Would head-on collision stats ....
Discussion
.... for Griffs confirm a tendency to spin to the right when the back end goes? Or is it just me.
Each time I have lost the back end, when accelerating when driving straight ahead, due to, firstly, wet; then wet & grease and, as today near Llangollen, ice; the car's rear end comes sharply to the left. Mercifully, there has been noone coming towards me at the same time as, on each occasion, the car has crossed the white line, or centre of the road. Backing off and counter steering works each time. But it's a wee bit :rectal muscle spasm icon: , to say the least.
Is this twitch to the right something about the design of the car? The way the diff genrates power to the wheels, with the right wheel getting the torque a split second before the left? If all things were equal, with cambers on most roads, surely the twist would be to the left if the car is going straight ahead when the wiggle sets in,? Bluey pulls slightly to the left on most roads anyway, as I think the tracking is slightly out, as confirmed by the uneven wear I have noticed since purchase. Do I pull to the right when the skid sets in cos I am always slightly turning the wheel to the right all the time, however minimally, to counter the off-set tracking? I follow the rules i.e. both hands on the wheel, in gear, straight line. At least it's predictable, or at least, I am well prepared for it now.
Any ideas would be most welcomed.
Oh, and the view from Horsehoe pass was gorgeous
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"Football is played with the Heart and the Brain" Rafael Benitez
Each time I have lost the back end, when accelerating when driving straight ahead, due to, firstly, wet; then wet & grease and, as today near Llangollen, ice; the car's rear end comes sharply to the left. Mercifully, there has been noone coming towards me at the same time as, on each occasion, the car has crossed the white line, or centre of the road. Backing off and counter steering works each time. But it's a wee bit :rectal muscle spasm icon: , to say the least.
Is this twitch to the right something about the design of the car? The way the diff genrates power to the wheels, with the right wheel getting the torque a split second before the left? If all things were equal, with cambers on most roads, surely the twist would be to the left if the car is going straight ahead when the wiggle sets in,? Bluey pulls slightly to the left on most roads anyway, as I think the tracking is slightly out, as confirmed by the uneven wear I have noticed since purchase. Do I pull to the right when the skid sets in cos I am always slightly turning the wheel to the right all the time, however minimally, to counter the off-set tracking? I follow the rules i.e. both hands on the wheel, in gear, straight line. At least it's predictable, or at least, I am well prepared for it now.
Any ideas would be most welcomed.
Oh, and the view from Horsehoe pass was gorgeous
________________________________________________________________
"Football is played with the Heart and the Brain" Rafael Benitez
...BMW backed of though 
shadowfax said:
Each time I have lost the back end, when accelerating when driving straight ahead, due to, firstly, wet; then wet & grease and, as today near Llangollen, ice; the car's rear end comes sharply to the left.
Surely each time you lose the back end, especially when accelerating, it is due to too much throttle for the road conditions, rather than wet, oil or ice
Strangely enough, whenever I step the back end out on my Griff, it nearly always goes to the right, so the front is pointing towards the kerb.
I must say that each time it has happened so far, it has been a deliberate act, so therefore, much easier to control, if it's expected. I don't enjoy suddenly finding myself out of control, so tend to alter my driving to suit road and weather conditions.
I'll freely admit that I haven't got much confidence in the Griff's ability to maintain traction under anything but warm, dry conditions. From my, albeit limited, experience with it so far, its behaviour has done little to make me think otherwise. Any sign of cold or dampness has me driving with the imaginary egg under my right foot
That's not neccessarily saying that the Griff has to be driven at a snails pace throughout the winter, just that it doesn't need a lot of poking (with the right foot) to provoke it to reveal its slithery characteristics
Smooth continuous acceleration, rather than hard bursts of power seem to be the way forward (pun intended) this time of year
"Smooth continuous acceleration, rather than hard bursts " .... were the kinds of right foot wot I was applying, Geoff. I learned quickly what the other sort of driving can do.
Just wondered what other peoples' cars did at that critical point. So, we have two whose Griff's bottoms twitch right, and mine, whose goes left.
Any more?
Just wondered what other peoples' cars did at that critical point. So, we have two whose Griff's bottoms twitch right, and mine, whose goes left.
Any more?
surely it's going to be down to the various forces acting in each individual situation caused byy things like weight distribution and suspension etc. Also, tho you may be travelling in a broadly straight line, your probably making imperceptable steering adjustments pretty much constantly. Oh, and what about the state of each of your tyres and their respective tempteratures......so many variables
shadowfax said:
"Smooth continuous acceleration, rather than hard bursts " .... were the kinds of right foot wot I was applying, Geoff. I learned quickly what the other sort of driving can do.
Worryingly, Jim, if you've
shadofax said:unexpectedly and
lost the back end whilst accelerating
shadowfax said:I fear that you've still got some learning to do!
Mercifully, there has been noone coming towards me at the same time as, on each occasion, the car has crossed the white line, or centre of the road.
Cars don't suddenly go out of control when they get on water, grease or ice. Cars go out of control when the speed, or power applied, is inappropriate for the road conditions.
There's nothing inherently wrong with having the back step out on a car. It can be fun.
What is wrong is when it does it, and you're not expecting it
Don't take this post the wrong way Jim.
I'm not trying to have a dig at you.
What I am doing is trying to prevent reading a new thread titled "Crashed the Griff
" with shadowfax as the author. Have fun, but for f
ucks sake be careful Course, these things have been considered. But the missus was in the car when it happened on sunday, and not on either other occasion. I just wondered why the car breaks away consistently in the same manner, no matter what other differentials exist, when applying progressive acceleration, in third, both hands on the wheel, straight line.
I will see what happens when all four tyres are changed and the tracking checked/reset. Shocks seem ok, at least as OK as they can be when I aint compelled to spend over a grand on summat else apart from the impending dental treatment. Darned greedy so'n sos
I will see what happens when all four tyres are changed and the tracking checked/reset. Shocks seem ok, at least as OK as they can be when I aint compelled to spend over a grand on summat else apart from the impending dental treatment. Darned greedy so'n sos
In principle the car should accelerate in a straight line. Road camber would tend to make the back end drift left when the wheels are spinning, but on a dead flat sueface it should run more or less straight. In practice the center of gravity is not exactly on the center line and the corner weights are not exactly even so it will have a slight preference to pull one way rather than the other - but only slight. If it is very pronounced then perhaps the corner weights are out, or the geometry, or the tyre pressures etc.
Make that 4R - 1L
Mine steps out to the right whenever i let it lose traction, although my previous Griff would tend to keep a straight line.
I have recently had the shocks replaced and car corner weighted and it still favours the right.
I was figuring it must be me but apparently not it seems.
Mine steps out to the right whenever i let it lose traction, although my previous Griff would tend to keep a straight line.
I have recently had the shocks replaced and car corner weighted and it still favours the right.
I was figuring it must be me but apparently not it seems.
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