Now that my car has a grand total of 750 miles on it and going up quickly I suddenly have a driving question.

Acceleration and speed are fine but for me it's all about the turning and handling. I like nothing better than finding some long sweeping curves and making some Gs.

The problem is that I don't have any idea how hard I'm pushing the limits. The only way to know is to actually FIND the limit but I'm trying to avoid that because I don't know what will happen.

How do I know when I'm getting close?

If I start to slide what happens? The rear end goes first or the whole thing slides sideways?

Should I be able to recover and how do I do that?

Maybe I should take the Skip Barber school at Lime Rock.

Thanks

 

I think it is best to learn on a track or on _low_ speed tight corners on a deserted road with good visibility that you know well and preferably with lots of space. Preferably a hill climb where you can just lift off the gas if you come in too hot. You don't want to reach the limits on a high speed turn. The problem with the Z and great tires is that there is no guarantee that you can recover nicely from a break away. I would personally take a tire/car setup that slides but was slower than a tire/car setup with max adhesion and poor breakaway. I would personally take a tire with better wet traction than one with max dry traction. The Z and summer tires grips so hard, I think you would be driving pretty crazy to reach the limits of this car. And you can reach the limits of any car (NSX included) and totally trash it.

I am assuming that you know how to control a drift and steer into a drift and that you know how to steer with the throttle.

 

I don't have a clue what you are talking about. I've spent a lot of time on motorcycles but new to cars, at least sports cars.

 

Hmm. It would similar to a dirt bike, where you power around a right corner while pointing the front tire to the left, using the throttle to control your direction and the amount of sliding. I have drag my cycle pegs on a street bike once, but I guarantee it was not on purpose

Most cars understeer as you approach the limit, so the front will push and you can correct by steering into the turn. This is a natural reaction. If you overcorrect or give a bit too much gas the _back_ end will start to come around. This is where an inexperienced or even experienced driver gets into trouble. So you need to have some practice recovering from this situation by turning into the slide. You will not be able to maintain your line through the curve and you will go a bit wide, but it is a lot better than doing a 180.

In the midwest you can learn to do this in an empty parking lot in the winter. If you don't have any snow you can do this on a dirt road or dirt track. This is sorta basic driving safety stuff. If you drive enough this is going to happen to you one day. It may be as simple as hitting black ice.

The safest way may be to take a driver safety drifting course with a drift car. This is a car with training wheels that keep it from tipping. In Portland I notice they have a three hour drifting course for kids. The idea is if a kid can learn to recover from a skid on a parking lot, they are more like to live if they skid on the road.

 

That sounds like fun! I wanna try! LOL

When I'm turning I can feel the limits. The car starts to under steer and wobble a bit. All I do is let off the throttle and hold the wheel on my line. Turning more or less can often times be cause for loss of control. Of course I always end up going wide but it's fun. LOL

 

Do you guys turn VDC off on the twisties?

 

Its safest to leave it on, so just in case you do make a mistake there's still a chance that something might save you.

 

Well, um. I bought the old guy's Roadster with leather seats, BOSE stuff and it does not have VDC. But I look good in my car!

 

+1 on not having VDC. I have TCS and leave it on unless I want to lose traction.

 

Well now I'm sure of it. I am going to sign up for the Skip Barber course. They use pickup trucks to teach sliding and then you move to something with 500hp.

Thanks

 

Ok, I just did a little test for you. I made a U-turn at about 1/2-3/4 throttle and the rear swung back and forth a little bit. LOL It was on new pavement so it still had all the oils in it but still...it broke loose pretty easy. There was a black Z waiting for a green light at the intersection too...he must be thinking I'm a total tool. LOL

 

Easiest and safest way to learn the limits is to autocross it. Find a local autocross club and watch for a novice class, or just go give it a try. I autocross my ZR regularly. Lotsa fun.

 

How much does it cost for a full day of autocrossing?

 

Where can you do this? Is there a website with a directory of locations or something?

 

By me its like 35 bux for 8 runs.. Go to SCCA's website. Theres info on there.

 

You know you've found the limits of your driving ability when you start to get uncomfortable. Slowly, as you gain experience with this car, those limits change. You should be alert and excited but if you ever feel like "oh man" then you need to tone it back a bit.

 

It will depend on the club. Ours charges $25 for non-members. Try the SCCA web site or just use Google to find a club near you. Here are examples - http://www.fcscc.com/ and http://www.cartct.com

Evolution driving school is really good too. It is about $200 for a full day of instruction in your own car. YOu would et more out of it if you had several autocrosses under your belt first. Their site is http://www.autocross.com/evolution/

 

WOW! This autocross stuff looks fun. Where have I been? I've never heard if it.

Thanks

 

http://www.scca.com/Inside/Index.asp...gionalSites&~=

Click on your state/region to find your local SCCA chapter.