Skid control

[obi_waynne]

I was just wondering how confident we are of keeping control of a car in the wet or icy conditions.

Question 1:
Do you think you can keep control of a car in a skid situation and do you understand the principle of countersteering?

Question 2:
Have you ever experienced a skid in the car, was it on ICE or wet roads?

Please answer both questions and feel free to add your further comments.

 

[Izo Azlion]

I know the basics of skid control - how the weight shifts, how you're supposed to get out of it, etc. However when it actually happened in my Civic, rather unexpectedly too, all the knowledge fell out of my head. I let off the gas, weight went forward after I'd countersteered, and there I was facing the bush on the left side of the road.

I intend to go on a course soon tbh, i think it'd be fun more than anything but its finding time and spare cash.

Nice idea for a topic

 

[Cisco26uk]

Had it in the capri in wet conditions, going around a small round about back stepped right out with no warning I managed to catch and control it but then noticed the police car that was waiting to come on the round about aswell. Yes officer no officer D'oh lol

 

[Massive]

i think i could now after a bad experience, of turning away from the skid too early then getting traction suddenly, and hitting not one railing but two right in the centre of them both and in conclusion writing off my second car, this was in a wet condtion, i kinda did a 180 into them

dont really understand it all but if i go into a skid again ill turn into it

 

[Cisco26uk]

Here is a link
http://www.graham-sykes.co.uk/skidcontrol.html

 

[Shao]

back end stepped out on a sandy coast road in my escort Si coming off a roundabout, countersteered it twice which rectifyed it and after a double wag of the tail :embarrest:

 

[HDi fun]

Once you know how to provoke a skid, slide, whatever, you'll know what to do to recover from one. You'll also know what not to do in order to mitigate against it in the first place.

There are so many different types of traction loss, and so many different causes that it's impossible to analyse in the space available.

 

[sbtUK]

I'd say I was OK at controlling a skid. I'm quite a new driver, but when it snowed a few months back I went out at midnight and found an empty car park to have a bit of practice in. After quite a bit of practice I was able to countersteer out of a skid... That doesn't mean I'll be able to do it on the road when it takes me by suprise, but I'll have a better chance than I would have done otherwise

 

[obi_waynne]

I must say I'm actually impressed by your answers. The average motorist was asked these 2 same questions and most responded as follows.

Yes I can control a car in a skid.
NO I have never had a skid in a car.

This begs the obvious question, if you've never had a skid how do you know and how can you develop the skills to stop one!

I note that most of us are actually rather cautious when it comes to admitting we can control a car in a skid. In reality if you hit ICE you have little chance even if you are a seasoned rally driver!

HDi is right - you cannot learn skid control from a text book. You need to develop a feel for the car. This is something that comes through experience and practice.

The biggest danger as SBTUK says is when it catches you by surprise.

I cannot stress or recommend enough a skid training course. As well as being great fun could easily save your life. I reckon that basic skid training should be part of the driving test.

Do you agree?

 

[Shao]

agreed

 

[Izo Azlion]

Very much so agreed.

I wish I had, tbh, I'd have enjoyed it

 

[HDi fun]

The only problem with such training is that it's not enough just to train and receive a certificate of arbitrary competence.

What really needs to happen is continuous practise to refine the art of slide control and to keep your skill honed.

 

[DaveyL]

I have to say I reckon I have an above average chance of recovering from a skid. I dunno if it's just the term though but I haven't a clue what countersteering is.

When you say skid I guess your talking about oversteer skids. Understeer skids used to be an every day occurance. I've lost the backend once, (I've only ever driven a FWD car) and I have no idea what I did but I corrected it. Doing 70 between two big walls so good job really. I am looking to go on a skid course though.

Dave

 

[Prince]

You can't say whether you can actually control a skid or not unless you've actually experienced it. Everyone of us can sit here talking about counter steer. It's happened to me once..but I didn't think 'oh s**t counter steer, counter steer!'. I just acted and then everything was ok.

 

[HDi fun]

To DaveyL - for clarity, please define the average chance of recovering from a skid.

 

[DaveyL]

To DaveyL - for clarity, please define the average chance of recovering from a skid.

did you have to pick up on that. Of course, there is the saying that according to drivers, everyone is above average as no one will admit they are bad. But if you look at average John Doe, i'm not sure he would always know what to do in a skid. I find I know generally what to do, although would like to do a skid course.

And whats countersteering? Is that steering into the skid?

Dave

 

[HDi fun]

Countersteering is the technique you'd generally use if the car is oversteering ie. the rear end is starting to ovecome the tyres' lateral grip, causing the front to turn in more tightly.

Basically, in this situation you'd unlock the steering slightly to maintain your chosen cornering radius; although there's a hundred million other things that apply as well.

Suddenly releasing the accelerator in this situation can send the car into a full spin, always modulate steering and pedal inputs gently. This is especailly important with a FWD car. FWD generally exhibits understeer when the limits are approached but if you do encounter oversteer you have to be very sympathetic with the controls. The Peugeot 205 GTi's were prone to lift off oversteer - the 1.9 was renowned for its tail wagging ability.

Yet other cars from the same era could be cornered so hard that an inside rear wheel would leave the ground with seemingly no effect upon cornering balance!!

The Golf GTi MkII was good at this.

 

[DaveyL]

Yeah, my mini will cock a leg when you ride her hard... Cheers for clearing it up, I know what it is, I just never heard the term before. I wouldn't mind finding out what i'd do, but like I said, only been in that situ once so in the future, who knows...

Dave

 

[HDi fun]

Some training can be useful. I'll reiterate what I said before, it's practise and rehearsal that makes things more intuitive. Unfortunately for all of us, we can't go around provoking the car into stability compromised situations in the interest of practise.

If you fancy a taste of the silly stuff try Ridedrive - http://www.ridedrive.co.uk

 

[Neon1000]

hello all sorry i have been off for a while but this is the answer in this question funny enough

the answer to question 1 is yes i undersand the theory of controlling and balancing the car through a skid broardside however when theory meats real life situation its a bit different to what is on the playstation

On friday i completly writtem my ibiza off from a 70mph Crash broardsided and a fishtail sent me into a tree.

would post some piks but it dont work for me (if n e one wants me to send it to them and then they can put it on it would be great)

the answer to 2 is yes
and it hurt lol


the only place for broardsiding your car is unfortunatly track days not on the open road (my opinion anyway) whats everyone else think?

 

[Neon1000]

hello all sorry i have been off for a while but this is the answer in this question funny enough

the answer to question 1 is yes i undersand the theory of controlling and balancing the car through a skid broardside however when theory meats real life situation its a bit different to what is on the playstation

On friday i completly writtem my ibiza off from a 70mph Crash broardsided and a fishtail sent me into a tree.

would post some piks but it dont work for me (if n e one wants me to send it to them and then they can put it on it would be great)

the answer to 2 is yes
and it hurt lol


the only place for broardsiding your car is unfortunatly track days not on the open road (my opinion anyway) whats everyone else think?

 

[HDi fun]

Ooops - are you OK?

Rgds,

Paul.

 

[obi_waynne]

If you email the pics to webmaster(at)torquecars.com i'll post them up for you. If they are big >2mb then send them through 1 at a time.

Hope you are ok - it really shakes you up a bit. How long do you reckon you'll be without wheels?

 

[Neon1000]

well the good news is i am ok few scrapes but im ok


and the new wheels have come

a clio sport (just the 1.2 version 16v) quick enough for me for the time being

but i hope soon as the money comes in i will change to a bigger car
or an engine transfere into this one (2l ) from the propper sport

ill send them pictures soon

miss my ibiza