messed up my car today...
04-10-2008, 12:52 PM
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messed up my car today... Was driving to work around 7 this morning in the rain. I actually was follwing behind a truck to stay in his tire's lines to avoid hitting a puddle etc. I was in the left lane of the 3 lane hwy (I-35N near Roundrock).
Crusing along at 60mph, all of a sudden the car starts sliding out towards the left. I press in the clutch and try to counter steer to the right to get out of it but the car was heading straight for the center concrete barrier. I hit almost as I was perpendicular, then the rear kept sliding around. I got on the brakes and tried to steer to spin around straight again. I ended up completing the 360 and was near the wall again. I was suprized the rear didnt hit as it spun around. The impact wasnt too hard as I was mostly sliding sideways, not forward into the barrier (my new 4-pt belts felt nice btw).
Right after I hit the wall I thought about cars coming towards me. I saw traffic all around me as I spun around and somehow nobody hit me or caused a secondary accident. Another car stopped afterwards but he was just checking to see if I was ok, so I shouted thanks and waved him off. The left front was pressing against my tire so I yanked it back a little then decided I could drive it off the hwy.
I was pretty upset at first, but now Im really just thankful I didnt get hit by oncoming cars, or cause any other accidents. Im pretty sure if any other car clipped me it could have been a whole lot worse.
here are some pics...
so much for the new hood!
Crusing along at 60mph, all of a sudden the car starts sliding out towards the left. I press in the clutch and try to counter steer to the right to get out of it but the car was heading straight for the center concrete barrier. I hit almost as I was perpendicular, then the rear kept sliding around. I got on the brakes and tried to steer to spin around straight again. I ended up completing the 360 and was near the wall again. I was suprized the rear didnt hit as it spun around. The impact wasnt too hard as I was mostly sliding sideways, not forward into the barrier (my new 4-pt belts felt nice btw).
Right after I hit the wall I thought about cars coming towards me. I saw traffic all around me as I spun around and somehow nobody hit me or caused a secondary accident. Another car stopped afterwards but he was just checking to see if I was ok, so I shouted thanks and waved him off. The left front was pressing against my tire so I yanked it back a little then decided I could drive it off the hwy.
I was pretty upset at first, but now Im really just thankful I didnt get hit by oncoming cars, or cause any other accidents. Im pretty sure if any other car clipped me it could have been a whole lot worse.
here are some pics...
so much for the new hood!
04-10-2008, 12:55 PM
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I decided to take out all my nitrous stuff in the engine area, as it was in plain view and I thought my insurance might not care for it. I dont know what the deal is with that but figured better safe than sorry
04-10-2008, 01:02 PM
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******* sucks! As long as you're fine, parts can be fixed and replaced.
I always hear stories of F-bodies sliding off the road randomly in rain. This gets me paranoid to drive her in the rain.
I always hear stories of F-bodies sliding off the road randomly in rain. This gets me paranoid to drive her in the rain.
04-10-2008, 01:06 PM
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Glad that you didn't get hurt. As for the damage how do you plan on handling it? Going through the insurance or getting it done some place? Just cruious.
04-10-2008, 01:12 PM
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Definatly good to hear that there wasn't a secondary accident and you were able to drive away! My buddies TA actually has traction control and it helps soooo much in the rain. I actually have been driving in the rain quite a bit lately because of all this bad weather in TX and I have to ever so slightly ease the throttle once I get the car to speed or I just spin and slide. Even when I'm cruising on the HW I feel the damn tires slide every once in awhile.... :O
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04-10-2008, 01:19 PM
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damnit that sucks. i feel you, i was driving yesterday in the rain and it felt like i was driving on ice, i was safe about it and put on my flashers and drove 40 on the highway in the slow lane. People prob didnt like that too much but id rather live to see tommorow lol.
04-10-2008, 01:27 PM
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Sucks dude.
However, counter-steering won't help you in slippery conditions (rain, snow, ice, etc) if you loose traction on your front wheels. The name of the game is to keep those front wheels rolling, and by counter-steering, they will simply roll slower.
The way to do it (which is completely counter-intuitive) is to turn into the skid, and once they get traction again, you can then (very carefully) turn out of the skid.
Turning out of the skid when you have no traction on the fronts will get you nowhere.
When your rear wheels loose traction, it's a different story though.
(All this is assuming you're driving a RWD, which you apparently were)
/James
However, counter-steering won't help you in slippery conditions (rain, snow, ice, etc) if you loose traction on your front wheels. The name of the game is to keep those front wheels rolling, and by counter-steering, they will simply roll slower.
The way to do it (which is completely counter-intuitive) is to turn into the skid, and once they get traction again, you can then (very carefully) turn out of the skid.
Turning out of the skid when you have no traction on the fronts will get you nowhere.
When your rear wheels loose traction, it's a different story though.
(All this is assuming you're driving a RWD, which you apparently were)
/James
04-10-2008, 01:31 PM
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Sucks dude.
However, counter-steering won't help you in slippery conditions (rain, snow, ice, etc) if you loose traction on your front wheels. The name of the game is to keep those front wheels rolling, and by counter-steering, they will simply roll slower.
The way to do it (which is completely counter-intuitive) is to turn into the skid, and once they get traction again, you can then (very carefully) turn out of the skid.
Turning out of the skid when you have no traction on the fronts will get you nowhere.
When your rear wheels loose traction, it's a different story though.
(All this is assuming you're driving a RWD, which you apparently were)
/James
However, counter-steering won't help you in slippery conditions (rain, snow, ice, etc) if you loose traction on your front wheels. The name of the game is to keep those front wheels rolling, and by counter-steering, they will simply roll slower.
The way to do it (which is completely counter-intuitive) is to turn into the skid, and once they get traction again, you can then (very carefully) turn out of the skid.
Turning out of the skid when you have no traction on the fronts will get you nowhere.
When your rear wheels loose traction, it's a different story though.
(All this is assuming you're driving a RWD, which you apparently were)
/James
04-10-2008, 01:39 PM
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No..
Counter-steering will only work on a RWD if you actually have traction on the front wheels. If you loose traction on the front wheels, turning into the skid will let the front wheels get traction again, and once that's accomplished, you can turn out of the skid.
Loosing grip on the rear wheels in a RWD will require you to counter-steer, which you're all accustomed with from doing power-slides and etc in dry conditions.
/James
Counter-steering will only work on a RWD if you actually have traction on the front wheels. If you loose traction on the front wheels, turning into the skid will let the front wheels get traction again, and once that's accomplished, you can turn out of the skid.
Loosing grip on the rear wheels in a RWD will require you to counter-steer, which you're all accustomed with from doing power-slides and etc in dry conditions.
/James
04-10-2008, 02:06 PM
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No..
Counter-steering will only work on a RWD if you actually have traction on the front wheels. If you loose traction on the front wheels, turning into the skid will let the front wheels get traction again, and once that's accomplished, you can turn out of the skid.
Loosing grip on the rear wheels in a RWD will require you to counter-steer, which you're all accustomed with from doing power-slides and etc in dry conditions.
/James
Counter-steering will only work on a RWD if you actually have traction on the front wheels. If you loose traction on the front wheels, turning into the skid will let the front wheels get traction again, and once that's accomplished, you can turn out of the skid.
Loosing grip on the rear wheels in a RWD will require you to counter-steer, which you're all accustomed with from doing power-slides and etc in dry conditions.
/James
I'm not sure if I understand you. The only time I can think when the front wheels would lose traction on a RWD car is under heavy braking or severe understeer. In that case, there's no skid to turn into really.
If the car is experiencing oversteer, counter-steer to correct it. If the angle is already too extreme (which is what happened with the OP), counter-steering will no longer save you. Steering into the skid would only bring the back around even quicker. The best way would be to straighten out, apply the moderate pressure on the brake and of course, bring it out of gear and hang on.
04-10-2008, 02:21 PM
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what always works for me is this..... start to loose traction, let off the gas and glide and keep the wheels in line, eventually it will straighten up, if you try to steer it youre headed to the wall and dont hit the brakes at all. Its not rocket science, some people have good driving skills and some people have great driving skills. Ive never once lost control of my car. Al
04-10-2008, 02:23 PM
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You're making the assumption that you have grip on the front wheels. You are correct, that once you've regained grip on the fronts, you need to counter steer, but if you're hydroplaning, the first order of business is to regain grip, so that you can counter-steer.
04-10-2008, 02:32 PM
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man, sucks to hear. This almost exact thing happened to me a year ago almost exactly on I20 and they totalled mine because the body moved and the car wouldve dog walked from then on and to straighten it out was like 16K. Thing is I was doing like 40 but hit a huge puddle on the right side but not on the left so it jerked the car and caused the rears to lose traction
04-10-2008, 02:35 PM
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When you're hydroplaning the front wheels will loose traction, as they're entering the undisturbed (read: deepest) water. The front wheels will push the water aside, and the rear wheels will therefor have better traction than the front ones.
You're making the assumption that you have grip on the front wheels. You are correct, that once you've regained grip on the fronts, you need to counter steer, but if you're hydroplaning, the first order of business is to regain grip, so that you can counter-steer.
You're making the assumption that you have grip on the front wheels. You are correct, that once you've regained grip on the fronts, you need to counter steer, but if you're hydroplaning, the first order of business is to regain grip, so that you can counter-steer.