Courses for handling RWD in bad weather

[ironictwist]

I know I know, you can handle that gradually over time.

But! I spun my 328 today in quite dramatic style, after losing it once and only just managing to snap it back into line before anything serious happened. Any confidence I had built up in the car has quite dramatically wilted. Id love a day out with it or a similar RWD drive car where I can play without the fear of...well...ya know.

http://www.skidpan.net/ seems great, but waaaaaaaaaaay to far. Anyone know any south of London?, im ok with anything 70 miles around Brighton.

[Adam_W]

Any help? http://www.combe-events.co.uk/skidpan.htm

Its castle coombe.. is it any closer?

[Toltec]

Goodwood do you?

http://www.skidcontrol.co.uk/Index2.htm 

Looks like they use Sierras - I doubt the power matters given how slippery the surface usually is.

[ironictwist]

Adam_W said:

Any help? http://www.combe-events.co.uk/skidpan.htm

Its castle coombe.. is it any closer?

Na, thats a fair old way away. Thanks for looking though.

Found this place which is about 15min away-> http://www.skidcontrol.co.uk

Not the most impressive of sites, but maybe worth a go. However, my questions is...Has anyone tried one of these sessions? if so, how was it? Worth it?

[Toltec]

My local TVRCC went to the Goodwood one, I think they found it worth while. I will put a post on the group and ask them to post a reply to you on PH.

[ironictwist]

Toltec said:

My local TVRCC went to the Goodwood one, I think they found it worth while. I will put a post on the group and ask them to post a reply to you on PH.

Much appreciated, Cheers!

By some miracle the only repairs the car now needs (visibly speaking) is a new alloy + tyre. God damn was i lucky :|

[ncs]

Toltec said:

My local TVRCC went to the Goodwood one, I think they found it worth while. I will put a post on the group and ask them to post a reply to you on PH.

Hiya

We took a large group down to Goodwood earlier this year & had a superb day out.

The skid pan is quite small at first glance, but it works really well. They use Sierras & you only go quite slowly but you would be amazed at how much you learn - the instructors were very friendly & experienced.

They also had a couple of old shape 3 series BMW's.

Do it, you wont regret it as you learn a lot & have great fun doing it - I would suggest you get a few mates together & have a bit of fun together.

All the best

Nick

[Toltec]

Skidcontrol site said:

Then you will be coached in the finer points of car control including power slides

On the £195 Platinum course anyway.

[jagdpanther]

ironictwist said:

I know I know, you can handle that gradually over time.

But! I spun my 328 today in quite dramatic style, after losing it once and only just managing to snap it back into line before anything serious happened. Any confidence I had built up in the car has quite dramatically wilted. Id love a day out with it or a similar RWD drive car where I can play without the fear of...well...ya know.

http://www.skidpan.net/ seems great, but waaaaaaaaaaay to far. Anyone know any south of London?, im ok with anything 70 miles around Brighton.

What happened???


Ive had the big 7 out in all weathers and only lost control to a dramatic extent once, but never managed to pan it all the way round....you only need to ask Trickie Dickie or Snotrag to find out how its driven too

Glad you didnt do too much damage

[mmm-five]

Don't have any problems with 340bhp through the rear wheels on an e34 M5, and there's no traction control to help either.

Do you know why you lost control this time - if you do then you're part of the way to understanding how to not do it again! If not, then there's no hope

Go slower (not slow, just slower) and make your inputs smoother. Take it easy on the pedals, don't stamp on them - they are not on/off switches.

The good thing about doing the skidpans is you can use very small inputs to see what can go wrong at very low speeds. Personally I prefer snow & ice laden airfields for practice - but you've got to wait for the right time of the year for that.

[ironictwist]

jagdpanther said:

ironictwist said:

I know I know, you can handle that gradually over time.

But! I spun my 328 today in quite dramatic style, after losing it once and only just managing to snap it back into line before anything serious happened. Any confidence I had built up in the car has quite dramatically wilted. Id love a day out with it or a similar RWD drive car where I can play without the fear of...well...ya know.

http://www.skidpan.net/ seems great, but waaaaaaaaaaay to far. Anyone know any south of London?, im ok with anything 70 miles around Brighton.

What happened???


Ive had the big 7 out in all weathers and only lost control to a dramatic extent once, but never managed to pan it all the way round....you only need to ask Trickie Dickie or Snotrag to find out how its driven too

Glad you didnt do too much damage

Well the first time i lost it was on a roundabout just outside Haywards Heath town centre for those that know the area. Took my normal line (going right), normal speed ive always done on that roundabout, didnt even get round to putting the power on, next thing i know the backs stepping out to my left, counter it, snaps back to my right, then bring it back in line...

About 5 miles later on, another roundabout, going left this time to start up a slip road joining the A23, move off the roundabout, as it's the 1st exit i just feed the power in gently as it climbs up hill but as i hit that road (quite comfortably i thought, no drama at all), the back slides out to my right, i snap it back (too hard), which then violently brings the rear to my left, then the same process again, now back on my right, then left again, then a final time on my right which then goes all the way round, at which point i sail backwards onto a grass verge out of harms way & am then left sitting on the grass facing the way i had just come. The light traffic behind me, slowed to halt while all this unfolded, then carried on lol :/

Anyway, i have to thank my lucky stars that on both occasions NO-ONE was anywhere close to me to also be caught up, I'm just incredibly glad no-one else suffered due to my mistake & sheer lack of experience with RWD's aswell as misjudging the conditions/power available.

I honestly think I had been very careful with the old girl thus far. Was fine in the morning even though it was raining, felt very solid. Typical then that it then rains for 7hrs straight while I'm at work & before my hour long trip home. Although it felt more than sound on the twisties i take her through every morning. However, today was the first time properly in the wet and I guess it showed.

[miro]

the road off the roundabout onto the A23 is a slippery one in the wet. I managed to get my FWD corolla T-Sport out of shape on that slip road about a year ago. I was a little over exuberant comming off the roundabout and had a real wakeup call

[cptsideways]

Come & have a go at the drifting that'll sort you out


Seriously I've taught hundreds of people who aren't into drifting, they went on the courses for the same reasons you want to.


Meanwhile - gently let go of that steering wheel it'll sort itself out, dont grab it

Edited by cptsideways on Tuesday 14th August 23:49

[Pheo]

Your rear tyres/suspension OK?

Just a thought, something may have gone amiss there?

[markmullen]

jagdpanther said:

Ive had the big 7 out in all weathers and only lost control to a dramatic extent once,

Not trying hard enough mate

Mind you only having 3/4 of an engine might be where your problems lie

[Ravell]

Pheo said:

Your rear tyres/suspension OK?

Just a thought, something may have gone amiss there?

That was my first thought as well. My 323i coupe is very easy to control when it gets into a slide and to be honest, it has never done so unexpectadly, even in icey conditions.

As said before, smoothness is key. Feel what the car is doing and react to it.

[Jonty99]

Isn't there a quiet industrial estate near you? They're always good for practicing things like that on a rainy day!

[jagdpanther]

ironictwist said:

jagdpanther said:

ironictwist said:

I know I know, you can handle that gradually over time.

But! I spun my 328 today in quite dramatic style, after losing it once and only just managing to snap it back into line before anything serious happened. Any confidence I had built up in the car has quite dramatically wilted. Id love a day out with it or a similar RWD drive car where I can play without the fear of...well...ya know.

http://www.skidpan.net/ seems great, but waaaaaaaaaaay to far. Anyone know any south of London?, im ok with anything 70 miles around Brighton.

What happened???


Ive had the big 7 out in all weathers and only lost control to a dramatic extent once, but never managed to pan it all the way round....you only need to ask Trickie Dickie or Snotrag to find out how its driven too

Glad you didnt do too much damage

Well the first time i lost it was on a roundabout just outside Haywards Heath town centre for those that know the area. Took my normal line (going right), normal speed ive always done on that roundabout, didnt even get round to putting the power on, next thing i know the backs stepping out to my left, counter it, snaps back to my right, then bring it back in line...

About 5 miles later on, another roundabout, going left this time to start up a slip road joining the A23, move off the roundabout, as it's the 1st exit i just feed the power in gently as it climbs up hill but as i hit that road (quite comfortably i thought, no drama at all), the back slides out to my right, i snap it back (too hard), which then violently brings the rear to my left, then the same process again, now back on my right, then left again, then a final time on my right which then goes all the way round, at which point i sail backwards onto a grass verge out of harms way & am then left sitting on the grass facing the way i had just come. The light traffic behind me, slowed to halt while all this unfolded, then carried on lol :/

Anyway, i have to thank my lucky stars that on both occasions NO-ONE was anywhere close to me to also be caught up, I'm just incredibly glad no-one else suffered due to my mistake & sheer lack of experience with RWD's aswell as misjudging the conditions/power available.

I honestly think I had been very careful with the old girl thus far. Was fine in the morning even though it was raining, felt very solid. Typical then that it then rains for 7hrs straight while I'm at work & before my hour long trip home. Although it felt more than sound on the twisties i take her through every morning. However, today was the first time properly in the wet and I guess it showed.

First things first:

Have the car booked in for a check over all the suspension and the bushes (concentrate on the rear axle carrier bushes as they can make the backend loose if they're in need of replacing)

What gear where you in (assuming its manual) when you entered the roundabout?

What tyres are you running?? Have you checked all the pressures?

The majority of times that people spin a car or get out of shape, it is driver error/misjudging the road/conditions and as its already been said; If you can look back and cotton on to something that could've lead to the twitch, then you're half way to rectifying

The first time I got the Battlecruiser bent out of shape, I was coming over a crest off of a roundabout and onto Ilkley ringroad, I hit the power too early, the arse went light (my arse went heavy ) and I ended up nearly going off the dual carriageway, but managed to correct (more luck than judgement) after numerous overcorrection nearly made things worse!

I will be planning a skidpan and car control day sometime in the not too distant future, but I havent been really out of shape since I realised the contributing factors to my first incident

We all learn by our mistakes


Oh and Mark:


Cheeky bugger

[RobM77]

Problem is on a skid pan you'll learn nothing about weight transfer, which is what affects cars the most above about 20mph.

http://www.donpalmer.co.uk/ is where I'd go

[willdew]

Sounds like heavily worn rear tyres, a heavy right foot and plenty of rain to me. Nothing more. That's not to say you don't need to learn to handle the situation though. You need to be aware of how tyres behave as they wear out and also to be conscious if you're on good, new rubber, or old tyres approaching the end of their life and how to alter your driving to accommodate for this.

And the way I started to learn was on an empty industrial estate in the snow when I was 15-16 with my Dad in an old Carlton. When I get a new car now I still take them to the same sort of place in the rain to see what they do when pushed on roundabouts etc. Ensure there's no curbs or lamp posts and absolutely no one else about and have fun.