Last tuesday I almost lost my 350z due to my stupidity. I was leaving work and I decided to turn off VDC. I was driving down the street and a van was creeping out into the intersection about to block me from making a left turn. I curved around him to the right and proceeded to punch it make my left turn, before I know it I suddenly find myself spinning out of control. Needless to say I was VERY scared.

I saw my life flash before my eyes I figured I was about to total my car and injure someone else.

But I was lucky I don't exactly know how I kept from hitting someone but I put my brakes on and I ended up (I don't remember if i steered into the spin or not) going down the street side ways. After I stopped I ended up pointing towards a car's driver side door going the opposite direction.

Anyway my point is to ppl not to underestimate this car, espically VDC and TCS. I guess I'm not the best driver I probably don't deserve this car considering I don't know how to propery drive it.

I was scared for a week after that happened, maybe someone can give me some suggestions on how to become a better driver if sometime in the future I ever decided to drive with VDC turned off.

I feel that I am very lucky that nothing bad happened. At first I was arrogant I thought that rear wheel drive cars was no big thing, well, I certainly learned my lesson!

Kevin

 

this is my experience... and it seems to work for me. The first time I drove a rear wheel drive car I spun out on many various occasions, especially on tight turns where I gunned the motor. If I happen to get caught in a spin now I try to stay calm straighten out the wheel and let up a little on the gas and slowly accelerate it again. This usually helps me get better traction. Letting go of the gas completely, hitting the brakes, or overcorrecting the turn usually doesn't work for me. It seems strange but I think accelerating puts more weight to the rear wheels and gains traction. Too much gas will have you sliding around. Just wait for the car to level out and let up a little and gas it again.

 

Umm... how about... turn VDC off, and drive it safely? No punching on turns?

Problem solved?

 

I'm glad you are okay.

Best thing to do after that happens - go to a local autox and turn all the driver aids off, and then go to a road course track event with the driver aids off. While they are great, they do not work on educating the driver in how to handle the car in situations like the one you experienced.

 

if the car begins to spin, and you lock up the brakes it will continue to spin. whats more, your front brakes are larger and more effective while the back wheels have less weight on them in a hard stop, making the tail end continue to come around the front.

basicly the cause was the "punch" you have to shift smoother, let the gas back in easy, the Z does not have enough power to just floor the accelarator and it will break free. so you must have downshifted. same goes for auto... except its diffucult to be gentle on an auto.

in the turn, dont do such things till you realize where its breaking point is, and learn this in a safe place(MASSIVE parking lot if you have on. you should hear the tires begin to lose traction. after that the Z is easier than many cars since it has 50:50(or close) distrobution, so you should end up with the front or back sliding a whole lot more.

of course the arbitrary answer is , did you really have to be in front of the van? was it nescesarry to risk yourself and others, even if you are a excellant driver, you could have hit a pothole or something. you were going to save a few seconds maybe?

now that were through with that, if you didnt have a little fun on the streets occasionally, then you are not a warm blooded male. just use caution; theres a difference between having fun, and being reckless. have fun on the open roads, not when your weaving in traffic.

Z ya around, and good to hear you came out of it alright.

 

To add to ares' post - do all your braking and shifting before you turn, don't back off the gas or get on the gas all of a sudden. Its difficult to learn on the streets that being smooth is what being fast, careful and safe is all about - even if you needed to get around the van. =D

 

I just thought of something, at road atlanta there is a driving school and a guy was telling me about it.

he said they send you out in a car with a bowl bolted to the hood. they put a ball in it, and the goal is to get around the track without throwing the ball out. a race driver could do so at full speed.

 

While I haven't been to any autocross event in ANY car (its on my to-do list. ), I have taken all of my cars to empty parking lots, vacant warehouse districts, etc, and have gotten to know my cars by purposefully trying to make them lose control many, many times.

I haven't done it with my Z, yet, but it usually involves me trying to recover the car from what may seem like an uncontrolled spin/slide/skid/whatever. It's also good to know how your car feels under extremely hard braking conditions and how to recover from a quick-deceleration to quick-acceleration for real-world "oh @*(!#" scenarios.

... and if you got the time, ample space and a video camera, feel free to pull off some of the BMWfilms manuevers too... Impress your friends... above all, be safe and learn as much as you can from your new car.

-iboost

 

Also worthy of note, if you have low-profile tires, you're not as likely to hear the tires approaching their tractive limits. Also, low-pros are more apt to suddenly lose all traction, whereas 50 and 45 series tires will more gradually lose grip.

Ares and BullishZ are right. The secret to safety (and speed) is smoothness. I remember watching Schuey at the USGP, and the guy honestly looked like he was driving to WalMart, he was that smooth.

 

Good post, Ares. One thing:

That is usually true with good traction in a straight line, but on a corner, you can get the tail to step out just by applying throttle in second (and of course first) gear, when the revs are high enough.

So I would be REALLY CAREFUL on corners when VDC is turned off. (I usually also reserve my non-VDC "play time" for when there is no traffic around. But I won't sit here and preach because I have my fun, too, and certainly don't drive like an old lady!)

 

Absolutely. On a well-traveled road with smooth asphalt I can break the rears loose on command in a STRAIGHT LINE with VDC off in second and third.

 

Myself an inexperienced driver of fast cars, what I have taken away from this thread is:

1. VDC/TCS helps to save you from your own inexperience driving a car with this much power.

2. Turn off these systems once you REALLY know what you are doing through experience without these systems in a SAFE environment, e.g. track time or empty lots, etc.

 

exactly, and good point in number 2. even if your a pro, you can never be too safe, and even the best make mistakes, so VDC is good so long as your not doing somthing that VDC would impede you from doing.

 

what you need to learn how to do is control your drifts, which is basically what will happen with VCD off. The reason you spun was that you were tunring the wheel left and punching the gas which creates a circle for the car to go in. To do a 90 deg. drift turn, turn the wheel, in this case left, punch the gas, as the tail comes out begin turning the wheel right, and ease off the gas a little but still giving it power. AS the tail comes back aound starighten out the wheel.. and boom there you are, just becuase you are moving fast you're actions don't have to be fast..

 

How about leave your VDC on as it can correct much faster and keep you out of trouble until you get used to the car. That is why they offer it!!!!!!!

 

Yeah but letting the rear end come out when tcs and vcd are off is just way too much fun

 

I think we can all agree that car manufacturers sometimes make choices we believe are silly... but defaulting the VDC/TCS systems to an engaged state EVERY time you start the car is A Good Thing(TM), even if there are some people who want it off all the time (I can't image why).

That being said, once I have learned how to handle the car without these aids engaged, under what street driving conditions would I want or need to drive without them being on?

 

absolutely, but this type of fun has no place on roads where you can hit stuff, specially other people. only thing worse than killing yourself, is killing someone else.

Ive done many a drift on a public road, but they are done at midnight on a desolate road. it is my life to do as I wish. I do not make that decision for others tho.

 

ares - I find that sentiment very rude and selfish. Have you ever thought about what an ugly mess you would make to the interior of your beatiful automobile? Think about someone else's feelings!

 

turn it off when you have a clear, well paved road. or the track.

and of course you have to plan on doing drifts and the like. so long as your wheels arent spinning, the VDC wont even kick in. so you can do a hard turn at 150 if you damn well please, so long as you dont slide. if you do, then the computer will say no no, lets not go there.

worse things could happen....

for instance, if a F1 car had VDC, it would NEVER go off, it wouldnt hurt their time at all. because all their tires are firmly planted on the ground at all times. drifting is actually mainly used in rally races or autoX(tho in the latter it is not always wanted, it ussually comes in the form of understeer.... not quite a drift)

edit: I have a black interior, a little club soda and a good cleaning and the blood wont even be noticable. Im sure the dings will buff out.