My friend test drove my car the other day and drove it hard. When he shifted to second gear he said that he momentarily loss control of the z and it drifted to the left side. Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm a lil worried because what if I end up racing someone and lose total control of it. This is my first rear wheel driven car so it may be i'm not used to all the power. lol
Oh is it normal for the idle to be rough at times where if you turn off the radio you can hear a noise in the direction of the pedals?

 

It's because you have open diff. More ower was only going to one wheel, easier for it to break loose and lose control. Get an LSD it should help.

 

What model do you have? Did you have TCS disabled?

The back end of the Z, or other high power rwd, can step out if you shift into 2nd and apply too much power. The rear tires break traction and you will have the feel of losing control until they hook up with the road surface again. This happens more easily if the road surface is slippery, water, sand, oil, etc.

Is it because of the stock tires? Well, if the tires are stickier, it would take more power to break traction. So if you have better tires, you can apply more power before you’ll have the same behavior.

 

Hes got a base, says so in his profile. Open diff, no tcs. That's why it steps out so easily.

 

thanks for the info guys! that sux to hear that the base models can get out of control because of lack of lsd. as far as noises, I can hear knocking noises and feel it too while my car is on idle. I can feel it around the clutch pedal area. Is this normal?

 

open diff would be harder to break loose the rear end?

open diff only one wheel will spin making the other one hold its ground and keep the car straight...

but you can get it to break loose and get into a drift it is just harder, but also harder to control once it enters the drift...

just dont let up the clutch so fast shifting into 2nd and you wont make the rear wheels speen so easly...

also try lowering the tire pressure in the rear it will help some traction...

 

Nothing to worry about. I had the same behaviour with a Z4. Just to much power on the rear wheels. Happens with rear wheel drive cars, even with traction control on...

 

Been on two boards for this week researching the Z. Wasn't sure about it when it first came out, but it have since grown on me.

But I've read quite a few "accidents" regarding loose ends from sand, driving over a puddle, ice and what not and many of them the car was pratically brand new. This kinda worrys me. As like some others, I've mostly driven front wheel drive, and nothing that's high power. Do drive a 740il but that sucka is like a tank and heavy too so never a problem in any weather.

Just curious how others feel. Maybe some advice.

 

he said that it drifted to one side. I'm guessing thats because of the bias of an open diff. I could be wrong but I don't think so.

 

It's definately because of the open diff. While jason's theory makes sense, from my personal experience, having the lsd definately makes the car a *lot* more stable, and I break loose much less often (if ever). At least in the dry.

When its wet out, you just have to slow it down no matter what kind of differential you have. Its just slippery, and your car has a lot of power .

 

Im sorry...

but it seems odd to me from my driving experiences that if BOTH rear wheels break loose spinning at the same speed both without traction will help the car stay straight easier?

if Both rear wheels are spinning at the same rate (from having an LSD) and you are at a stand still... if you turn the wheel slightly to one side or another the car will follow that and being a spin (dounut)...

With an LSD... The car will sit there with one wheel spinning...

BOTH wheels have to loose traction for the car to freely move the rear end side to side...

 

Agree with J.
Had a welded diff in my old rwd rally car years ago. Comparing the behavior of the car w/ open diff and locked diff, the back end definitely came around a lot faster when locked. Took me a while to learn how to drive that sucker.