This kind of sucks, I am so pissed at myself for letting it happen... anyway... I was out driving tonight and decided to take some twistys. I went down one of my usual roads but it started to sprinkle rain. I noticed some on my windshield but didn't think much of it because it was like 5 drops. I was doing fine until I ran into the sharpest turn on the road. It was a 90º turn, came up quick. I was fine at first... applied brakes before the apex of the turn then accelerated out. Only problem was on the way out I didn't get any traction. I went to correct it, which I shouldn't have done, and I over corrected. This snapped my car back real quick and I went off the road into the grass. Didn't do any damage to the car except for a few mud marks on the tires. Only sucks because I washed it real nice previously that day. Just be careful in any type of rain guys. I am glad I had some control over it to where I didn't do any damage to my car. I still could slam my head into a wall for letting it happen.

 

damn.. close call...

your lucky you dont live where i live.. all the twisties are
lined with ditches WRC style..

 

Yeah, you had me sweating for a while. I thought the story would end up you in the rails. That would have really sucked.

BTW, how are the treads on the tires? If they are getting worn, replace them bc you don't want to get into an accident. Tire is one thing that I would not skimp on a performance car. If you are on a budget, get a Yoko A520, it's about $100 but is very high performance (see Tirerack). It just wears out a little soon but I haven't had any problems with mine after 20k mi.

 

My actually are pretty worn, I should look into some new ones but right now I'm hurting for money.

 

That was my guess. Get some new ones in the back at least. You don't want to spin out when you gas it in rain. Many including myself has had that unpleasant experience. I put my newer set in back and slipping in rain during hard acceleration has never happened again.

If they are all worn, get a new set of 4. Or else, don't drive in rain hard til you do so.

 

I had a similiar experience a couple years ago. Going to work on a back road and it was barely wet and had stopped raining. I wasnt speeding or anything and all of the sudden snap oversteer to the right. I turned into it but it just put me into a big 'ol tank slapper that went R, L, and R again and into a ditch. I was only going about 35 or so in the FD. Rear tires were pretty worn which I am sure was the reason the slide started. Minor damage to the front clip and had to call a tow truck to get me out.

 

Never happened to me bc i know better than to gun it out of a hard turn when it is wet, none the less when I have worn tires on there. Come on ppl, lets keep these FDs clean and on the road

 

that was close dood. are you running on stock tires or what... just wondering.

1FAST7

 

I have lost control twice with my FD. No water, but still not fun. I once gunned it on a hard turn over the double yellow, and lost it left, right, left right and stopped facing the wrong way. Both times I lost control I pushed the clutch in when the wheel first borke loose causing the rear wheels to hook up going the wrong way. It's all a learning experience. Now I just baby it around corners. At least until I get some training.

 

I'd say this is a common way to lose control of your 7 - wet or not. Consider yourself extremely lucky - my spin ended up costing me a spindle, hub, A-arm, rim, pride and some confidence (and I was even lucky).

 

I bet your heart was pumping!

 

Ok, who HASN'T almost sh*t their pants and lost it with their FD, raise yer hand... cmon... anyone never-ever-ever push it too hard and unexpectantly get tail-happy. even you automatic owners? Yeah thought so... driving studs that we are.

Take heed you "FD as a first car" guys.

 

i did that like 3 times during the 7 months that I've owned the FD. It was always left...right...left...right...etc. I guess I need to learn to correct the fish tail by applying gas intead of just steering the wheel. When should I gas it anyways (like drifting)?

 

common fact: road is always the most slippery during the first 30 minutes of when it starts to rain.

 

I just had an accidental oversteer event hitting an entrance ramp yesterday..in the dry. So far in my driving experience with a stock suspension and stock size Dunlop 8000s, the FD seems to correct itself very well. Every time the rear has started to come around, just easing off the gas (not lifting foot quickly off pedal) has tucked the rear end right back in. Attempts to counter-steer the skid have only caused the car to swing back the other way too far. This is totally unlike other cars I've driven which required active counter-steering when the rear stepped out. So, my advice is to just ease of gas and very slightly counter-steer.

Of course, non-stock suspensions and tire sizes might handle differently.

 

Yeah in Glendora its been really dry and dusty lately so also watch out for that, cause it makes the roads slippery as well and its hard to tell. Last 2 times I've gone up GMR the car was very skittery and you could really tell the difference. Whats worse is it could be ok in some spots and bad in others.

 

I am really thankful that nothing serious happend. I have 245/45-16s all the way around, Pirelli P7000. The rear tires were actually worse until I rotated them. Now I have a little more tread but not much. Tires will have to be the next thing I buy. I try not to take my car out in the rain really. I was out and it started to rain.

 

ryanberg is on the money... when you start feeling the car slide, just slightly ease off the gas enough so the rear tires will regain traction without too much weight transfer to the front. If you let off the gas too much it will cause the weight to transfer from the rear to the front, causing the rear tires to lose even more traction. No real need to countersteer unless you are really sideways-- just straighten the wheel a little bit, ease off, and reapply the gas.

If you get into a snap oversteer situation, it is almost impossible to recover, so just push in the clutch and the brakes at the same time, put it in neutral, stay calm and hope you dont hit anything :p

If you wanna practice recovery techniques, go into a big parking lot and drive in circles at different speeds and sizes. Play with the gas and the brakes to see how the car oversteers and understeers. If there are any visible landmarks, you can try losing control and recovering while keeping a desired heading.

Of course, in the twisties uphill, downhill, road conditions, and how sharply banked a turn is add a bunch of extra variables to consider while driving.

 

you did your canyon craving at the wrong time.

 

Good advice BlackR1 I dont really push my limits to the point of it sliding like that but the dry and the wet are two different things.