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Tips

Getting the tail out

Webb,

Sure, you can slide around, but that's not the fastest, safest or least likely to wear out your tires method of getting around a corner. Its also hard on the driveline components. Six cylinder Triumph motors have plenty of tourque if you really want to hang your tail out.

Now trailing throttle oversteer, that's a whole different exciting event
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Webb, I suspect you're eyeballing drifting one?
Well, the good news is it's pretty easy to get the tail out on one.
Bad news is it takes a real man and a helluva driver to keep it under control when it's out there, and it's only a matter of time until you break something. At least that's my experience with GT6s. The TRs are probably a bit more forgiving, but not that much.

240sx. That's your boy for drifting. Unless you just want to be different. If that's the case, two words: Turbo Volvo.
 
All you have to do to "get the tail out" in a GT6 is exceed the critical speed by about one percent on a curvy road. Then, it takes the skill of Michael Schumacher to get it back on track.

If the rear end of a GT6 stuck like the front, they'd still be racing them at LeMans.
 
Years ago when I had my TR-3, I could hang the tail out with little effort. Probably more a function of some hard Goodyear tires than raw power.
 
Webb,

I can get the tail out in my spit with minimal effort to do it and quite a bit of effort to keep it under control. I also agree with Ultimate Question on the trailing throttle oversteer.

Cheers,
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Walter
 
Remember that GT6's are tapered at the rear, so they'll slide through the shrubbery more easily when they go tail first off the road.
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Here's what you do. Bolt some temporary spares on the back at about 90 psi. That'll get the tail out real easy....once.
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I get the tail out all the time - when it rains. Scairy as heck! At the time I was running the 2.5 steering ratio. Don't EVER make that mistake....

Bill
 
trailing throttle oversteer - what I call a four wheel drift - it's one of life's great pleasures; maybe even qualifies as a transcendental experience. Probably comes from teething on a Bugeye, maybe being young 20s with a new Bugeye, maybe all of that and spending a couple weekends a month autocrossing. And that is exactly what I'd recommend to all of you guys who are backing away from this; go autocross and learn where the limits of your car are. Sure it's tough on the components, but it's also tough on the sofa to be sitting on it. And when, in a regular road situation, you get in a tight spot, having the back end break loose, it is no longer a frightening experience, but just an unexpected moment's pleasure, along with the great satisfaction of knowing that you have control of your car.
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I was about to give a small guide for sliding last night but due to myself being 19 and that I question my judgment sometimes I held off. But I think he'll figure it out any way.

If you want to see some good drifitng search for "supra drifitng" on kazaa or winmx and download a 4mb clip of a supra going around a track with incredible amounts of smoke coming from the tires. One of the best cars to learn fast driving is a mid 1980's toyota corrola gts with a dohc 1.6 litre engine and rwd. Try to find the initial D anime series since it is basically a cartoon that gives good driving tips and great computer generated driving scenes.

I learned a lot from my '90 ford ranger practicing drifting in dirt parking lots and then on dirt roads. I have a couple long scratches from bushes after loosing control. You will loose control and slide of the road at some point. I think almost everyone I know has done it. The best thing to do is practice in the rain or in dirt so it becomes natural to countersteer and it feels normal to not have traction. When you first start driving you will freak out when your car slides and will probably stab the brakes making the loss of traction even worse.

Depending on how brave/crazy you can get the tail to come out in a triumph or any other car for that matter. If I'm trying to scare some one I'll do a big downshift coming into a corner and jerk the wheel to the inside of the turn before the actual turn while under hard breaking. The spitfire will slide before the corner and straighten out after the apex in a spectacular fashion with lots of oversteer. Only do this in a safe place(parking lot, industrial districts etc) after lots of practice and after you have learned double de-clutching and get good at rev matching. Now you can also use power to drift around in the rain but I try to keep my car dry when possible. With so much negative camber in the rear I have to really take turns in the rain slow in the spitfire.

Now getting the car set neutrally and sliding all 4 wheels through a corner is a great feeling of accomplishment.

[ 04-06-2004: Message edited by: Jon12 ]</p>
 
If you really want to learn "fast driving/sliding" start with a motorcycle on dirt. Then go to the same antics on pavement. If you survive, driving a car the same way will be very easy. BTW, sliding all over the place & burning a lot of rubber is not the fast way to get around. Just a lot of show biz.
D
 
Oh I totally know and agree that drifting is very bad on all the car components, and that it is hard to control once you've got it going. I doubt I'll ever do it, I just wanted to know if it was possible and if they had enough torque. :-D

What's trailing throttle oversteer? Is it causing a slide by letting off the gas abruptly?

[ 04-05-2004: Message edited by: Webb Sledge ]</p>
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Eric:
Remember that GT6's are tapered at the rear, so they'll slide through the shrubbery more easily when they go tail first off the road.
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<hr></blockquote>
Truer words were never spoken.
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D
 
By the way, I should fess up. When I was 15, in Louisiana at the time 15-year-olds could become fully licensed drivers. As if that wasn't crazy/stupid enough, my first car was a GT6. And if that wasn't crazy/stupid enough yet, it was a Mk1. 1967 model.

Well, it seems I recall a day when I was bragging about how quick that thing was, and somebody bet me it wouldn't spin the tires.

Well, when the dust settled (literally) I had powerslid around the school's gravel parking lot for a full 60 seconds. The tricky part was shifting gears while maintaining the slide.

And I didn't know it, but the principle had watched the whole thing. Man I had some 'splaining to do.

And maybe it's a little redneck in me creeping out, but I still think flinging a vehicle sideways on a slippery surface just to see what she'll do counts as driver training.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by TR7/8 TPI:
[QB]I learned on the backroads of Misssissippi in my TR7 with a V8 and my brother's 280Z doing tons of powerslides which has made me a much better driver. I have been in many situations that many would think were panic situations that I just considered commonplace because of my earlier driving experiences[QB]<hr></blockquote>

I agree with most of what you say - Canadians learn all this stuff all winter. Practicing sliding in the snow is a standard rite of passage. My old TR8 was a fabulous powerslider. However, a TR7/8 with the live axle is a very different kettle of fish than a GT6. The swing axle rear suspension is very prone to trailing throttle oversteer. Once it lets go, it can be very hard to catch because the rear camber is so extreme that you don't have much rear tread on the road. The tuck under of the inside rear wheel can be so extreme you'll peel the tire off the rim. The rear behaviour of this car is very entertaining for an experienced driver, but not the place to learn.

Pickups are an excellent source of learning about oversteer, as is nearly anything with a live axle. Its not a question of being a puss - just about learning the ropes before you get in over your head.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by TR7/8 TPI:
Oh god, it's so politically incorrect to have fun driving nowadays it's makes me sick!
<hr></blockquote>

I couln't agree with you more. I was with 2 friends during a break between classes. I was sitting on a mcdonalds tray and holding on to rope attached to his tow hook while going through a nearly empty parking lot. The cops didn't find the humor in it and threatened to give me a no seat belt ticket, the driver a reckless driving ticket and have us suspended.

Four other guys I know have damaged their cars from loosing control and panicking. One just bought a used integra for $6,500. About 2 weeks after he had it he lost control after hitting the brakes mid way through a turn and damaged the bumper, radiator support, bent the rear suspension, cracked the transmission housing and blew out 2 tires for a grand total of $4,500 in damages. He almost hit another car and told me that he doessn't need to learn how to control a slide since he will just drive slower now.
 
One of my favorite stupid things to do in a car was to slide the mercedes sideways down the road at about 90 MPH to scare the heck out of passengers. Needless to say I have become smarter in the last few years.

Cheers,
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Walter
 
Jon12 - Nice to see there's someone else on here that's young.

As for my driving experiences, I had an S-10 with a manual and enjoyed my first winter in that. I ended up going off the road on a curve into a deep drainage ditch at about 40MPH and then jumping a driveway when I came up to the culvert and landing back on the road. I bent 2 rims, had 1 tyre go flat, broke the rear brake line, broke a body mount for the cab, and shook losse a whole bunch of parts that I never figured out where they went.
 
Webb--Aren't you the same guy that wanted to get a TR for transportation back and forth to school??!! and you wanted to know how to keep it in dependable shape ??
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