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How to do a donuts???

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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:00 AM
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How to do a donuts???

Got a loan of a Corvette at the weekend, and haven't driven a rwd in years.
Looking to do some Donuts. Anyone know how to do them with rwd and an automatic.

Cheers
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:08 AM
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Slam on the gas and cut the wheel. The momentum and slipping tires should bring your *** around. It would help to accel in a straight line briefly and maybe do a little flick of the steering wheel to get things going.

I'm not speaking from experience here though. I'm sure there are some more experienced RWD drivers out there who could give better advice.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:08 AM
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If you don't know how to do donuts, you shouldn't start in a Corvette; getting those huge rear tires to break loose and actually sustain donuts requires an excessive and potentially dangerous amount of power.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:13 AM
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Anyone want to bet the "loaned" Corvette ends up wrapped around something?
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:26 AM
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So you don't know how to do one 'I love to Spool'.
That's all that you had to say.

Anyone who knows how to drive out there???
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:28 AM
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Are you they guy that was trading his Evo for the vette for a weekend? If so I hope he does donuts in your Evo. You might want to remind him about our power steering pump.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:45 AM
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It's a rental.
Mmmm
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 08:54 AM
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If despite the danger, you still insist on doing donuts in a loaned Corvette, just be careful. Make sure that you have a very large round area of open flat pavement without any significant bumps, potholes, etc. Other than the obvious collision with a fixed object (like a light pole), there are not so obvious dangers -- like if you go sideways into a curb or even into grass, you could potentially roll the car (even a Corvette).

This past weekend I saw a Corvette get out of control at an organized autocross; it slid probably 150 feet sideways and backwards before hitting a curb and a tree. I'm sure the driver and the event organizers didn't plan on that happening, but when you are dealing with such an extremely powerful car, it only takes a small mistake to cause big trouble.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 09:01 AM
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Have the use of an airfield, so hitting anything won't be an issue.
So, anyone know the correct method, or am I going to have to do trial and error?
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 09:02 AM
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I was loaned a 92 'Stang with balding tires. Doing donuts, especially around corners was neither hard, nor planned. Actually pretty scary, esp when the car wouldn't stop.
Just give her some gas

edit: it was an auto. Try using your left foot on the brakes and give her gas to get the rev's up and let go!! Good times my man.
If this is a rental, it may already have bald tires. Be careful stopping on the way home

Last edited by engineerboy; Jul 10, 2003 at 09:15 AM.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 09:06 AM
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Originally posted by engineerboy
I was loaned a 92 'Stang with balding tires. Doing donuts, especially around corners was neither hard, nor planned. Just give her some gas
So I was pretty much on point?
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 09:15 AM
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word Hobie.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 09:15 AM
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Here is the deal with doing donuts in a Vette. Go to a smooth, gravel less, wide open parking lot with NO light poles out in the middle. The best way to do a donut is to start making a circle at the lock stop of the wheel. Left handed or right hand will work, although left seems to setup a little better for me. Start accelerating slowly as there is no need to slam on the gas as someone else suggested, it will just unsettle the car. The Vette has more than enough torque to spin the tires so be smooth with the throttle. As the car speeds up you will soon reach a point where the rear will start to step out. Now it’s decision time… You can hold the throttle down, and if you have sufficient amount of concrete, you can drift the car by keeping the throttle down and applying a little opposite lock. The other choice, which will give you a proper donut, is to continue steering in and applying gas. At this point the tire should really start spinning and you should have enough momentum to continue rotation. The coolest way is to drift into the donut, rotate around once or twice and then drift out. It takes practice and it absolutely destroys tire, but it is really entraining. Other things to remember you need tons of space because sometimes you apply too much opposite lock the overcorrection can cause rotation in the other direction. This is not a big deal to learn and its really fun, but you need a lot of space. Other thing is leave your friends behind. Don't take a passenger and don't have anyone stand anywhere near you. You will really need to practice to get a feel for it. Use common sense and have fun. It will not hurt the Vette at all as long as you don't redline the motor or hit anything. The tire will suffer but it’s a small price to pay for smoking them. I really think it a good thing to know because you really start to learn where the grip limit is. Practicing this will also help you do 180s if you spin and need to turn around really quickly.

Hope this help,

Last edited by EVO Rosso; Jul 10, 2003 at 09:19 AM.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 09:16 AM
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Hobie pretty much gave you the answer to how to do donuts. Turn the steering wheel and give it gas. If you don't start doing donuts, you're either not turning the wheel enough or not giving it enough gas.

Once the car starts spinning, no explanation here can tell you what to do next... Maintaining a donut through multiple revolutions is just a matter of balancing steering and throttle, but requires a lot of practice.

Also, begin your donuts at the lowest speed that you can -- in a Vette, perhaps around 15 MPH, but that's just a guess. Any faster than that is excessive and unnecessary -- you're just going to have to scrub the speed off anyway.


Last edited by jbrennen; Jul 10, 2003 at 09:23 AM.
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Old Jul 10, 2003 | 09:28 AM
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Cheers for the help,
I'll let you know how it goes. Should be fun. Too many years driving FWD has made me forget the joys of oversteer.......
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