I did a 360 this morning

[Aurel]

Yup,

It was raining, and I was arriving at a stop light to a wide 90 angle turn. The light turned orange too late and I thought I would rather go than try to stop on the wet. I did turn but I felt the back going. I stepped on the gas hoping to get some control back, and it just did the opposite. It all went in a scary spin. I ended up in the good direction, but my engine stalled. I immediately tried to restart it to unblock the road, so hard that I broke the key and could not move anymore !!! I am ashamed of myself, but what can you do on the wet ? Those cars have a fantastic handling on the dry, so you get used to turn fast...but but when it is wet, there is no forgiving. I am glad, no damage at all besides a broken key. Beware of the rain !!!

Aurel
78 SC Targa

[Jack Olsen]

These cars are amazing in the wet, too.

But physics is physics.

Glad you're all right.

[tobluforu]

Welcome to the club.
A broken key is nothing compared to what could have happened..

[SeaDweller]

I slid right through a red light the other night, going under the speed limit, in the rain, as I tried to stop because there was a Sheriff sitting there. He must have seen my attempt to stop, because he drove right past me after making his turn.....

I used to get into 360's in my VW Superbeetle all the time. When the streets are slick, it really liked to swing it's tail! With more power back there, I'm much more careful with the 911!!

[Aurel]

It would have been fun if my engine had not stalled or my key had not broken ! I would have kept going the right way...And yes, it had not been raining for weeks, and the road had a greasy feeling. The stressfull part was to explain the situation to the cop who showed up...but it all went well, and I was able to restart the engine by turning the key with a pair of pliers.

Aurel

[gixer02]

The rain got to me too; going through a yellow on a left turn in the same situation as you only I hit the traffic light pole
Just slow down and try harder to be smooth. And like someone said- rain can be fun! hehe

Pat

[WydRyd]

Yup, count your blessings that you never hit a pole, car or pedestrian!

Hasn't happened to me yet, but just the thought of it makes me cringe

Good to see you're alright and take care out there

[Adam]

Aurel,

You must have been really leaning on that key!

I'm glad to hear it ended without incident. When I read it, my blood kinda ran cold for a bit...

It's a learning experience...

[pwd72s]

The first rain after a dry spell? Be careful. All those oil drips left by cars are floating on the surface of the water...the roads can be slicker than snot during these times...

[89911]

In the wet, all bets are off. Instead of gaining rear end traction, you broke it by the combination of wet and wheel spin. Lesson learned. Rain=Slow. It is the very reason you pay close attention to track events and the forecast. My last event at Mid-Ohio was a complete rainout. After a few laps I realized why many had just left. Nothing to do but wreck your car.

[stuartj]

As some one said above, physics is physics. For all practical purposes, your car handles the same, wet or dry. The only difference is the available level of grip, which will dictate the point where the car/tyres will lose traction under brakes, power or lateral force. The lesson here might be understand your car, and drive appropriately to the conditions. I certainly found a wet race track presents a remarkable learning experience.


stuart 87 carrera

[emcon5]

Glad you didn't whack anything.

Hindsight being what it is, do you think if you had held constant throttle and a little opposite lock would have caught it?

Tom

[Aurel]

I would love to learn how to control those spins on a track...right now, I still wonder what I should have done...besides entering slower in that turn. There was very little time to react once the back was going...Had I not hit the gas, I might have continued on a side slide, and eventually hit the border and done damage to the car. Once you feel its gone for a 360, there is a point of no return, you gotta accept the spin and try to make it a nice one. : But at 8.30 on your way to works, it adds a little spice to it. Oh well, I feel after doing my own valve adjustment and my 360, I know my car a little better !

Aurel

[89911]

Originally posted by stuartj
I certainly found a wet race track presents a remarkable learning experience.


stuart 87 carrera

I think the biggest lesson learned is you can't go as fast as when its dry! In certain situations this may be true, but it is analagous to the cloudy day at the beach and being told you will still burn. True, but not nearly as much as if it was sunny. It is good for a new driver/new course. For others, it just a bummer when it rains.

[stuartj]

89911

Really?

I would have thought that learning to seek out maximum grip on a wet track by altering line, brake points etc, using tyre pressures to alter the drainage characteristics of tyres, understanding effects of softening shock absorbers and sway bars to allow more body roll, how to threshold brake on a low grip surface at high speed etc would be pretty valuable stuff for new drivers and old alike, and aid in the ability to go fast in the wet. Not mention really highlighting the need to be smooth. The margin for error is lowered.

But yes its generally a bummer when it rains. On the other hand, if you have a slow car (like mine) rain is a great equalizer. Flattens the HP advantage and brings it back to the driver. Just MHO.

Stuart 87 carrera

[autobonrun]

although I've never spinned completely. I don't drive in the rain with mine now but I remember one time on acceleration, the rear end broke loose and swung side to side like a pendulum while I fought to keep it straight ahead.

Nothing like feeling all that weight pull you from one side to the other. Now, clouds roll in and so do I. Glad you weren't hurt though.

[89911]

Stuart, I guess I am still getting over a washed out weekend a few months ago. I was going down the back stretch of Mid-Ohio (my favorite track) when I started hydroplaning on the ponds of stagnant water doing 120mph. I had a reflective moment and said to myself, "what the hell am I doing?" If I'm getting paid for doing it, so be it. For fun, I'll wait for try weather.

[Moses]

Just have to share this:

As a kid, my favorite road was a deep downhill sweep that could be taken at remarkable speeds.

There was a light at the bottom of the hill that was NEVER red at night. (Semi-rural area).

Well, it was raining lightly and I swept down the hill with my usual gusto when I noticed the light was RED! I locked up the brakes, did a 180 and slid through the intersection backwards.

The very nice sheriff (whose cruiser had tripped the lights) pulled me over and gave me the ass-chewing of all times. I offered no rebuttal. I was too ashamed. After he vented, he asked if I had any ideas on how he should write the ticket: Speeding, entering an intersection backwards, reckless driving, or driving on the wrong side of the road.

I told him I supposed I deserved all of them.

Believe it or not, he did not tag me. I thanked him profusely and NEVER shot that hill again.

[WydRyd]

Damn those reflective moments eh? I had one last night when I hit 220 entering a FWY That's when I saw a sudden flash of a tyre blow-out, so I quickly backed off Someone 'up there' is watching over me and warning me - phew!

[CamB]

Merv's (WydRyd) talking kilometers per hour (I hope), before anyone gets too excited.

I have a theory, and this BBS is made for me to expound such things:

- lotsa Porsches only get driven infrequently (especially in the wet), and have old tyres
- old tyres grip like crap in the wet but are ok in the dry

My experience is that the '69 handled better than the '75 in the wet, despite knackered suspension and skinnier, lower quality (but much newer) tyres. The tyres on the '75 are/were 5-10 years old... they felt fine in the dry but were scary in the wet.

Same experience with my Jag XJ6 and same again with the BMW 2002 (which has old hard Yoko A008s which are fine in the dry but scare me quick in the wet).

Of course, the best tyres money can buy still won't beat physics...