TaviaRS

<aside> Shell, you coming to Bedford? </aside>

Little Miss WRX

<Trying not to hi-jack thread with stupid question>
When is it? Put a post up in muppets FAO me
</Trying not to hi-jack thread with stupid question but failing miserably>

Gastro

Then we wonder why insurance is expensive for Subaru's
That was a close one ! - 4WD definately doesnt mean invincibility...

Gastro

TaviaRS

IIRC, 4wd gives incresed traction, not grip. Isn't grip a function of the tyres (OK, I'm oversimplifying it)?

Fat Boy

Amanda J

Not flaming him and definitely not accusing Kenny (strange I had always imagined a Saxoboy to be called Dwayne or something like that ). I enjoy his posts- he comes across as a good bloke, and it was very honest of him to come on here like this.

But feeling comfortable that someone is a good driver is all well and good, but it's not the same as knowing they are. One session with a Don Palmer / John Lyons etc does not teach us everything but believe me, it's an eye opener. You could always go along too.

Cheers

John

TaviaRS

& did you find it useful?

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

yo fatboy i sent u an email re the gainward card, cheers

Amanda-Jane

Yes, I could go on and on about it. Still 13 years later and I still remember what I was told and how to handle certain situations.

Even my parents agree that it was a good idea as they knew what I would be like behind the wheel of a car. A complete girl racer and nuisence to society with the ice

I always recommend doing some kind of driver training.

Amanda

TaviaRS

Thanks for that Amanda.

We aren't having a go at Kenny, we are just trying to put across that training is a good idea, so thanks for helping out

marty_t3

Gotta admit to having a few incidents like SBs in the past. One difference though.... they were entirely my fault... nothing to do with the car, the fuel, the tyres etc. I didn't know the limits of the car.. i pushed a little too hard and lost it.

Plain fact.... You spun out because you didn't have enough grip to get you round the corner driving the way you were. You passed you're own limits and those of the tyres. Nothing to do with fuel starvation....

Glad you and car are intact though

Little Miss WRX

Agree entirely Amanda,

I also think that you can still learn something new every time you go. Every opportunity I have to go on a course I will take - now and in the future
You can never stop learning to drive and I just love it

TaviaRS

Have you started learning to drive then Chelle?

LG John

Cheers for the posts guys, flame and otherwise. I toyed long and hard about posting this and most people I talked to (including a no. of SN’s) said not to as I’ll get flamed.

The bottom line (sorry but I have to say this) is that I’ve now had the pleasure of meeting and driving with a large number of fellow netters and have been amazed at just how hard some (not all!!!) of them are willing to push it on the public road. If my post can make any of these peeps or others think twice then IMO its worth it.

For the record I’m 24 have been driving since I was 17 with no points and only a claim in my first year of driving for a 50/50 head on crash on a single track road. I’ve driven 100’s of thousands of miles in that time in all weather and road conditions with FWD, RWD and 4WD. Normally if I decide to drive fast I try to push it hard (obviously) but keep the car balanced and composed through the corners and don’t just rely on the 4WD traction on exit. In fact, I don’t find 4WD = invincible at all…I very often find it a hindrance, especially on the road I lost it on. I don’t think I’m an invincible driver and never have and I know I could always be taught new tricks but I’m defo not inexperienced or wreckless. Dare I say it but I’ve driven that same corner far faster in the VTS and the Scooby in the past without any problems whatsoever - things just went pear shaped this time and I’d say tyres and potentially fuelling had a lot to do with it.

Anybody that doesn’t believe me about fuel starvation need only push it round a roundabout with less then 1/4 of a tank and nail it on the way out!! Starvation wasn’t the cause but I believe that it and the tyres were big contributing factors as the car was perfectly balanced and then suddenly just let go (front end was fine). It’s not an excuse, I should have been under the car more regularly to check the wear on the inside of the rears. Who’s to say someone won’t read this thread and check their tyres tonight to find they are worse than they thought….I may get flamed but its worth it in the end and I know there will be a lot of peeps on here that have lost it or even crashed and wouldn’t have the ***** to tell their fellow netters.

I’m sure the people that know me will vouch for how much this incident has occupied my thoughts as I’ve ran through it in my head over and over. How many of you would just go down the pub and forget all about such an incident without ever learning from it?

For the people that asked: Yes I will drive the road again when I’ve got new rubber, more juice and geometry checked. It’ll take me a while to build up my confidence again but that’s better than hitting it hard as if I have something to prove!!

It’s a little late now but…..<flame suit on>

Amanda-Jane

Believe me, he has been thinking about it all the time!

Amanda x

Little Miss WRX

I have been driving for 6 years now, been on numerous skid courses, driver awareness, rally, circuit and road courses.

I still have loads to learn.

I used to think I was a great driver, now I know enough about driving to know that I know very little

SiPie

Well......

I was the one that was on at you to change your tyres for ages, but admittedly when I was out washing the car yesterday I gave an extra check to the inside edges of mine , so hopefully others may do the same as I've heard of so many similar scare stories when this has happened to people who were driving 'well' within their limits.

Seems to make them aqua-plane SO easily as well.......

hypoluxa

Have you had your geometry checked?

If your rear tyres are bald on the inside it usually means toe - out, which would lead the car into being tail happy, especially when trail braking.

dsmith

I (like many I suspect) "nail" it round and exiting roundabouts a lot ('cos its fun) I also have several very long fast sweeping left and right hand slip roads nearby. Cant say I have experienced any sudden losses of power at all (never mind attribute to fuel starvation). thats a MY95 btw.

I have lost it in a similair way to your description whilst following the RAC in wales a few years back - but thats 'cos I was going to fast (for the combination of my car,wheels,tyres and abilities) and it cost me a new alloy after contact with the curb on the far side of the road. No excuses. I was going too fast. I lost it. I escaped. I was thankful. I took it as a warning.

Deano

Eagle7

Saxoboy, I have read loads of your posts in the past and am glad you made this one, you never know who you might save by causing them to think twice before thrashing it, especially as winter approaches. Good to see you came out OK.

Chell, you mention some driver training. This is something I have wanted to do for ages, but haven't done yet and dont want to spend loads of money. Can you recommend anywhere in particular?

cheers

Little Miss WRX

I will have to ask my mum for the details, I always forget as soon as I get some off her, then I will mail you

Do you mind travelling?

LG John

Hopefully getting geometry sorted out soon as the car has never felt particularly settled - hence why I've never really pushed it like I did the VTS. I defo didn't take the corner too fast (well I did relative to my cars condition on the day) but not relative to the speeds it can normally be driven. The front end didn't even think of letting go and its usually the first to go.

The starvation is a theory but I was running full-boost + full throttle with lots of lateral G's on very low fuel for several seconds. I have an MY99 and can get this very easily if I was trying to prove it...which I won't cause it can't be good for the engine. Should I get it that easily?

I doubt the starvation caused what happened but I believe it may have prevented me from correcting it As I said, as soon as my *** feels the backend of a car going my reactions are ready and poised to dial in some opposite lock with some throttle.

Little Miss WRX

Karting is different

Tis the only fecking thing I need a booster seat for to reach the damn pedals

LG John

That alone makes it all worth while, cheers mate

I can't stress enough how important it is to regularly check your car! I knew the tyres were bad and had been taking it easy because of this but didn't know they were that bad....more fool me

Vate

Apologies Kenny for reading your post too quickly.
What speed were you travelling at?
I may have forced the point moreso because of the (wrongly) assumed speed but having re-read the post the basic gist I still stand by.
Basically on the public road in a lot of cases your own ability is not the prevailing factor in a major off/accident but the actions of other road users.

LG John

No bothers vate I was well into the guts of 3rd gear which on my car is 94.04mph at 7000rpm. On the basis of that I'd say maybe 75-80mph - difficult to tell. If you allowed for some drifting the corner can be taken at 90+ in the VTS and maybe even more in a well set up UK scooby with good rubber.

I certainly didn't feel I'd gone into or through the corner too fast but rather that something unexpected happened that I was unable to deal with.

P.S. Applying for name change to dwaine

Jeff Wiltshire

I don't want to comment on this incident directly, but like various other people who have posted in this thread I always cringe when someone says that they have nothing to learn. As you can see from one of the other threads in general I'm going on a High Performance course this week to learn more about road driving. This may seem odd to many people (normally younger people) on this bbs but I believe that continual development of your driving is essential and that this course will help me learn more about my driving and to unlearn all my bad habits.

I rode bikes (still do) from the age of 16 to 28 before passing my car test and I instructed on Bike Riding, did track days, competitive trials riding (badly!) and passed an exam equivilant to Police Class 1 rider. I still have lots to learn about bike riding......!

I've been driving cars for the last 14 years (you can work out how old I am from that) and I still have things to learn about car control.

Just my thoughts



Jeff

hypoluxa

I've had fuel surge on exiting right handers with usually about a 1/4 of a tank or less (more on track). If your convinced it wasn't driver error then it sounds plausable to me.

Scotsman

iTrader: (3)

Obviously very very glad you're in one piece Kenny.

I've been a passanger in a few cars that IMHO are going WAY to fast for public roads. It's not that they are putting themselves at risk (their choice) but they are putting others at risk.

Hope my wife isn't out driving anywhere near people who drive like this.

Richard.

EvilBevel

Kenny, thanks for totally ignoring the track day questions.

It does answer a few things for me though

LG John

Did I post that somewhere? If so it was unintentional as I learn new stuff all the time through trial and error, talking to other people, going to track days (passenger), being in the car with others, etc.

All I would say is that I feel if I was to start to learn advanced techniques that would give me the ability to take it right to the edge, I might start to want to try out my new skills on the public road. Personally, I'd rather just try and drive under my own limits and that of the car I'm driving.

I've experimented with left-foot braking on the road a few times and have seen how it can compose the car well through the bends and allow me to carry extra speed. I've also seen how a badly trained left foot (difficult to teach it to brake smoothly) can really upset the cars balance mid-bend and for this reason don't experiment with this on the road anymore. There is also no point in me learning super advanced techniques for track use only as my car is a daily driver and I know I'd spend a fortune if I took it on the track.

Anyone arguing that you should be left-foot braking, heel and toeing, etc on the public road is IMO pushing the car too far. Reading the road conditions ahead is far more valueable IMO