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General TR Scary reminder to drive carefully.

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TRspitfirefan

TRspitfirefan

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I'm feeling very blessed today. Yesterday I was driving my Spitfire on a local road that runs along the Mississippi river. There is a fairly deep ditch on the right side, out of which jumped a small deer, right in front of me! I was traveling at the speed limit of 50mph. When I applied the brakes, the back end of the car tried to jump out, then I over corrected and the car started going the other direction. Eventually I lost control completely and the car spun around and come to rest in the shallow ditch on the opposite side of the road. The whole thing happened very quickly and scared the living daylights out of me.
I didn't hit anything, so there was no damage to me or my car.....just my pride.:smile:

Drive safe everyone!
 
Scary stuff indeed. Glad all is well. Consider it a learning experience.
 
So is that at all normal for the back end of the Spitfire to jump around that way?

Just last Tuesday I also had a three point buck try to enter the roadway in front of me. I was able to lock up the front brakes and prevent a collision. The front end did not stay totally straight but the back end of the TR4 did stay behind me. And I stayed in my lane.
Charley :encouragement:
 
charleyf said:
So is that at all normal for the back end of the Spitfire to jump around that way?

Just last Tuesday I also had a three point buck try to enter the roadway in front of me. I was able to lock up the front brakes and prevent a collision. The front end did not stay totally straight but the back end of the TR4 did stay behind me. And I stayed in my lane.
Charley :encouragement:
Click to expand...

This is the first time I have experienced it, although I have always heard that the early Spitfires had a problem with "rear wheel tuck" during high speed cornering.
In retrospect, I probably could have caught the sideways slide if I had released the brake, but I guess it turned out alright anyway.
 
If your car doesn't have one, look into getting a camber compensator. I have a 1966 Spitfire Mk 2 with a camber compensator and it makes it very stable through corners. I have had one similar incident to yours, except it was a stopped car that decided to pull a u-turn in front of me. Jammed the brakes and the car stayed dead straight, and out of an accident (by luck). Nice car by the way, glad you and the car weren't hurt.
 
JKB1957 said:
If your car doesn't have one, look into getting a camber compensator. I have a 1966 Spitfire Mk 2 with a camber compensator and it makes it very stable through corners. I have had one similar incident to yours, except it was a stopped car that decided to pull a u-turn in front of me. Jammed the brakes and the car stayed dead straight, and out of an accident (by luck). Nice car by the way, glad you and the car weren't hurt.
Click to expand...

My car is not yet equipped with a compensator. Is Spitlist the best place to purchase one?
 
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