[NDMac]

Hey, The bridgestone tires we got on our STi are not as grippy as u think on wet surface. last week I exit into a roundabout then exit into a tunnel as usual. the road was wet, I applied the gas lightly at the roundabout just try to test the handling, then it started to skid and I let go of the gas and the car was back in track. Then after that I thought maybe I felt it wrong, there was no way the car skidded with this slow turn...but I was wrong...yesterday night I tried it again. This time I tried harder and the car almost spun out. At the point where I almost exit to the tunnel at the roundabout the car skidded to the right almost 90 degree and the car already entered the tunnel, then I steered all the way to the right immediately to prevent the car spinning, then the car skidded to the left, then I steered again and it skidded to the right, and then one more time the car finally headed straight. WoOo...what a relief...the car and I were unharm, and during that moment I didn't step on the gas or the brake at all, I just steered left and right.

Now here are my questions. If you do the same thing, would you expect the car will lose control? If the car starts to skid at the same place again, what do you think will happen if I steer immediately and then floor the car. Will the car be able to exit safely or will make things worse? I didn't dare to step on the gas at that moment because I was too close to a wall, my instant response was to steer. Should I have stepped on the gas?

 

[Xman]

sounds like less steering input and some throttle input would have helped. Flooring the car probably would not have helped since it may have just caused more tire spin.

 

[Guest]

Have you ever looked at the tread pattern on the stock wheels? They are clearly not for anything other than dry pavement driving. There is very little channeling to remove standing water.

Combine that pattern with a ridiculous amount of low end torque, and it's easy to see why even minimally aggressive driving in the wet can be dangerous.

But, by all acounts, nice save keeping it out of the wall.

mist

 

[CloNeGTS]

I don't think I'd be thinking about applying any kind of throttle if I was already losing traction. You need to regain traction before the power would go anywhere.

Care must be taken with these tires....they aren't Aquatreads.

 

[Xman]

The natural instinct is not to apply throttle, but with AWD on slippery surfaces the best thing to do is apply moderate throttle input to allow the front tires to pull the car straight again. It takes some real balls to pull this off, but unless you have the DCCD dialed way back the front tires should pull you straight and not cause the back and forth fish tailing that can lead to snap oversteer and a 180 trip around. The absolute worst thing you can do in a situation like that is to quickly transition from throttle on to off throttle. This will almost certainly cause snap oversteer and some interesting spins. The best way to learn how to detect the onsetof snap oversteer is to get into a slalom setup on an autoX. If you are driving hard through the cones and getting a pendulum action to the car and suddenly let off the throttle the car will almost always come around. Try it in a safe environment, it is kind of fun and certainly can help you be safer by learning where the limits are and how to respond when you are at/over those limits.

Oh yeah, as everyone already stated, the RE070's "interesting" in wet conditions.

 

[hughbob]

That's a good explainations Xman.

I was messing around in the parking lot at work on a Friday and went into a 90 degree right hander a little too hot. Coming out of the corner, my rear left tire left the road and I started my first 4 wheel drift with only 3 tires on the pavement . Good thing I didn't lift off the throttle or I probably would have hit that fence that was 3 feet from the road. Anyways, a little counter steering and some throttle input brought me back in line. That drift felt great, though I don't know if I want to do it too often .

 

[NDMac]

I believe that having right amount of throttle and steering could have done the work too. After all this is a AWD vehicle. But i guess i'll only try this in an open area. it's not a good idea to try this when you are about to kiss a wall.

 

[yxan2]

the DCCD if in auto mode would have tried to pull you out of the situation as long as you keep on the throttle. I have felt that feeling a couple times and it is sweet, mine have happend on a damp road and on a of camber turn in dry conditions.

but as has been stated before, these tires are slippery in the wet and AWD requires a bit agressive driving

 

[Singletrack]

Hey, The bridgestone tires we got on our STi are not as grippy as u think on wet surface. last week I exit into a roundabout then exit into a tunnel as usual. the road was wet, I applied the gas lightly at the roundabout just try to test the handling, then it started to skid and I let go of the gas and the car was back in track. Then after that I thought maybe I felt it wrong, there was no way the car skidded with this slow turn...but I was wrong...yesterday night I tried it again. This time I tried harder and the car almost spun out. At the point where I almost exit to the tunnel at the roundabout the car skidded to the right almost 90 degree and the car already entered the tunnel, then I steered all the way to the right immediately to prevent the car spinning, then the car skidded to the left, then I steered again and it skidded to the right, and then one more time the car finally headed straight. WoOo...what a relief...the car and I were unharm, and during that moment I didn't step on the gas or the brake at all, I just steered left and right.

Now here are my questions. If you do the same thing, would you expect the car will lose control? If the car starts to skid at the same place again, what do you think will happen if I steer immediately and then floor the car. Will the car be able to exit safely or will make things worse? I didn't dare to step on the gas at that moment because I was too close to a wall, my instant response was to steer. Should I have stepped on the gas?

Lift off oversteer - sounds like you juiced the throttle, the rear end came out, then you lifted off the throttle and the rear continued on the same plane it was on.

You would have been better off using a little throttle to correct. One thing I've noticed about this car is that it does understeer as every magazine has pointed out. However, the crazy amount of power it has allows you to induce oversteer, i.e. apply power, lift off, nose comes around, correct with throttle/steering.

-st