"Unstable Vehicles"? A Mater of Speaking...

[AutobahnSHO]

Haha, I once hit the gas really hard in the rain going in a straight line and the back started wagging around everywhere and all the other drivers just slowed down and stayed behind me a good distance for the next few miles.

                  

[r0tor]

That would fall into the "unexpected sh!t happens" category.  I doubt even ESC would have saved you in that case.  I was similarly caught by a patch of ice on an off-ramp several years ago.  I wasn't really going any faster than the car in front of me, but I happened to touch the gas when the back tires were on an icy patch and the tail end started to come around.  Then I caught dry pavement while sideways and trying to correct and ended up spinning completely out the opposite direction from how I started to slide.

You would be surprised how fast a dsc system can save your ass... a couple years ago I hit black ice in the middle of the turn and the backend snapped so fast I physically couldn't move the steering wheel fast enough to keep up.... in a split second later I heard a bunch of strange sounds and my car was perfectly straight

[r0tor]

The dsc system in my rx8 is really a moot point for me and I doubt I've turned it off more then a handful of times in my ownership... its limits are set so high that you can get a nice amount of controlled yawn action before it does anything.  About the only time disabling it is really needed is for doing donuts...

[sportyaccordy]

DSC systems can only anticipate so much. I remember when I floored that SL55 AMG into a turn how the car began to immediately go into a spin, and how awkward the DSC's reign in action was to catch it. Still fun

[2o6]

The kid is like 17 years old, give him a fucking break. Were you well versed in automotive physics at that age?

Thanks.

Not only that, but if a someone jumps out in front of you, do you automatically, 100% of the time remember to threshold brake, and such? NO. I've been living with this car for several months now, I'm pretty sure I know how to get around without ABS......this is not the first time where my wheels have locked up.




I know how to threshold brake, and contrary to popular belief, I DO know how ABS works, and a lot of other things, too.



I'm sorry if I don't come out the womb like freaking Michael Schumacher.

[2o6]

That's a horrible excuse for bad driving.  I agree it's probably not all his fault since we don't teach them nearly enough - we make police recruits and "retreds" and general re-training go on the skid-pad with the anti-locks turned off and they HAVE to be able to keep the car from a) locking up  b) going into a spinout  c) recover from an active spinout.  If they can't do it they don't pass.  There's gotta be a way to have the kids just learning go through something similar every year for their first 3 years so they get it engrained in their memory.

Yes, I'm a terrible person because I don't have years of experience and/or police training.

[Onslaught]

You would be surprised how fast a dsc system can save your ass... a couple years ago I hit black ice in the middle of the turn and the backend snapped so fast I physically couldn't move the steering wheel fast enough to keep up.... in a split second later I heard a bunch of strange sounds and my car was perfectly straight

Tell me about it. That stuff sounds strange.