what to expect with RWD
Discussion
is there anything i should be wary of when driving my first RWD car?
only ever driven FWD and AWD. i noticed the feeling of grip and plantedness when i moved from FWD to AWD pretty much on the first corner.
now i am moving to a 300 horsepower RWD car. obviously i am going to ease myself in since i don't want to wrap it round the first tree. my AWD was in the 300bhp range, but that felt like it was superglued to the road.
are there any do's and don't or any tips with RWD?
cheers.
only ever driven FWD and AWD. i noticed the feeling of grip and plantedness when i moved from FWD to AWD pretty much on the first corner.
now i am moving to a 300 horsepower RWD car. obviously i am going to ease myself in since i don't want to wrap it round the first tree. my AWD was in the 300bhp range, but that felt like it was superglued to the road.
are there any do's and don't or any tips with RWD?
cheers.
you'll need to play with it a bit in a safe area to find the level of grip that you can expect in various situations.
The big no-no for me is: do NOT prod the throttle in a fast corner, you WILL spin it.
Also remember that under steer will (usually) be more pronounced when pushing through a corner.
Positives: DONUTS & Drifts!
What are you getting BTW?
The big no-no for me is: do NOT prod the throttle in a fast corner, you WILL spin it.
Also remember that under steer will (usually) be more pronounced when pushing through a corner.
Positives: DONUTS & Drifts!
What are you getting BTW?
Edited by Flat-6 on Thursday 25th May 13:30
rubez said:
are there any do's and don't or any tips with RWD?
cheers.
All really depends on the car in question and the conditions of the road/environment.cheers.
I've always told people to just keep two words in their mind when driving RWD, those being "smooth" and "anticipate".
Smooth - smooth application of the throttle and steering.
Anticipate - anticipate the rear to want to slide (or move about relative to the front).
If you anticipate the rear to want to turn then you won't over-react on the steering when it happens.
If you're smooth then you can approach the fun levels of RWD by knowing how much steering or throttle is causing the response.
You'll be fine. If it's FE/RWD then the first thing you'll notice is balance - I've had passengers notice that immediately in my car, so as a driver unless you have fists of ham you'll notice straight away. The second thing you'll probably notice is the uncorrupted steering, and then the fact that traction increases the more you accelerate, rather than decreases. The only real thing to be wary of is the throttle in the wet through corners if your car has lots of power and not much weight over the driven wheels. Most road cars are set up very conservatively, so you really would need to have quite a powerful car to need to be wary of that.
Do a track day. Great way to push and find the limits somewhere that there are large run off areas etc. I did one in my XKR about 18 months ago, far more confident in the car after that.
Possibly better yet, find a track that offers tuition that you do in your own car. I did that at Knockhill in my last car.
Possibly better yet, find a track that offers tuition that you do in your own car. I did that at Knockhill in my last car.
rubez said:
it's an auto, so maybe that is relevant... couldn't find a manual, but did some research on this ZF box and it seems like one of the better ones (chris harris give it an imaginary component of the year award!)
it is a 135i.
ZF boxes are excellent, my XKR has one. It won't change gear while you're cornering reasonably hard to avoid unsettling the rear, I guess that's a ZF thing rather than just a Jaguar thing.it is a 135i.
yeah i seen the ZF box was put in one of those big luxury porsche's and was set up to be really smooth.
i'm sure i seen on here recently that BMW are ditching DCT are going back to this kind of auto box.
D moves up through the gears quickly for fuel consumption.
S will hold on to the revs if you are giving it the beans
M mode you can choose your gear with the paddles... which i fully intend on exploring! (not right away probably though)
there's an alpina flash you can do which make the ZF box as instantaneous as DCT (supposedly) but chris harris says it's plenty quick already.
i'm sure i seen on here recently that BMW are ditching DCT are going back to this kind of auto box.
D moves up through the gears quickly for fuel consumption.
S will hold on to the revs if you are giving it the beans
M mode you can choose your gear with the paddles... which i fully intend on exploring! (not right away probably though)
there's an alpina flash you can do which make the ZF box as instantaneous as DCT (supposedly) but chris harris says it's plenty quick already.
Edited by rubez on Thursday 25th May 13:50
The M135i is plenty quick enough without having any after market "stuff" added to the mix. Take your time to learn about the car and how it reacts to input from the throttle pedal (large car parks early on a Sunday morning are good for this) and how you can balance that with steering input. You'll end up having great fun in an excellent car package.
Also remember that if your brain starts to provide some fear inputs when you are driving the car slow down as it generally knows when an accident can happen long before you do
Also remember that if your brain starts to provide some fear inputs when you are driving the car slow down as it generally knows when an accident can happen long before you do
With a modern car it would take some driving to unstick it just be smooth with your inputs. My Jag had a ZF box and stepped out once when I was a plank and the DSG gather it up much faster than I could. The Skyline doesn't have any of that but is much more predictable when it breaks away so just do what has been said already (countersteer etc).
If you are still worried then how about a drifting control day, Thruxton do one that focus' on the control when things go sideways. Just remember that it will not make you the next drift king.
If you are still worried then how about a drifting control day, Thruxton do one that focus' on the control when things go sideways. Just remember that it will not make you the next drift king.
james_gt3rs said:
Mr2Mike said:
I recently started driving a RWD Brabus* after being used to FWD hatchbacks for many years and it takes some getting used to. The worst thing is the horrendous understeer.
* Smart ForTwo
* Smart ForTwo
Definitely the worst car I have ever driven.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff