Kenshin

So I was driving down a local road which has 2 lanes. One lane is being blocked of by a FEDEX truck and the other lane has a ricer in it (might have been a civic, the usual, box body kit with shaved door handles and a paint job that looks like it was done with 99 cents spray cans). I speed up to pass him since he is driving like a grandmother, he hears me speed up to pass and he slams the accelerator and blocks me out of the pass. I didnt have enough time to pass him, but there was enough space to wedge between the fedex truck and between the two lanes. I got so ____ed off at his a$$ for being such a dick that I slam the accelerator and cut him off BAD, by bad I mean that it must have been inches from his POS car. I did this out of pure anger, well when I cut him off like that, I was still accelerating like 40+mph, basically the cars rear end kept on swerving even after I had the nose facing the direction i wanted it to, I yanked the steering wheel to the right and the back end swerves the opposite way, I yank it to the left just enough to get it straightened out. I was scared ____less and my hear pounding cause it has never done that. If I wasnt so quick on my actions I could have spun out easy. I know it was dumb of me to do it but hte testostorone got me pumping and it was my first reaction, I am usualy a very curtious driver, but when it comes to these fu(king ricers, it just gets me so mad.

Anyways, Has anyone had this happen to them? My old 91 eclipse gst never did anything like this, I used to corner that car like nothing, and I had stock suspension, and just a set of some sticky z rated tires.

Could the suspension be so crappy on the tC? Could the stock POS potenzas suck so much? Well, Im glad ntohing happened but just warning you guys out there who drive pretty aggresive, that this could happen to you if you yank the wheel to fast.

pchavez

Those RE-92 Potenzas do suck but in this case I would say it was driver error. Jerky moves, bad timing, not paying attention. Even race car drivers with super sticky tires and amazing cars don't do that!

THE_DON

I call driver error...

It sounds about how any FWD econo car would react in that situation. Besides, would you really upgrade your suspension and tires so you could go do this again? It was just a bad move, and you got it under control without a major spinout.

-THE DON

Hudnut

ya, as with ANY car, yanking they wheel from left to right will not yield good results. Look for an auto X event to practice some driving skills. It's a great place to learn the safe limits of your car.

Kenshin

I got my first lesson in drifting from this!!

hehe, but seriously I need to practice safely driving my car at the limit.

aarontrini85

i have never had a problem like this and i used to do some stuiped stuff in my tc lol but then again i never drove a tc on a completly stock suspesion i had my coils put in before i got my car

sensay

this has happend to me in the past when my suspension and tires were stock, it would happen when accelerating hard then braking hard right when going into a corner. the car would just start wobbling and i would start ____in my pants, i have almost lost the car 2wice because of this. but eversince i got the new springs, shocks and tires this whole wobble thing became a problem of the past. it still has happend once since then but that was at Extreme driveing conditions.

engifineer

The suspension is fine on the tC.. I can handle it perfect. Your "yanking" the wheel each way is the issue. On any car you handle the wheel carefully, smooth calculated movements, not "yanking" motions. On a curve through an industrial park (pretty much deserted) I found out just how well it does. Coming up on the turn, the one other car around was right behind me... by right behind me I mean so close he was nearly touching me. Some jerkoff in an audi sedan (who apparently thought that the audi symbol automatically meant it handles like a TT) was trying to "push" me or race me I guess... so I hit the 90 degree curve at 60 in 4th and accellerated hard through it, leaving at a little over 65. I glanced in my rear view to see him sideways in the middle of the turn.. he almost spun completely out. And before mom figures come in to flame me... there is nowhere to go but a grass lot, the visibility is high, and there is no other traffic, so dont start. It was a good time to teach an idiot a lesson. But, the point is that the tC handles great. Granted, i have TRD springs, but even before I had no issues with it at all. Stop "yanking" the wheel.. that is never a good thing.

engifineer

I am not bashing on anyone here just trying to help...

I have heard some scary things from people here so

1) NEVER jerk the wheel when driving fast.. it is all about smoothness
2) NEVER NEVER NEVER brake in a hard turn. If you drive right, your braking always happens in a straight line. You accelerate through a turn. If you are braking, you already messed up.

pchavez

Preach it.

aarontrini85

i made this mistake once cost me a rim and a tie rod i didnt notice the ground was recently paved though but i still had to hit the breakes in the turn and i knew i was skrewed then lol


i have learened though if i dont fell confodint enoght to stop on the gas in the trun then dont take it at that speed

The_Instigator

Maybe you had an aero loose situation like in NASCAR. His big body kit was displacing a lot of air and took away all of your rear downforce. Or not

Dat_Dude

IMO, both of you acted foolishly. I understand that the ricer was a dick. However, the way you handled the situation could have cost you and/or your car. Next time, just get in front of him and slow waayy down. Then accelerate when he does. I call that deductive logic... treat others the way they treat you.

komik

Kenshin, if you want to learn the limits of your car and how to better control it in extreme circumstances, there's only one way... AutoCross!
http://floridaregionscca.com/solo.htm
Also, the stock tires suck big time.

engifineer

Datdude: I dont feel the same in my situation
I have taken that turn many times, it is where I try out the limits of my car in a controlled manner. About the worst that can happen there is I ruin some grass and maybe a rim or two... but I can buy new rims and am willing to take that responsibility. I also knew I was no where near pushing my car past its limits.. as I said I have taken this turn many times progressively faster just for the purpose of knowing how my car handles. I can take that turn at 60 all day long without even worrying about a small skid.

As far as the other driver.. he was a 40 something businessman (dressed that way at least) ready to show off his more "prestigious" audi I am guessing. He pulled out behind me and started running about 12 inches from my bumper, even when I sped up. I dont street race and I mod my car with clean looking items, not anything that would make him think I WAS a street racer. So IMO, if he wants to be an a$$, and ends up wrecking his car because he followed me blindly into a corner.. then he deserved every bit of it. He is more lucky that I didnt get out at the next stop sign and jerk him out of his ride for riding that close to me, which was the most tempting thing to do. I have no tolerance for a$$holes

Brent_23M

get the rear sway bar.

engifineer

It would have hurt him in this case. A stiffer rear sway in relation to the front reduces understeer and promotes oversteer. Now, that is a good thing normally as oversteer is easier to control, but if someone normally drives like that (jerking the wheel, braking in corners, etc) it will only worsen the situation.

yesti

hmm, did you by any chance let off the throttle after you cut him off? when you 'had the nose facing the direction [you] wanted it'? or were you accelerating the entire time? if you did lift at all, then that explains it. the weight shift in our cars is a lot more than the average FWD econobox or eclipse.

yesti

i get so ____ed off when people say 'get the rear sway bar'...do you even know what the rear sway bar DOES?!?!? he almost spun out...read OVERSTEER. what does the REAR SWAY BAR DO?!?!?! induce MORE OVERSTEER!!!!!! not to mention the fact that it also reduces total grip (which is why it induces more oversteer) with already crappy tires!!!

i would have to say UNDERSTEER is 'traditionally' easier to control. just slow down, which is the instinctual reaction since the reason why you are in this situation is because you were GOING TO FAST for the circumstances. but lifting/braking at the limit in the tC may lead to oversteer which the 'average' driver may or may not know how to deal with.

so PLEASE STOP saying 'get the rear sway bar' to everyone that almost loses it. Sorry WaldorfScion (very irresponsible post for a DEALER i might add!!!), this is not aimed only at you, but to the other posts I have read where the 'magic' sway bar would've solved their problem and they could still drive WRONG and feel like they can get away with it.

engifineer

^^ Good points about sway. However I do disagree with understeer being easier to control. Once you begin pushing there is little you can do since your front end is loose. In an oversteer situation you are actually still pointing into the turn (rather than out) and have the throttle and front end to work with, so even though you are sliding, you are sitiuated at a better angle in relation to the turn.

But, I grew up driving rwd on dirt roads.. so I am pretty good at controlling oversteer.. hell, I can parallel park using my ebrake in the snow without hitting a curb if I want after all the stupid dirt road driving I did when I was 16 - 19 So it depends on your experience. I would say that for anyone used to aggressive driving or driving a RWD, oversteer is much more desireable... but if not, at least with more understeer you will be facing forward when you hit the ditch

But I am totally with you on the "magic" sway. Many seem to not know how the two sways work together and the effects of changing each.