This morning coming to work turned out to be quite an adventure. There is a highway cloverleaf entrance lane that I like "push it" on when I come to work. The day was perfect with it being sunny and in the 50s. As I enter the turn, I notice a green Accord halfway thru the turn. I tell myself I can't take the turn too hard or I'll be up on this guys bumper in no time. I take the Max up to 40-45mph in the sweeper (usually going 50-55mph). As I approach the halfway mark, I notice the outside of the lane (drivers side) appears to be streaked and darker (oil!!), then all of a sudden the front feels like it's gonna plow. I let off the gas just a little (never hitting the brakes) and the next thing I know the rear end breaks loose and swings around so that I'm nearly sideways in the turn and heading towards the grass and dirt (going 35-40mph). I countersteer and slowly push the gas because I know if I brake, I'll spin completely around. Just as I'm about to go off the road, the rearend bites hard and the front end swings HARD to the left (still sliding on some oil). Now I'm going straight towards the outside concrete barrier wall. Now it's time to hit the brakes with the car steered away from the wall in all hopes of the tires grabing. Within 2 feet of the wall the front tires bite and catapult me away from the wall. Finally I regain complete control after a bit of chassis wiggle just as I'm exiting the turn and entering the acceleration lane. The guy in the Accord saw what was happening and had slowed down because he probably thought I was going into the wall. As I passed him, he gave a thumbs up and I shook my head like "what the hell just happened?".

All I can say is I'm glad I had owned a Z28 in the past and knew how to control wild oversteer. Due to the Maxima's relatively light weight and great handling (after suspension work), the car is far easier to control than the Z28. What seemed like over a minute of slow-motion fright actually only lasted a few seconds and about 70 feet. The was definately one of my more scary moments behind the wheel.

Everyone, be careful when pushing it hard thru the clover leafs and long sweepers because you might notice a problem way too late. I consider myself very lucky.


Dave (thinks he's Cole Trickle)

 

That was some cool moves you pulled there

DW

 

Nice piece of driving! Good thing that Accord had slowed you down some. It might have been tragic if you were going 10 mph faster.

 

Hey wow. I bet you never thought you would say thanks to the Honda folks.

 

No rookie mistake for you =) I learned not to hit the brakes when a FWD started to oversteer. RWD oversteering is alot more natural and it's not as abrupt as a FWD. I don't know....FWD oversteering scares me.

 

Shoulda got on the gas an rode the drift out Japanese style Nice save, Dave!

 

Good save, and it should remind us all to never drive faster than you can see. This happens in fog all the time, accounting for 40+ car pileups. If you can't see 5 seconds (at least) in front of you, then slow down.

 

There was one of those in Quantico, VA a few weeks ago. 121+ cars piled up inside of a minute. Insane. It took hours to clear. D.C. rush hour traffic is the second worse in the nation. Six lanes of bumper to bumper traffic were rerouted to a two lane highway. Bad business

 

FWD oversteer is very scary becuase you are still at the mercy of the car. With RWD oversteer, you just lay into the gas. Nothing felt cooler than laying into the gas on the Z28 in a very mild turn and have the tail stepped out a bit accelerating hard. The car was so easy to control when you induced the oversteer.


Dave

 

So next time i drop that oil slick before you get on the ramp i will be sure to evenly distribute it
j/k

good save

 

Nice move, glad you made it safely

 

Add an RSB to your setup and the oversteer will be more controllable, even inducable in this FWD car.

DW

 

I think he should have got it on video.

 

Addco RSB is already installed on "Black Sunshine"


Dave

 

OK. Then I bet you run with your rear tire pressures high, compared to the fronts. Try offsetting it, like 36 fronts and 30 rear. When I was running with my rear tire pressure equal to the front, my tail let loose all over the place. Not so much anymore with the 36F/30R combo.

DW

 

Nope. I run 215/55R16s with a 32psi in the fronts and 30 psi in the rear


Dave