[Main_Event]

dont bother reading ahead if your gonna say something stupid like take driving classes or buy another car.....can anyone give any driving tips like incase something happens what to do or best way to make high speed turns and all and go over all the things that should be worried about with the FRD. like unersteering and how the rear of the car likes to drift out on fast turns and all.

 

[creatism]

man the only advice i have is be carefull and drifting is best left for the track.

i learned how drift in rear wheel drive still not sure of this fwd stuff.

 

[Dale Seeley]

can anyone give any driving tips like incase something happens what to do .

One foot on the clutch pedal, one foot on the brake pedal, pushing as hard as you can...

The SCCA offers autocross (Solo2) events in your area, they are cheap (like $20) and fun and like might help.

 

[stowaway]

don't hit the brakes in a turn in the SRT-4 unless you KNOW what is going to happen and are trying to do it on purpose (like at a track).

This car has lift-throttle oversteer, meaing that when you lift off the gas the weight transfers to the front of the car making the back end light. This added weight on the front tires causes them to have more available grip due to added friction. The back tires with less weight will begin to slide if you are in a turn and lift off the gas while being close to the grip limit before you lifted. If you have this happen to you the BEST way to correct is to NOT get on the brakes (which causes more weight on the fronts, increasing the speed the back end will come around). Steer into the spin some. Also feeding in a little bit of gas while holding the steering constant will shift some weight back to the rear tires hopefully giving them more grip and you will stop sliding/spinning.

I have not noticed the rear end drifting out in fast turns as long as you know how to set up. Be smooth with ANY inputs (steering, gas, brakes) and you will will have a fairly neutral handling car. If you jerk the wheel or nail the brakes or gas in the middle of the turn or at turn-in then you upset the balance of the car making it do things like spin or understeer.

My best advice is to find a local autocross organization (probably SCCA www.scca.org) and pay the ~$20 to find out what happens to your car when at the limits, yours and the cars. Since you are under 18 you would need to have both parents/gaurdians show up and sign a release waiver saying you can run. Autocross speeds VERY rairly excede 60mph but at these slower speeds if you start spinning all you will hurt is your tires and the poor cones you will knock over. I can attribute the lack of wrecks I have had in my 6 years of driving to the autocrossing I did as soon as I got my license. My dad took me out to the events and even though I wasn't truely competitive until two years ago I was able to learn what the car did when I nailed the brakes in a turn, or was approaching a turn too fast and needed to hit the brakes and steer through the turn. Also I learned how to save the car if I started to spin. In my old car it was countersteer and hit the gas. In the old honda it was twitch the steering very quickly into the turn and then feed in the gas a little bit. In the SRT with air pressures I run at I have yet to spin because I could feel the back end coming around and steered into it and let off of the gas or brakes, whichever I was on at that instant. This allowed the car to regain grip and then I could continue on my way safely.



keep all driving at the limits to the track, especially until you get more experience with the car and with driving in general. Sunday's are the only days I squeel tires in turns.

 

[battmain]

Start with an autocross in your area. The autocross will teach you low speed handling of your car. If you enjoy it, you can move to track events. High speed 60+ mph turns are the norm and you learn how to handle a high speed corner. It takes seat time and the more you do it, the better your instincts become. While the basics are the same at high speed, things happen much quicker when you get into trouble. As you get better, the corrective action is actually done without thinking and proper drift is SO satisfying. (soapbox on) You'll also find that racing on the street is for wannabees. (soapbox off)

If you look over in the video section, you'll find one of the CHP doing high speed training. If you watch the mustang closely, most people will say that the driver over corrected. He didn't. He was simply too slow in identifying when the slide stopped. If you take a racing school like Skip Barber or others, you'll learn that there are three distinct actions in skid recovery. Correction, Pause.Recovery. (CPR) I'll let you try to determine which one he missed. (End of lesson 1.) :tongue:

 

[stowaway]

CPR is exactly what you need to learn.

try to talk your parents into doing the 2 day DRIVERS school with skip barber. They teach you CPR in different vehicles in different conditions; and if you don't wreck anything you get to drive a VIPER at the limits on the 2nd day. :clap:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-3898091-6795856?v=glance&s=books

great book to learn about car control, even though it is called Going Faster: Mastering the Art of Race Driving

 

[Main_Event]

thanks dude very helpful info, cool guy

 

[Main_Event]

hmmm i dont see any of these autocross near my area

 

[stowaway]

what area of md are you in?

 

[Main_Event]

silver spring

 

[stowaway]

http://autocrossersinc.org/schedule.html

http://solo.wdcr-scca.org/

 

[ksuav8r]

Something else you can do, if you have access, probably on a track, is to play around in the water or snow. You can drive very slow speeds and get the same effects as if you were doing 80 on dry pavement. The cops train this way to get a feel for their car. They spray down vegetable oil and cover it with water, then they try to drive a course. They learn really quickly how the car handles while never exceeding 25 mph. I remember when I learned how to drive, dad took me to the school parking lot in the winter and we spend about an hour or two when the snow was down to learn handling techniques.
Hope that helps.

 

[Main_Event]

hmm i will try that this winter

 

[creatism]

ice is also your friend for learning how to handle a car. and the reason why if its rwd chances are you will not find me loosing it unless i hydro planing

 

[battmain]

try to talk your parents into doing the 2 day DRIVERS school with skip barber. They teach you CPR in different vehicles in different conditions; and if you don't wreck anything you get to drive a VIPER at the limits on the 2nd day.

IMHO, go for the three day. The Formula Dodges on the track will teach what not to do in a car. They are very sensitive to what you do with your feet. It costs more, but I think you would have much more fun. And Main Event, I haven't seen you turn in your homework yet from lesson 1 above. :jester: