Wide Open Parking Lot

[JonB]

I took a real tght turn the other day kinda fast and the rear broke loose and whiped around on me I was off the throttle before i entered the turn. Never had the rear break before the front before.Does anybody know what caused this? Could have been bad!

EASY: Loss Of Traction Caused This!

OFF THE THROTTLE means all your car's weight was shifted forward, lessening the traction on the rear tires. And hooking-up the fronts. One of the hardest things to learn (and teach) is to STAY ON THE THROTTLE for at least a maintainence of speed, since the very act of turning scrubs off speed, slows you down, shifting even MORE weight forward. "DONT LIFT!!" when cornering at the limits of traction.

And as your TIRES AGE, what happened 'before' will NOT stay a constant, because numerous heat cycles, and age, degrade traction.....

 

[WILDASP]

Tires at road temp = COLD. Tires warm up when you drive on them and at "normal road temp" they're dangerous.

When you slow going into a corner your weight is transfered to the front tires so of course the back end "SPINED".

High Performance Driving teaches this and every Viper owner should have taken at least 1 course so that they will have an IDEA on how to drive a Viper. Otherwise ... vettes, BMW, Mercedes, etc all have nannies.

Ted, I concur. With road temps at 70, those tires would be too cold, until they were warmed up by several miles of driving. Simple vehicle dynamics would have done the rest, and absent something like oil, standing water etc. on the road, that's most likely what happened. At the least, that's enough to get the rear loose, if not cause a full spin.

1fast, you mentioned having the front give up before. That suggests to me you may have a tendency to go into a corner too fast, too soon (early apex), or both. That could have further aggravated the situation. A driving school, or even an HPDE, would help you with all of this. The good news is, I gather you didn't hit anything and you and your Snake are no worse for the experience. Take it as a learning experience, and thanks for sharing it, as reading about this may help someone else avoid it.

 

[WILDASP]

EASY: Loss Of Traction Caused This!

OFF THE THROTTLE means all your car's weight was shifted forward, lessening the traction on the rear tires. And hooking-up the fronts. One of the hardest things to learn (and teach) is to STAY ON THE THROTTLE for at least a maintainence of speed, since the very act of turning scrubs off speed, slows you down, shifting even MORE weight forward. "DONT LIFT!!" when cornering at the limits of traction.

And as your TIRES AGE, what happened 'before' will NOT stay a constant, because numerous heat cycles, and age, degrade traction.....

Jon, you're right. I ASSumed he lifted before entry, and this started before he could make the transition back to the throttle (as opposed to never trying to get back into the gas at all). At what point we come back into the throttle depends on whether we trail brake or not, but you're right; that transition has to happen, and smoothly, or the rear gets loose. Now that I think on it, it IS hard to learn, because it's counter intuitive for a novice to do it soon enough, and stay in it.

 

[voi9]

Hi Jon B.
I forgot to mention that I do have PS2's on the Viper which I purchased from ParstRack about a year ago. I got rid of those runflats.
I was purposely trying to get the tires to break loose and was just mentioning how surprised I was on how quick that back end would come around when they did break loose.
The tires were definitely not warmed up either, but I knew that.

 

[1fastviper]

Thanks guys for the info on this.I guess i really just pushed it to the limits that time.Just thought i was invincable bec i have a viper.I will slow down now before i wreck it

 

[JonB]

Hi Jon B.
I forgot to mention that I do have PS2's on the Viper which I purchased from ParstRack about a year ago. I got rid of those runflats.
I was purposely trying to get the tires to break loose and was just mentioning how surprised I was on how quick that back end would come around when they did break loose.
The tires were definitely not warmed up either, but I knew that. ...

WHEW ! So this was a controlled exercise, better yet! Exploring the limits in a safe setting is better than exceeding them on the highway!

 

[AFL in NJ]

We do this type of training 6 months of the year up here.

Its called WINTER!



Really, nice job! Always better to learn in a controlled environment!

I grew up in London, Ontario, Canada and used to be able to "drift" my father's '79 Dodge Diplomat pretty reliably on a line I wanted....it was impressive to my friends...but I just can't make it smooth in my Viper. I guess I need more practise.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[Red Shift]

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong but the Viper is more easily controlled sideways than most cars. It's a dream to punch in throttle with the wheel off-center and ride it out. I saw a world champion drifter is in a SRT.

I hate to post this as it could come back to me as 'I TOLD YOU SO!!!'

 

[Mopar Boy]

I grew up in London, Ontario, Canada and used to be able to "drift" my father's '79 Dodge Diplomat pretty reliably on a line I wanted....it was impressive to my friends...but I just can't make it smooth in my Viper. I guess I need more practise.

Regards,
Aaron

Ahh! You lived not far from me! And you know EXACLY what I am talkin about!