Losing control of rear end of RWD car in rain

[Wolf359]

My 370z abs screwed me once. Hydroplane at 65. Front got loose, wo I got off the throttle. It didn't settle so I ever so slightly apply the brakes...abs freaked and popped them and the car instantly swapped ends, and continued down the freeway for a quarter mile in reverse. I stabbed the clutch and sat back and rode it out. No harm no foul, luckily. Was trying to gently shift weight forward and settle with some bite. E nanny got me.

Well the OP hasn't been on in 16.5+ years, but maybe he'll come back and check on his post one day. It's like the guy in the Hitchhiker's guide, went to lunch one day and never came back and has the record for the longest lunch break.

We've got to keep track of who has the oldest necrothread. It's only a matter of time...

 

[Lyman]

Jan 1, 2006 Really!

 

[ZeeOSix]

We've got to keep track of who has the oldest necrothread. It's only a matter of time...

Easy enough to go find the very first post ever done on BITOG and bring it back to life.

 

[SSerian]

Well the OP hasn't been on in 16.5+ years, but maybe he'll come back and check on his post one day. It's like the guy in the Hitchhiker's guide, went to lunch one day and never came back and has the record for the longest lunch break.

We've got to keep track of who has the oldest necrothread. It's only a matter of time...

Haha. I saw the thread title and felt compelled to post a reply. I think this thread appeared after a search I performed for something nonrelated. It wasn’t until someone pointed out the date of the original post that I noticed.

 

[Wolf359]

Easy enough to go find the very first post ever done on BITOG and bring it back to life.

Well I guess you know what to do.

 

[manicrodder]

I have instructed driving clinics for rallycross and other events. Think of skids this way. When the rear end steps out, it’s the back of the car trying to outrun the front of the car.

Skid in RWD car
let off gas, steer in the direction of the skid like the drift cars. Do not hit brakes! By hitting the brakes, you slow the front tires (most cars are front bias) and exacerbate the problem.

Skid in FWD car
Give more acceleration/ gas. By inputting more throttle you engage the drive wheels (front) to “pull” the front of the car back in line. Again, do not hit brakes! It makes the problem worse and you risk loosing traction to the front wheels all together.

Skid in AWD car
WE’re ALL GUNNA DIEEEEIIEEEEEE!!!!!
Hope and pray.

Seriously though, floor it. Let the AWD system pull you out of the skid. That’s what it is there for. If you let off the gas or hit the brakes, the front end will “plow” or lose traction. Your best option is to floor it.

I had a Wrx that I rallycrossed. Going into corners I would let off the gas to set the car, throw the wheel into the corner and transfer the weight to the outside tires initiating a mild skid on purpose only to floor the throttle and catch the car as it started to slide. This method resulted in better cornering ability with its setup. It had a tendency to push in corners and plow the front end. I countered this by flinging the car into curves.

RWD as you say or steer where you want to go.

 

[idahopotato]

with rwd you take your foot off the gas and focus on regaining directional control.

 

[Skippy722]

Oversteer scares your passengers, understeer scares the driver.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Learned how to drive in the snow & ice at 16, and power slide my big pig 65 Ford Galaxy around corners all day long like a moon shine hauler.

 

[vavavroom]

With oversteer, if you lose control, you have one advantage: you probably won't see what you are going to hit. ;-)

 

[SSerian]

Oversteer scares your passengers, understeer scares the driver.

Understeer scares the corner workers too.

 

[Andrew1972]

You overpowered the car/tires for the conditions.

Drive easier in rain or get something with decent stability control to compensate.

 

[Jetronic]

My 370z abs screwed me once. Hydroplane at 65. Front got loose, wo I got off the throttle. It didn't settle so I ever so slightly apply the brakes...abs freaked and popped them and the car instantly swapped ends, and continued down the freeway for a quarter mile in reverse. I stabbed the clutch and sat back and rode it out. No harm no foul, luckily. Was trying to gently shift weight forward and settle with some bite. E nanny got me.

I think you screwed yourself when touching the brakes. Abs can keep the floating tyres from locking up, but it can't alleviate the brake couple if one side of the car is aquaplaning and the other side has grip. There's as much friction as you have on ice when you're aquaplaning.

 

[mightymousetech]

with rwd you take your foot off the gas and focus on regaining directional control.

Never lift.

 

[Wylie6G72]

Completely releasing the throttle in a manual-transmission car can make things worse, unless you have presence of mind to also yank it out of gear, or depress the clutch. Engine braking on the rear wheels is not what you want if those wheels have already lost traction. It can really screw you up in a FWD car too. Driving on ice in Wyoming for 17 years taught me this about M/T cars after a couple of visits to the ditch. Give the wheels every opportunity to turn freely so the tires can re-gain their grip. Avoid the brakes if you see any chance of recovering from the skid. Hit them if you're too far gone. Might as well scrub off some speed if you're going to introduce your door to a pole.

 

[AutoMechanic]

More old threads again lol

 

[4WD]

Yesterday I ran the Rubicon through mud, sand, and saltwater … drove home in the dark so covered with bugs …
Tired, dirty & hungry … will clean it tomorrow attitude prevailed …

Step out this morning and see dark clouds in the distance … 20 minutes at 60 mph in the rain and clean under/over … the BFG KO2’s are good in the rain too …

 

[nitehawk]

Learned how to drive in the snow & ice at 16, and power slide my big pig 65 Ford Galaxy around corners all day long like a moon shine hauler.

Up north that's how we learn , back roads or an empty parking lot.
I had a 65 Galaxy too with the 352 engine . Put a lot of miles on that car

 

[BusyLittleShop]

I recall two lost of controls in the dry... in the wet I enjoy playing with traction limits but not with the War Dept. on board...

Highway 20
In our Camaro I lost the rear in the bendy bits and spun a 360 before
coming to a bone jarring halt as the right rear wheel went over the
side of the cliff and the body bottomed out in a crunch... oh drat we
were was stranded in the middle of California forest 20 miles from the
coast but I got lucky when a guy in a pick up truck stopped with a toe
chain and pull my a s s back on the perverted highway... the War
Dept.(wife) has never forgotten or forgave my error in corner speed...

Chevy Dealership
Boy was my face red when I test hopped SS Camaro with a LT5 at our
local dealership and I didn't make it around the block before spinning
360s and end up going up hill backwards... Mercy!!! how did I know the kid
doing the detailing had Amoral not only the side of the tread but the
tread itself???