Went for my first spin!

[zd210]

Went for my first spin in the mr2 the other day.. literally.

I was pootling around a 2 lane roundabout quite relaxed when I felt the back end start to pull out, ok so it's happened a couple of times along with wheelspins in the current slippery road weather so thought nothing of it.

Then the back end just tailed into a powerslide, my instant reaction was to snap clutch down to stop wheel spin, throw the wheel on opposite lock and bring the clutch back up in an attempt to bring it under control.

It started to control itself then decided it was having none of it and I was now full spin down this roundabout sideways before finally flipping round to look at the oncoming traffic. Engine stalled, me brown panting and the surreal view of seeing 2 lanes of the wrong direction of a roundabout looking on baffled.

Thankfully, because it was a wide roundabout and I managed to control the car a little before forcing my unexpected pant deposit, that the car came away unscathed, and I performed my first ever 3 point turn on a roundabout.

I'm positive that as I was driving away the MR2 just thought it was all a funny prank to pull on me. I swear I heard the engine giggling...

In conclusion I will be avoiding roundabouts, corners and any manouveres that require the turning of the vehicle!
So if any of you guys see an mr2 drive to the end of the road and reverse back up, you'll know who it is.

[JohnnyC]

Sounds like you were lucky.

But that's what happens if you have crap tyres on. At least you know your tyres are rubbish though and are looking to change them

[mattcambs]

I'm not exactly one to talk, but I'd say your mistake was to de-clutch and let it back out. Who taught you that I don't know!

You'll see I had a similar experience recently in the "driving Experiences" section. To correct a slide you need to ease of the gas smoothly and apply the correct amount of lock.

Your clutch thingy probably unsettled the car even more.

Glad you/car are ok

I stuffed my last car last winter good and proper. If it's greasy - just go UBER steady. Over steer can be very hard to catch with mk2s. Decent tyres are a must

Matt

[mattymr2]

letting off the power too quickly will cause the car to skid/loose balance as will increasing the power to quick causing wheel spins and skids.


if your going fast in to a bend and suddenly release off the power mid corner the back end very quickly likes to come out.
one of the first scary lessons i learnt in my 2....


drive smoothly and in these conditions drive cautiously slow. you just cant drive mid engine rear wheel drive cars fast in the current climate, they are dangerous compared to front wheel and 4wd cars when not driven with due care and respect.

thats why mines in the garage.........lol

[matt_mr2t]

Lets be honest gents. It's all well and good talking about what you should do but from personal experience this sort of thing happens in a split seconds and is over before you have finished screaming.

In an ideal world you would pull a Colin McRea'esq powerslide, flick the back in, all with one hand on the wheel and the other saluting the other drivers.

In reality you shut your eyes and hope to xxxx you dont bin the car into the nearest solid object.

[davidoblue]

did the same in mine a week ago cost me a new gearbox im moving to the states they aint got roundabouts lol

[mattcambs]

Lets be honest gents. It's all well and good talking about what you should do but from personal experience this sort of thing happens in a split seconds and is over before you have finished screaming.

In an ideal world you would pull a Colin McRea'esq powerslide, flick the back in, all with one hand on the wheel and the other saluting the other drivers.

In reality you shut your eyes and hope to xxxx you dont bin the car into the nearest solid object.

I've caught all of my oversteer "moments" except for one which ended up being game over for the car. I've only had a handful of "moments", but you're right, it's often over too quickly to react properly.

[matt_mr2t]

It's happened to me 3 times. One I caught, one I did 180 degrees and landed on the other side of the road and just carried on driving and the last resulted in 2k worth of repair bills.

Oddly enough they happened in that order, you'd think it would have got better not worse the longer I had the car

[Tasty]

Must be Germans lol

[Red Devil]

Must be Germans lol

More likely something to do with the name Matt..........

I really don't understand why so many people have such difficulty with their MR2s.
Could it be because most people today learn to drive FWD cars?
I have only ever had the back end of my turbo step out once in 2 years of ownership and that was entirely my fault.

[zd210]

Definitely been looking around more now for tyres, definitely been put up on the list to as soon as I can get them I think, been doing waaay too many wheelspins when pulling off. I hate it when you're just stuck spinning watching another car come towards you.

matt is right though, it all felt like it was going on forever at the time but looking back it was all over before you could really do anything. All I remember was looking out both front and back hoping I wouldn't hit the kerb, make things worse and thinking "oh crap.. oh crap.. oh crap..".
... Although am I bad for liking the adrenaline rush?

The cars not been that bad though, I have pushed it quite quickly through some nice country lane corners, but this roundabout just didn't like me.

[mattcambs]

This is what happens when it goes wrong. Having an aggressive LSD didn't help, but it shows how easily it can go wrong when it's greasy.
This taught me a big lesson.


http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... highlight=

[matt_mr2t]

Must be Germans lol

More likely something to do with the name Matt..........

I really don't understand why so many people have such difficulty with their MR2s.
Could it be because most people today learn to drive FWD cars?
I have only ever had the back end of my turbo step out once in 2 years of ownership and that was entirely my fault.

Well I learned to drive at low speeds in a slow as hell mk3 fiesta (fwd) in pretty good weather conditions.

I then had a slow fwd car - then a slightly quicker frd car then the mr2.

The first loss I pulled back in pretty easily as it was dry and grip was not an issue, also the car was pretty standard on decent tyres.

The 2nd was icey and happend before I had time to react to it.

The 3rd was wet and I had crap tyres - I learned my lesson there and have had good tyres since and also learned not to be stupid and slam the throttle down in the wet, on a bend with 300bhp going through poo rear tyres.

Funny enough the back hasnt been an issue for nearly 3 years since then.

Sometimes you need to make a mistake to truly learn. Like a child burning themself before learning not to touch something hot

[Lauren]

If you are having trouble controlling the car in greasy conditions, best thing you can do is get some driver tuition. It may cost something but for the amount you could potentially save it is well worth it.

By driver tuition i mean something track orientated like maybe one of the north weald days or similar, or a trackday with instruction. Well worth it for what you'll learn plus you'll feel more confident and enjoy the car more as well.

[mattcambs]

I'd love to do something like that, Lauren
Being able to hoon around by myself on a large expanse of tarmac would be great too - probably not a track day or sprint because of other cars/racing pressure.

My first task is to get the car in tip-top condition chassis-wise. I ordered some Yellow Billies from Rogue today which will soon replace the Tein HAs. I'll be getting decent rear tyres as well and a geometry setup at WIM.

I feel at the moment that I can't judge the car because the current setup is far from ideal.

[zd210]

mattcambs just seen your link to the crash. That's to say the least, impressive! As others said amazed you came away from that only thinking about the car (good call on that one by the way, important things first). As people have said though I'm amazed that when it goes wrong.. it goes wrong quick.

I'd love to look into some of those skid pan training days.
This is my first RWD, moved from a 1.6l FWD. Can't say I've found anything scary with it... excluding original post

[Lauren]

I'd love to do something like that, Lauren
Being able to hoon around by myself on a large expanse of tarmac would be great too - probably not a track day or sprint because of other cars/racing pressure.

Don't forget trackdays are not competitive and if you use a reputable organiser car to car contact is not something you have to worry about. I notice that a few people are organising the north weald type days, maybe that would be better? Although I can't help but feel if you go on a trackday and book plenty of tuition in advance that you'll learn more over the day. I think if you go at it with the right attitude you'll come out of it feeling much more confident with how the car handles and how you can control it.

[Mike]

I've actually been having more problems with understeer at the mo' still got plenty of tread on my front tyres but obviously not quite enough.

[Ekona]

Could be down to tyre pressures, try dropping them a couple of psi.

It could also be due to the way you've got the suspension set up, but try the cheap one first.

[matt_mr2t]

I'd love to do something like that, Lauren
Being able to hoon around by myself on a large expanse of tarmac would be great too - probably not a track day or sprint because of other cars/racing pressure.

Don't forget trackdays are not competitive and if you use a reputable organiser car to car contact is not something you have to worry about. I notice that a few people are organising the north weald type days, maybe that would be better? Although I can't help but feel if you go on a trackday and book plenty of tuition in advance that you'll learn more over the day. I think if you go at it with the right attitude you'll come out of it feeling much more confident with how the car handles and how you can control it.

The best organiser in the world cant stop a pillock making a mistake. Not unless they wrap all the cars in bubble wrap and put a brick under the throttle pedal.