was all over the place before I realised I hadn't selected the driving miss daisy mode lol.

 

[kapiteinlangzaam]

You will get used to it on the Pirelli PZeros

Change them ASAP. I run Michelin PS3 on the back now (far from Michelins top tyre) and the difference is astonishing.

When it does break away, the slide is also *much* more predictable and controllable.

 

[Gibbo205]

Learn the car somewhere safe, completely stock they handle a bit angry and the Pzero is has very low grip in cold conditions and is unpredictable.

Wet mode will cause TC to cut in immediately it won't allow any wheel spin or slip angle at all, so use it!

Normal mode will allow quite a bit of wheelspin and some slip angle, unfortunately this does mean the car can get away from you in wet conditions and you can crash in normal mode on both Pzero and MPSS.

Sport, Race and off should only be used by the driving gods.

 

[croyde]

My rear Zeros are shot. What's the thinking on replacing just the rears for the mo'?

 

[Manders Mustang]

My rear Zeros are shot. What's the thinking on replacing just the rears for the mo'?

MPSS......... MPSS..........MPSS! :lol:

 

[Jimboy2]

My rear Zeros are shot. What's the thinking on replacing just the rears for the mo'?

You will get mixed reviews but if your Pzeros are good up front there really isn't much need to replace them.

I don't see an issue of mixing tires as long as they aren't on the same axel.

Sponsored