Just wondering for those who have seent he Best Motoring video, in the opening scene a Silverstone looks like it's experiencing oversteer? In mid turn the front wheels are pointing left in a righthand turn??

Cheers,
Ed.

 

Clarification: Sorry I meant the Free QuickTime Preview, it looks like significant oversteer to me which Im curious about due to the well know understeer the Z has, it looks fast!

Z rides for the willing, then Gobble, Gobble, SnooZe
Ed

 

usually, when a car has a "tendancy" for oversteer/understeer, this basically refers to which end of the car loses traction first when the vehicle is under acceleration around a moderate speed curve. but under spirited driving or racing conditions, changes in driver's input (either intended or otherwise) can cause a car to behave differently from its "tendancy." with the right driver input, even a fwd vehicle (which is notorious for understeer) can be induced to oversteer under certain conditions. also, keep in mind that a car's handling characteristics are different around low speed curves versus high speed ones. this is mainly due to the difference in transmission gear ratios and the rate of acceleration as a result of it. i have not seen the video, but since a stock 350z is tuned for slight understeer out of the box (pretty much for layperson safety), i'm guessing either the driver in the video entered the corner too fast and had to ease off the throttle mid-corner to compensate (which induces oversteer), or he over-applied throttle through a slow speed corner (which also induces oversteer). of course there are other possible senario. these are just two examples.

 

The DVD should be in next week!

 

The man was drifting.

 

Right -- despite the Z's tendency to understeer in a steady-state corner (e.g. when you're testing whether it understeers, oversteers or is neutral), it's sure easy enough to get as much oversteer as you want out of it. Just wind to 6000 RPM and use the throttle!

 

they use differnt driving techniques than you are probably used to. those best motoring vids are famous for their drifting. Its all about technique and driver skill level..

there are lots of resources out there if you'd like to learn more about technique and such..

also look into gymastika (sp?) its the japanese version of an autox but the difference is that they use fewer cones and the track will pass the same areas many times. and people are rated upon drifting techniques and being sideways is the norm

 

I could be wrong but I think it's actually called gymkanna.

 

your probably right.. i couldnt remember it and i tried looking for it with no luck

 

So when you punch the stability button off, then you can do what you want? Or does it still cut in at some point?

 

from what i understand when you turn it off, its off completely off, not some life of its own thing with self preservation that'll kick in and eliminate the driver to save itself