definately. i was in LA and the first rain in awhile will have you falling on your *** trying to walk accross the street. low speed turn with shitty tires and i found myself spun around, although when it's slick like that i don't know that good tires would help a whole lot. getting on the freeway at a slight incline or any other incline totally feathering the clutch and starting up slower than an old lady would see wheel spin/wheel hop. here in hawaii where it rains constantly, the ground is much safer when wet simply because its just water, its not an oil slick. after that i would avoid having to drive at all during the "first rain". after a couple hours the crap is usually washed away and its alot better.

 

You could always just trade your 7 for a FWD or AWD car

 

hmmm, you guys are getting a bit overzealous with the "learn how to drive" statements.

i can drive just fine but at times my *** kicks out so fast in the rain there is not much you can do but try to correct for the fishtailing...

 

Agreed. But he needs to learn how to correct a slide before it gets out of hand. In all actuallity, Gran Turismo taught me how to drive before I had a licence. I learned lots about the dynamics and balance of a car. Oversteer, understeer. And now it seems to come natural what to do in a situation where the tires aren't gripping the road 100%.

And I've driven RWD in the snow and ice... just be slow and smooth, and everything will be fine.

 

I learned how to drive in a truck on a lake (in the winter)...shift up and down in a 4 speed for a couple hours straight and you figure it out to a certain extent, then start purposely losing and regaining control in the rain in an empty parking lot or street where nobody is around. Speed comes with time and practice...and if you can afford it, a racing school but who can afford that? A tech. college is cheaper by far but doesn't give you the cars to play with unfortunately...

 

haha...this is funny cuz i enjoy sliding my car around in the rain, and ive had no trouble breaking the rear end loose in my stock vert.

When ur rear end kicks out just let off the gas and countersteer, relatively simple, might take some practice tho.

 

i work at a race track... which includes alot of benifits, and i have seen 7's, miatas, and wrx's fly off the track in rain simply because they froze, it happens to the best of us... unfotunatly some schools (the first one i attended) dont ever touch on counter steering. so he may not have ever had any schooling in the safty of controling a car, but my dad took me to parking lots in the rain and snow before i ever had a permit... thats the cheapest and pretty fun way to learn control, good luck... sooner or later you'll never even catch your self counter steering

 

actually the best way to get traction in the rear back is to press in and hold the clutch...

 

"first rain" is evil, its tried to take may car a couple times inexpectedly

 

yea my car`s wheels aren`t that great, So I drive real slow in the rain, until I get used to the car and I get some new tires. That or I just drive my camry

 

My thoughts:

1st and ESPECIALLY in the rain. DO NOT SHIFT or have your foot anywhere near the clutch while turning. Shift before the turn so that you can use the throttle as a primary means of control. Playing with the clutch in rain or snow while turning is a great way to quickly lose controll.

2nd Slow down on the street. If you are going the right speed nothing else should matter (the rights speed for, car, tires, conditions etc)

3rd Car control schools are expensive but helpfull. Want to learn more cheaply? Autocross IMNSHO is one big hurry-up-and-wait. And for my money a complete and total waste of my time. Sitting around for a whole day to get 20 mins of actuall seat time (jerking off in a parking lot) makes no sense. Find local or regional track events called "HPDEs" high peformance driving events. You will get 5-6 times the seat time for not much more money. NASA is a very well run organization that hosts these. Plus you get to watch actual races inbetween your track time.

Some thoughts about car control in sevens:
in these cars (and other well balanced RWD machines) the gas is your friend in controlling the car. When turning near the limit of adhesion, if the back end starts to come around the WORST thing you can do is brake. The 2nd WORST thing is to quickly let off the gas. One of the best things to do is actually give it some additionall throttle. When done in the right maner what it actually will do is shift the weight to the back end and you will suprisingly feal the tires get thier grip back. Very counter intuitve at first but the first time you make it work in practice is a big step towards understanding and learning car control.
Heel-toe shifting, once learned can also help keep control of a RWD car in the rain.

 

I think this topic has been covered.

thread closed unless the originator PMs a 2nd gen moderator and asks for it to be reopened.