Power slides

[UKBob]

I know many cerbera owners have mastered the art, but other than a few donughts in car parks Ive not actually tried :o Eezeegeezer (who hasnt posted in months, but is still about and loving his cerb!) took a corner rather sideways yesterday, wheels lit up etc, it looked pretty cool :)

For those with experience, where did you first start experimenting (car park, roundabouts? ;)) and is there much to it?

Will the cerb leave you facing the wrong way only if you give it far too much, or is there a fine line between staying in control and loosing it?

[satman]

Try a nice flat grassy field....good fun, easy to get a slide on, and not hard on the tyres....

[UKBob]

satman said:

Try a nice flat grassy field....good fun, easy to get a slide on, and not hard on the tyres....

If I wasnt thinking of joining the local golf course, I suppose I could have sought out a back entrance

[SlvrCrb]

UKBob said:

If I wasnt thinking of joining the local golf course,

you'll be needing to swap the cerb for a chim then Rob

[satman]

But your not thinking of joining the local 'Bowls Club' though are you!!

[shadowninja]

Trackday or airfield day is the best option. Or one of those courses that teaches you to powerslide (i forget what they call themselves) in a huge hosed roundabout.

[davetherave1970]

Drift Academy!!

www.hireacamcorder.com/dd/shop/product.asp?numPageStartPosition=1&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&strSearchCriteria=&PT_ID=120&P_ID=217

There is also a show by the Japanese D1 Professional Drifters at Silverstone on Sunday 2nd Oct. www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk/booktickets/book_tickets_D1.htm

They're mental!

[gazzab]

big wet roundabout.

[BCA]

Harewood in the wet was good... the price for getting it wrong would have been too much for my wallet. However the Cerb was soooooo adjustable with the throttle that I was on opposite lock within about 200meters. Superb fun, nicely predictable, easy to hold there and not exactly short on power to get sideways.

Im shocked you havent had to ride out a slide in Cerbera ownership yet??? Have you never driven it in the rain/snow/sleet??? It doesnt take much for the back to step out, and its best to learn now how to deal with it for when it happens by accident.

I couldnt believe an article in sprint recently about an owner who got their car sideways for the first time on track (with evo?) - they had owned it for a fair bit of time from what I gathered. What do these people do with thier cars???? These things arent just about straight line grunt, slide the :Censored: thing around and enjoy yourselves!!!!!!!!! I havent driven much more than ten miles in the Cerb in total - yet I have had it sideways far more than these owners??

I guess alot of people just never even push thier cars a little round corners, perhaps this is why so many end up crashing? Even if you dont like the idea of enjoying corners (lol, madness) its massively important that you know how your car behaves when it goes beyond the limit. If you dont, then you are just waiting for a dab of oil to destroy your car - or you rely far too much on luck.

Bob, find a nice clear big roundabout with good vision all round - then go there at 4am and enjoy. FWIW I have little to no skill when it comes to the art of driving, so if I can do it - then anyone else can.

[UKBob]

SlvrCrb said:

UKBob said: If I wasnt thinking of joining the local golf course, you'll be needing to swap the cerb for a chim then Rob

Yeah yeah

satman said:

But your not thinking of joining the local 'Bowls Club' though are you!!

Nope! Praps austec can fit a Knight Rider style turbo boost jump kit to get me over the hedge

Cheers guys. Sooo, am I the only one who doesnt give it large potatoes (controled potatoes at that) round corners?

Whilst on topic, did anyone see the video of tiff and the tuscan stunt driver who did 3 x 360's staying in his own lane at about 100mph?

[Tam Lin]

BCA said:

stuff about not enough people sliding in Cerbs

I think this is due to the misconception fostered by media ignorance about "cars sliding out of control". Most people seem to avoid sliding their cars, seeing that state as somehow dangerous, and miss the point entirely that a car can be balanced in a slide, just as it can be balanced with all four wheels (or three round a corner ;-) gripping. There are out of control slides, but then, there are out of control situations with all four wheels gripping...

I am always astounded how few people take up the "cheap 16 inch wheels & tyres" offers in the classifieds on PH. Strapping those on and heading for the nearest private road/golf course/mud wrestling pit sounds an ideal way to spend a Sunday morning

[blue 4.5]

Apart from the fun factor, surely getting the backout intentionally on public roads is a bit dangerous. (plus wouldn't want to ruin the spiders, they are bad enough hitting a kerb and 1 mph!) I must admit as well, when watching motor racing, the only time you see a backend out in just before the driver hits a wall...so isn't the skill preventing this anyway and catching the car before it goes?

[Tam Lin]

blue 4.5 said:

surely getting the backout intentionally on public roads is a bit dangerous..

In my view, a balanced slide gives you as much control of the car as when going round a corner with no slide.

It's not the quickest way of going round corners, which is why you see it in races only in extremis, but it's a very good way of sensing available grip levels. 2WD rally cars do it all the time, and road driving has a lot more to do with rallying technique, and a lot less with racing technique: i.e. in both, when it's safe to do so out of a corner, you want to be able to accelerate as soon as possible to make progress. But using racing technique on a public road, i.e. no slide but clipping apexes (with oncoming traffic!) really is dangerous, in my opinion.

[blue 4.5]

Well, just think we will have to agree to disagree Just in this scenario, sliding out of a roundabout, a dog or child runs out, I would rather have the chance to brake and swerve rather than appyling more or less power to hold the slide in the prefered direction.

>> Edited by blue 4.5 on Tuesday 16th August 11:18

[cirvy]

I was under the impression that the Cerb is far from a readily slideable car, all due to the Hydratrak diff apparently which isn't really designed to cater for it, am i right?

I must admit, in 3 years of my Cerb ( & about 2 dozen track days,) i've never ever had it sideways, am i missing something?

[SlvrCrb]

cirvy said:

I was under the impression that the Cerb is far from a readily slideable car, all due to the Hydratrak diff apparently which isn't really designed to cater for it, am i right? I must admit, in 3 years of my Cerb ( & about 2 dozen track days,) i've never ever had it sideways, am i missing something?

hydratrack was only on the 4.5's. hence why i got a 4.2

[shadowninja]

cirvy said:

I was under the impression that the Cerb is far from a readily slideable car, all due to the Hydratrak diff apparently which isn't really designed to cater for it, am i right? I must admit, in 3 years of my Cerb ( & about 2 dozen track days,) i've never ever had it sideways, am i missing something?

not trying hard enough!

[gazzab]

I dont understand how you can avoid the back stepping out. eg when coming off a roundabout this am I gave it a very little bit of revs and the back stepped out slightly. I would argue it is hard to avoid a bit of back out and that it is good to practice (in safe envmt) so that you can deal with it when it happens for real.

[TooTall Paul]

cirvy said:

I was under the impression that the Cerb is far from a readily slideable car, all due to the Hydratrak diff apparently which isn't really designed to cater for it, am i right? I must admit, in 3 years of my Cerb ( & about 2 dozen track days,) i've never ever had it sideways, am i missing something?

YOUR GOING TOO FAST !!

[UKbob]

So the SPD 6 didnt have the hydrotractor thingy either?

What exactly does it do, apportion grip like traction control would, to the rear wheels?