Regaining Control
Regaining Control
I was wondering if lets say you take a turn too fast and you are loosing control what do you do? I know how to drive rwd and fwd but am not sure about awd. With rwd you can just play with the gas and recover and with fwd you should let go of the gas and steer. Any input is greatly appreciated.
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
From: Perth, Western Australia
Always have the front wheels pointing where you want to be going.
When getting out of control you always back off - "when in doubt, power out" is very dangerous and more often than not completly wrong. Generally the pedal that gets you in trouble will get you out of trouble. eg too much gas -> back off.
When getting out of control you always back off - "when in doubt, power out" is very dangerous and more often than not completly wrong. Generally the pedal that gets you in trouble will get you out of trouble. eg too much gas -> back off.
man if its your rear that your in trouble people say never let go of the gas and never nail the brakes unless you wanna spin....just feather it and do your magic with the wheel....
man if its your rear that your in trouble people say never let go of the gas and never nail the brakes unless you wanna spin....just feather it and do your magic with the wheel....
I had my back end step out on a very cold night when I was taking a turn on to the on-ramp. I corrected and just gave the car gas and it straightened itself out. That's when I fell in love with AWD even more.
Newbie
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
From: Columbus, IN
I just try to stay in it. No more power just steady foot for the rear tires braking loose. Correct and there she goes down the road like you wanted. Front tires break loose I throttle down. I have only broken the fronts loose at low speed (under 30).
Interestingly enough, I just posted something on this in my blog -- click here for the full text
You actually do things a little differently in this car than you would in a RWD car. I found that you really need to react quickly when the rear starts to come around -- countersteer for sure, but rather than go neutral throttle like you would in a RWD car, you actually should feed in the gas to make the diffs work as designed. We saved the car a few times doing that.
Smoothness is still key, and abrupt inputs will still upset the car, but the key is fast hands and letting the technology in the car do what it's supposed to do. Practice this at a wet autocross or wet skidpad (or snowy parking lot).
The LAST thing you should do is lift. It simply doesn't work in this car and only makes things worse -- be it understeer or oversteer. Go neutral throttle before even considering lifting.
As always, YMMV given the tires, suspension set-up, and road conditions.
You actually do things a little differently in this car than you would in a RWD car. I found that you really need to react quickly when the rear starts to come around -- countersteer for sure, but rather than go neutral throttle like you would in a RWD car, you actually should feed in the gas to make the diffs work as designed. We saved the car a few times doing that.
Smoothness is still key, and abrupt inputs will still upset the car, but the key is fast hands and letting the technology in the car do what it's supposed to do. Practice this at a wet autocross or wet skidpad (or snowy parking lot).
The LAST thing you should do is lift. It simply doesn't work in this car and only makes things worse -- be it understeer or oversteer. Go neutral throttle before even considering lifting.
As always, YMMV given the tires, suspension set-up, and road conditions.
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Interestingly enough, I just posted something on this in my blog -- click here for the full text
You actually do things a little differently in this car than you would in a RWD car. I found that you really need to react quickly when the rear starts to come around -- countersteer for sure, but rather than go neutral throttle like you would in a RWD car, you actually should feed in the gas to make the diffs work as designed. We saved the car a few times doing that.
Smoothness is still key, and abrupt inputs will still upset the car, but the key is fast hands and letting the technology in the car do what it's supposed to do. Practice this at a wet autocross or wet skidpad (or snowy parking lot).
The LAST thing you should do is lift. It simply doesn't work in this car and only makes things worse -- be it understeer or oversteer. Go neutral throttle before even considering lifting.
As always, YMMV given the tires, suspension set-up, and road conditions.
You actually do things a little differently in this car than you would in a RWD car. I found that you really need to react quickly when the rear starts to come around -- countersteer for sure, but rather than go neutral throttle like you would in a RWD car, you actually should feed in the gas to make the diffs work as designed. We saved the car a few times doing that.
Smoothness is still key, and abrupt inputs will still upset the car, but the key is fast hands and letting the technology in the car do what it's supposed to do. Practice this at a wet autocross or wet skidpad (or snowy parking lot).
The LAST thing you should do is lift. It simply doesn't work in this car and only makes things worse -- be it understeer or oversteer. Go neutral throttle before even considering lifting.
As always, YMMV given the tires, suspension set-up, and road conditions.
He is right NEVER EVER LIFT! So many people including myself think " oh no i can hear the tires squeel im screwed... LIFT" no no no no never, you do that, then we pound the brakes mistake number two and then... your spinning and AWD does not like that.
When you lift or brake it transfers all the weight to the other side of the car causing it to be extreemly unbalance producing a spin. If you go into a corner to fast let up on the throttle and point the wheels where you want to go. keeping your foot on the gas the whole time keeps the weight where it needs to be.
Some day you wont need to worry because you will go into the corner and brake hard enough before the intal turn and not cause a possiable loss of control.
Brakes are almost #1 when it comes to handling.
I had to completly relearn how to drive when i got my Evo. A big BIG empty parking lot will help with learning how to prepare and come out ok of a too fast of entry.
Best of luck!
Last edited by Vivid Racing; Dec 15, 2006 at 10:11 AM. Reason: i cant spell lol
Interestingly enough, I just posted something on this in my blog -- click here for the full text
You actually do things a little differently in this car than you would in a RWD car. I found that you really need to react quickly when the rear starts to come around -- countersteer for sure, but rather than go neutral throttle like you would in a RWD car, you actually should feed in the gas to make the diffs work as designed. We saved the car a few times doing that.
Smoothness is still key, and abrupt inputs will still upset the car, but the key is fast hands and letting the technology in the car do what it's supposed to do. Practice this at a wet autocross or wet skidpad (or snowy parking lot).
The LAST thing you should do is lift. It simply doesn't work in this car and only makes things worse -- be it understeer or oversteer. Go neutral throttle before even considering lifting.
As always, YMMV given the tires, suspension set-up, and road conditions.
You actually do things a little differently in this car than you would in a RWD car. I found that you really need to react quickly when the rear starts to come around -- countersteer for sure, but rather than go neutral throttle like you would in a RWD car, you actually should feed in the gas to make the diffs work as designed. We saved the car a few times doing that.
Smoothness is still key, and abrupt inputs will still upset the car, but the key is fast hands and letting the technology in the car do what it's supposed to do. Practice this at a wet autocross or wet skidpad (or snowy parking lot).
The LAST thing you should do is lift. It simply doesn't work in this car and only makes things worse -- be it understeer or oversteer. Go neutral throttle before even considering lifting.
As always, YMMV given the tires, suspension set-up, and road conditions.
I lost control last winter.....hit black ice on a off ramp (bridge in the middle of it was iced).
Got completely sideways facing the guardrail, going torwards the highway. I let off the gas, and steered my way out of it. Swung back and forth a couple of times and got it straight....still had enough speed to shift back into 3rd gear!
NEVER touched the brake.
Got completely sideways facing the guardrail, going torwards the highway. I let off the gas, and steered my way out of it. Swung back and forth a couple of times and got it straight....still had enough speed to shift back into 3rd gear!
NEVER touched the brake.
I know it's no lancer, but I had a similar issue in my Explorer just recently. I was dicking around on a rather curvy road, and the back began sliding more than I had wanted. So I led into the petal alittle more and corrected as needed on the wheel. Ended up straightening rather than spinning around.
Granted, I'm sure the lancer's responce time would be much quicker and accurate.
Granted, I'm sure the lancer's responce time would be much quicker and accurate.
like everybody said...never lift. the EVO is totally different from driving FF, and FR cars. when you lose traction in those, the first thing you do is lift. if you lose traction in the EVO, give it more gas to make it grip. crazy i know, but "when in doubt, power out" is how you drive an EVO. never hit the brakes when the car is becoming unbalanced because that'll jsut make it worse. like the smart people keep saying, neutral throttle, smooth steering, and feed in more gas.
Evolved Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 769
Likes: 0
From: South Carolina
I have gone through a lot of what's above, and some is right, and some is wrong, so I will try to break it down some.
What you do to recover from a loss of control situation depends on how you lost control, or which end is sliding, and then about what car or type of car you are in.
Two reasons for sliding.
One: momentum induced. You just went in too fast and one of the ends of the car has "broken loose."
Two: Traction loss induced. You gave it too much throttle and the drive wheels are now sliding.
If it's momentum induced:
Push: (front end sliding): crack the throttle, or unwind on the wheel.
Notice I said Crack the throttle, don't lift all the way. This will put a little weight back on the front wheels, helping them gain traction. Unwinding the wheel will let the wheels go more in a straight line, gaining back control.
Loose: Stay in the throttle, give it more throttle. (This goes for FWD/RWD/AWD whatever) if the slide is induced by momentum and you give it throttle, the weight will transfer to the back, and you will gain traction back. The biggest difference between fwd/rwd/awd here is how much throttle you can give it.
FWD.. pretty much just slam it to the floor unless you have a huge amount of power that will break the front wheels loose,
AWD: the lower the HP, the more you can drive it like FWD, the higher the HP, the less. In the AMS evo slamming the throttle to the floor may as well have been like driving a RWD car.. around it came. Those of you with more HP in the Evos may experience the same thing.
RWD: Feed throttle gently till it recovers. Don't slam it to the floor. (mid engine/naturally aspirated/low HP then you can get away with a quicker throttle, but it depends on the car)
Traction loss induced:
You have usually gotten through the middle of the corner in this case and you are feeding it throttle when the drive wheels break loose. FWD = front wheels RWD = rear wheels AWD; depends on the vehicle and power split. Stock Evo tends to break the front wheels loose, modded evos rear wheels more and more.
Pretty much no matter what or the car, you can crack the throttle or unwind the wheel to recover. Again notice I said crack.. jumping off the throttle is going to put all the weight back on the front wheels and cause it to go the other way.
Some things to notice:
Be gentle. Notice I used words like "crack" and not "Jump off the throttle" this is what these guys are talking about above when they say don't lift. Cars like smooth inputs. That goes for Any car, any time. The smoother you can be to make it do what it(you) wants, the faster you will be.
Cars are each different. Your Evo might put up with some things, and your friend's might be different. Different coilovers, alignments, and tires all have an impact on how much and what kind of way you give a car input.
When I say "unwind" the wheel, it means stop turning in the direction the turn is going. You can even unwind so far as to give "negative" input. If the car is pushing, this means you drive off the track, if the car is loose, it means your drifting. (woohoo)
When you are sliding and have the wheel turned into the slide.. drifting.. remember that when it comes back straight, you need to get the wheel back straight. Sometimes it might be snatching it back. If you don't get it back in time, this is when the car starts fishtailing - overrcorrecting.
Finally.. you are not going to, or do not want to learn this at the intersection of Main street and Elm.
If you haven't done it, you are going to mess up. Fire hydrant red doesn't look good on the side of your evo. Neither does a telephone pole imprint. SCCA and other clubs have autocrosses and they work great for making the novel above become second nature - and cone marks buff out easier than that Toyota's bumper.
What you do to recover from a loss of control situation depends on how you lost control, or which end is sliding, and then about what car or type of car you are in.
Two reasons for sliding.
One: momentum induced. You just went in too fast and one of the ends of the car has "broken loose."
Two: Traction loss induced. You gave it too much throttle and the drive wheels are now sliding.
If it's momentum induced:
Push: (front end sliding): crack the throttle, or unwind on the wheel.
Notice I said Crack the throttle, don't lift all the way. This will put a little weight back on the front wheels, helping them gain traction. Unwinding the wheel will let the wheels go more in a straight line, gaining back control.
Loose: Stay in the throttle, give it more throttle. (This goes for FWD/RWD/AWD whatever) if the slide is induced by momentum and you give it throttle, the weight will transfer to the back, and you will gain traction back. The biggest difference between fwd/rwd/awd here is how much throttle you can give it.
FWD.. pretty much just slam it to the floor unless you have a huge amount of power that will break the front wheels loose,
AWD: the lower the HP, the more you can drive it like FWD, the higher the HP, the less. In the AMS evo slamming the throttle to the floor may as well have been like driving a RWD car.. around it came. Those of you with more HP in the Evos may experience the same thing.
RWD: Feed throttle gently till it recovers. Don't slam it to the floor. (mid engine/naturally aspirated/low HP then you can get away with a quicker throttle, but it depends on the car)
Traction loss induced:
You have usually gotten through the middle of the corner in this case and you are feeding it throttle when the drive wheels break loose. FWD = front wheels RWD = rear wheels AWD; depends on the vehicle and power split. Stock Evo tends to break the front wheels loose, modded evos rear wheels more and more.
Pretty much no matter what or the car, you can crack the throttle or unwind the wheel to recover. Again notice I said crack.. jumping off the throttle is going to put all the weight back on the front wheels and cause it to go the other way.
Some things to notice:
Be gentle. Notice I used words like "crack" and not "Jump off the throttle" this is what these guys are talking about above when they say don't lift. Cars like smooth inputs. That goes for Any car, any time. The smoother you can be to make it do what it(you) wants, the faster you will be.
Cars are each different. Your Evo might put up with some things, and your friend's might be different. Different coilovers, alignments, and tires all have an impact on how much and what kind of way you give a car input.
When I say "unwind" the wheel, it means stop turning in the direction the turn is going. You can even unwind so far as to give "negative" input. If the car is pushing, this means you drive off the track, if the car is loose, it means your drifting. (woohoo)
When you are sliding and have the wheel turned into the slide.. drifting.. remember that when it comes back straight, you need to get the wheel back straight. Sometimes it might be snatching it back. If you don't get it back in time, this is when the car starts fishtailing - overrcorrecting.
Finally.. you are not going to, or do not want to learn this at the intersection of Main street and Elm.
If you haven't done it, you are going to mess up. Fire hydrant red doesn't look good on the side of your evo. Neither does a telephone pole imprint. SCCA and other clubs have autocrosses and they work great for making the novel above become second nature - and cone marks buff out easier than that Toyota's bumper.
