It had rained earlier.
But the road was dry.
I was doing 65mph on a local road and was entering a gnarly downward sloping continuous curve we've dubbed "SOCAL's Carousel".
Been through it near 74mph plenty of times...on dry roads.

Thirty seconds earlier.....

I note that I do see some wet patches, better turn the VDC back on. I normally run with it off.

Back to real time...

As I approach the blind exit apex of this turn I catch a glimmer of wet.
The entire exit of the curve and then rest of road is SOAKED.
Before I can do anything I am already in 45 degrees of yaw and now in the oncoming traffic lane doing 60mph.
I point the wheel where I want to go.
The car is already whirring with VDC angels and does so more.
I am see-sawing--yet going in a direction--from the VDC trying to get me there.
I have way too much speed.
I then switch to pressing the brake moderately to bleed off speed.
I keep pointing the wheel back to my lane.
I now see a car fastly approaching ahead of me.
I now know I have too much speed to get to my lane so I point towards the side of the road/curb.
The other car finally sees that's where I am going and swerves around me around 45mph.
I then start pulling down speed, see-saw stops and a couple of cars wizz by my right side.
I then check for traffic and pull back in to my lane.

Three things.

1) VDC saved me from an insta spin and most likely a 60mph plough in to the side of a 5" curb and trees.

2) VDC saving me would not have mattered if that approaching car had been there two seconds sooner. We would have collided.

3) I'm an a$$hole for driving like that when it had only rained just 2 hours prior. Dry or not. You never know.

 

what happen to counter-steer when you sense a slide?
just kidding

 

Too bad you didn't flip and wreck; people who drive like the public road is their personal race track need to be castrated.

 

For the Z or any other RWD, what direction do you turn your wheels when you are about to spinout. I recall the direction you turn your steering wheel is different for RWD and FWD when you enounter this problem.

Just curious should something like this happens to me and need to react quickly.

 

the trick is dont panic, dont brake (that will help the oversteer) and turn the steering wheel towards to slide, but not too much cuz then u'll spin the other way and maintain throttle... sudden lift off will send you over steering too...
...

 

Just out of curiosity what kind of tires? Miles?

 

The best way to learn about performance driving is practice. The next time that I drive at Summit Point, WV maybe you can go with me. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for rain to make it more exciting.

 

I know how to properly recover from a slide. I've done it many times at the track.

The issue is with VDC, everything you would normally do to get out of a slide MAKES THE SITUATION WORSE.

With VDC, you are supposed to point in the direction you want to go (subtle counter steering obviously is a side effect) and feather the throttle and eventually get in to braking if you indeed wish to stop.

I was most impressed how the technology worked considering I was going downhill and at great speed on a wet road. It gave me a rather decent arc back toward the direction I wanted to go.

Tires have 8000 miles on them and are BFG KDW2. They actually do offer pretty darn good wet traction. This was am extreme situation.

 

I should stop over eating and drinking too but I can't. Probably won't until I get liver cancer or a heart attack.

I agree completely with you though.

 

NEVER! hit the brakes when in a slide. Each tire only has so much grip to offer, if you are in a slide they are already trying to find traction on their own by applying the brakes you make it more difficult for them to gain traction. Especialy when the rear end is hanging out because this will only put more weight on the front and less over the rear tires.

 

I don't agree with this generic hate statement.
Ok, if someone treats a public road like his personal race track, then thats endangering others and is bad.

So basically I agree that endangering others is bad.

Where I don't agree is: who is endangering others and to what extent on public roads.

Example: I "hate" drivers that have no skill, drive 10 miles under the speed limit, while shaving, playing guitar, putting make up on, having an intense cell phone conversation, and so on...
These people endanger others just as well, although they are slow. You can kill somebody with 20mph in a 45mph speed zone.

I prefer people that enjoy driving, drive actively, concentrate on driving, anticipate, and don't do anything else at the same time.

Yet common misconception is that anyone driving slow is safe, anyone driving fast is not safe. This is BS.

I agree that same style of driving (same skill, same attention to it) slower is safer. But what I see in practice at least in some regions in the US is a TON of BAD & SLOW drivers not paying attention, having no clue what to do in an emergency situation (underjudging a turn, traction) and not only not being able to react correctly, but on top of it not even paying attention.

From the impression I got from the original poster, I prefer having someone like him in my oncoming lane, than the average "slow" driver I see here everyday.

The only reason why the average driver gets away with no skill is that here in the US there are yellow signs that tell you how fast you can take a turn.
Driving classes should be mandatory like in other places.

 

lol

 

Yeah except with VDC, ABS, and BFD. All those nannies will stop the wheels from locking and wil apply the brakes to each wheel indepandantly in order to get you straightened out. And that's EXACTLY what it did.

Once again, I know how to get out of a slide. What so any seem to fail to recognize is how VDC and BFD and other systems work together. I think this is why so many people dismiss it. They simply don't understand how it works. They just think it's simple traction control. Those systems exist for the people out there that DON'T know what to do.

Because the potential unsafe conditions I chose to put my faith in VDC (yes instead of using common sense and driving slower) and the other systems and guess what? They worked. I didn't spin out. Yes I did go in to the other lane but in doing conventional counter steering maneuvors I would have done so as well. And most likely not straightened out as quickly nor with quite the same composure.

 

Need more clarification. So lets say I am steer right and my end starts to come loose so that my car is starting to feel like it will begin a clockwise rotation. So do I need to turn the wheels to the left (counter-clockwise) to correct myself? Does the rotation of the steering matter for FWD or RWD?


Sounds very tempting!!! Keep me posted!

 

Playing in the rain will make you sick.

 

nice poem

 

IT doesn't matter if you have stability control, ABS, brake distribution, or anything. If you hit your brakes in a slide it is only going to make it worse. If you kept your foot off the brake the VDC would apply the right amount of braking to the right wheels. By braking yourself you put more stress on the rear tires which are already scrubing off speed and trying to find traction. By applying the brakes yourself your are only going to complicate the problem by making it even more difficult for the rear tires to find traction and will prolong your slide. VDC, and BFD with apply braking to the tires that have the traction which in this case would be the front tires only and in a way that will reduce the oversteer and get you back to a neutral balance and back in the right direction.

 

I don't think there is any replacement for experience and practice before you find yourself in an emergency situation. FWD, RWD or AWD steer into the skid. If you overdoit, say on an icy road, you will then skid the other way. Go find yourself a dirt track or isolated dirt road with no trees around and try to drift with the throttle. Get on the gas a little in a corner and you will feel the back end start to come out. Get off the gas. When you feel that you can control this feeling, steer into the drift to maintain your directional control and stay on the throttle lightly. Now you can steer around the corners by slightly steering into the skid and controlling your line with your throttle! Don't blame me if you go off the road and get killed though

If you don't have a safe place to try this, find a skid safety school with a skid car, which is basically a car with training wheels, that can't tip over and take a lesson on a wet course.

If you live in Wisconsin just find an empty parking lot and skid in the snow

Realize that it is also possible to accidently go into a skid by being too aggressive accelerating with a RWD car even on dry pavement.

 

Mull and Jyoder, all good tips.

I should clarify that that I did not apply the brakes until I was near the end of my adventure. Not until I was no longer in a bad slide. Before that I was indeed feathering the throttle and applying subtle counter steering.

I was still wobbling a bit but anyone who has experienced the VDC nanny knows it's a difficult task trying to properly counter steer with it. It's best to let it do it's job.

 

mmm this skid class sounds good. last year i was leaving my house back in norcal and my tires were pretty bald. turned off vdc and charged UP a hill with a fairly sharp right turn. back started to slide and i countersteered too much and didnt return quickly enough. long story short, front wheels grabbed traction a lot faster than i thought and i almost smashed into the sidewalk on the left. needless to say, i am traumatized and drive with vdc on all the time!