after washing my car last night, me and my wife decided to dine out. she told me to drive her X5 instead of my evo. but i told her, nah, let's drive the evo. so as i drive down the road, about a mile, the traffic light to the main road was green. the lights on this particular corner are known for its quick transition from green to red because the main road has more traffic than our road. it was a 90 degree left corner but the way most cars take the corner would be like a swooping curve. my approach speed at the corner was around 40 mph or may be more. But I'm sure it's not more than 50 mph. as i hit the corner, i took the inside like i normally do on this corner. then all of a sudden the car's rear starts to drift to the right, then i corrected the steering by a slight turn to the right. unexpectedly, the car starts doing a 180 degree left drift and could not control the car anymore. it felt like driving the car on ice. i did not hear any tire screaching noise at all from the first drift to the 180 degree drift. As I have said, it's like driving a car on ice with no snow tires. then my car hit the gutter. the front left tire hit first then the rear. i broke the rear left aluminum suspension arms and two rims on the left side where badly damaged. the rear tires is at full toe in. i was able to drive the car back home but the allignment is all pucked up. it seems like the car is driving side ways. the road doesn't have any traces of oil or puddle of water. Fortunately no other vehicle was beside us. So what happened? i know there's a driver error involved but this is an AWD vehicle. it could be my advan tires are not warm enough. but still i shouldn't be sliding that way as if i was driving on ice. i have drifted in my clk55, with the ESP off, and I was able to correct it properly and point the car where it should be. the steering of the clk55 is no where near the evo and it corrected the car properly. we know the evo doesn't have traction control electronics but this one scenario is unbelievable. my analysis of the problem is for sure that the tires are not warm yet. then as i drifted right side ways, the rear lsd has put the power on the left rear tires. since this car has open differential at the front, it just doesn't do much but just to balance the power on all front wheels. then i made the correction by steering it a little to the right where at this point it made an over steer. do you guys think an active differential could have saved my car? i know for sure ESP would have done it. one big mistake i didn't do is that i didn't apply the brakes from the first drift. i applied it too late only after i started the 180 degree turn.
So i think this car is an excellent fun powerfull car conquering the curves. but once you started drifting, it's up to the driver to properly correct the car. the car doesn't have much electronic sensing device to monitor and correct the motion of the car. and one thing i thought off is that the advan tires i think is not safe on the wet surface. the road i spun is not even wet. these tires are really for dry pavement. warm the tires properly before driving it hard. these cars gives you much confidence because it's AWD but don't forget the tires are for dry pavement only. me and my wife were ok fortunately. to other owners, please drive safely. I'll try attaching pictures later.

 

sorry about your car.

 

How the heck did you get the car to skid out of control at 50mph on a dry road? You must have either made a increadibly sharp turn or you were going much faster than you claim. I dont see how the rear end just stepped out unless you were trying to do something dumb...no offense of course.

 

maybe something with differentials....the only time i felt outta control in my gsx like i was drifiting was when the center diff was toasted.....sorry to hear about your car hope ya get her back and fixed soon.

 

I don't know either. i think if i was more faster than that, the car could have sustained more damaged. my wife told me i was doing 40 mph. i know i did this to my clk55, which is less sportier than my evo, and I was able to correct it. I always approach that corner with that speed, even with the evo. except at this time I spun.

 

attaced are the pictures. all mechanics, is this going to affect the car's handling after the fix? thanks.

 

another pics

 

thanks.

 

that sucks man.

 

The one thing I learned about AWD in loss of control situations is counter steer to stay on the power! If you come off the power in that situation it is going to come around on you. Staying on the power may not work every time, but you have a better chance of powering out of a problem than you do by pressing the brake and praying.

Keith

 

My foot was on the gas before the 180 degree left drift. I let it go and press the brakes when we spun. As I have said, the tires were not screaching at all. the road was dry and i spun the car as if i was on ice. I have taken similar curves faster than this one and I can hear those tires really working. Thanks.

 

You Might Have Let Off The Gas And That Will Make You Loss Control Of Your Veh. If You Stay On The Gas And Dont Let Off Or Give It More You Will Be Ok......proven Fact....

 

I'll agree, I've come out of on ramps with extremely aggressive turns with exit speeds well over 70mph, and all I heard was my tires starting to squeel against the pavement.

 

sounds like you experianced snap oversteer. Happens to me on occastion while autocrossing and usually results in a spin if you don't take the right action.

questions....

Did you lift the throttle when the back end first kicked out to the right? If you did, you probably experianced throttle lift oversteer.

With a RWD, like your wifes X5 and your clk, when you lift the throttle the backend slows first, giving you a little bit more control.

With a FWD car it's different, as long as you keep power to the front wheels, you have traction. If you lift the throttle, the front slows first making the problem worse. (this is what happened to you)

With AWD, you have the best and the worst of FWd and RWD cars.

Like FourDoor said, you have to stay on the power. This generates traction to all 4 wheels...

When you get your car fixed, you and your wife should come out autocrossing. Autocrossing teaches you how to handle these types of situations.

 

I should have given it some more.