Fishtailing to an extreme, anyone???
bmwboy
09-28-2005, 05:44 PM
I was wondering if there is anyone else doing this it's not a usefull racing technique, but more of a fun thing to do... however it can be dangerous at times especially at higher speeds... for the ones who don't know how its done here is a site that explains it :
http://loss4words.com/4fs/writings/fishies.htm
This is one of my favourites during the winter although i have also done it on wet surfaces, it's best done on snow... I have tried it in a fwd , but since i have been driving rwd for the last 3 years I have had more experience with that... this is easily performed at speeds of 40-60kmh i have done it even with 90 kmh however as I decided to quit I let go off the gas too quickly and almost span out (it can be very dangerous at times) I also witnessed once an audi quattro fishtailing with 120-130 kmh on a snowy highway... basically it should be done until the car grips itself but I have never had the combination of balls and share stupidity to take it that far... Has anyone done so?? any experiences???
http://loss4words.com/4fs/writings/fishies.htm
This is one of my favourites during the winter although i have also done it on wet surfaces, it's best done on snow... I have tried it in a fwd , but since i have been driving rwd for the last 3 years I have had more experience with that... this is easily performed at speeds of 40-60kmh i have done it even with 90 kmh however as I decided to quit I let go off the gas too quickly and almost span out (it can be very dangerous at times) I also witnessed once an audi quattro fishtailing with 120-130 kmh on a snowy highway... basically it should be done until the car grips itself but I have never had the combination of balls and share stupidity to take it that far... Has anyone done so?? any experiences???
Ridenour
10-02-2005, 09:47 PM
"Straight-line drifts", anyone?
Yes I have a FWD Grand Am GT, and there's many a beautiful perfectly flat gravel road near my house, with level fields on each side = ditchless = nothing to hit when loosing control. I've performed many a mad set of straightline drifts going down those stretches. My avg speed was usually around 45 mph, and my top once was about 60ish on a whole stretch.
It really wasn't too hard at all. I'd imagine it'd be more difficult on dry pavement though. My steering and throttle movements were sort of buffered / cushioned on the gravel, allowing more margin for error / correction I believe, then say on pavement. It was a lot of fun though, and never had any mishaps. Even if I did totally lose it, whenever I was doing it there was nothing to hit / rip up my suspension. I stopped doing it however, do to the fact that I have bad struts, and they need to make it through this winter (I'm waiting for KYB's AGX series for my car) - and I just got new tires; so no more beeting on my cars suspension / tires. It was fun back in the day, but I need to rely on my car too much nowadays to haul my ass 70+ miles per day.
Yes I have a FWD Grand Am GT, and there's many a beautiful perfectly flat gravel road near my house, with level fields on each side = ditchless = nothing to hit when loosing control. I've performed many a mad set of straightline drifts going down those stretches. My avg speed was usually around 45 mph, and my top once was about 60ish on a whole stretch.
It really wasn't too hard at all. I'd imagine it'd be more difficult on dry pavement though. My steering and throttle movements were sort of buffered / cushioned on the gravel, allowing more margin for error / correction I believe, then say on pavement. It was a lot of fun though, and never had any mishaps. Even if I did totally lose it, whenever I was doing it there was nothing to hit / rip up my suspension. I stopped doing it however, do to the fact that I have bad struts, and they need to make it through this winter (I'm waiting for KYB's AGX series for my car) - and I just got new tires; so no more beeting on my cars suspension / tires. It was fun back in the day, but I need to rely on my car too much nowadays to haul my ass 70+ miles per day.
323
10-29-2005, 12:53 AM
I own a 1992 mazda 323 FWD automatic. Ive been practicing fish tailing in the last winter. One night, I was going back to my college dorm (300 km away from home, on a empty snowy highway) and I did at least 1/3 of the distance drifting and fishtailing at speeds up to 140+, but at an average of 120-130 km/h. It is not really hard to do as long as you raise the speed progressively. The opposite-lock of the steering was about 1 complete turn @130kmh.
Last summer I decided to try it on dry roads. I went progressively up to 140 km/h (but of course loosing speed very fast when starting it, down to a steady 100-110 kmh), with 3/4 turn of opposite steering correction, and full lock at speeds of 85kmh. The most challenging is to keep a constant speed, with full throttle. Since the drift is not started by lift-offs, and the flick must be really rough, there is little room for mistakes. I gaved rides to a few people, and they just could'nt believe such maneuvers were possible in a mazda 323.
I had the chance to witness a courageous - but definitly crazy driver who had little experience with drifting who decided to slide his dodge Neon at 170 from one highway lane to an other. Totaly reckless, but how stupidely impressive!
One important thing that can be said is that spining out a few times under 80km/h is acceptable. Minor damages could happen, like bending the wheels, and breaking the frame, but unless there is a pole or anything else to hit, chances are you would'nt get hurt. But at highers speeds, be certain that you will NOT spin out. Before going over 80, be certain of having a very good feeling for the limit, position and mouvements of the car.
Last summer I decided to try it on dry roads. I went progressively up to 140 km/h (but of course loosing speed very fast when starting it, down to a steady 100-110 kmh), with 3/4 turn of opposite steering correction, and full lock at speeds of 85kmh. The most challenging is to keep a constant speed, with full throttle. Since the drift is not started by lift-offs, and the flick must be really rough, there is little room for mistakes. I gaved rides to a few people, and they just could'nt believe such maneuvers were possible in a mazda 323.
I had the chance to witness a courageous - but definitly crazy driver who had little experience with drifting who decided to slide his dodge Neon at 170 from one highway lane to an other. Totaly reckless, but how stupidely impressive!
One important thing that can be said is that spining out a few times under 80km/h is acceptable. Minor damages could happen, like bending the wheels, and breaking the frame, but unless there is a pole or anything else to hit, chances are you would'nt get hurt. But at highers speeds, be certain that you will NOT spin out. Before going over 80, be certain of having a very good feeling for the limit, position and mouvements of the car.
nismowu
11-01-2005, 10:46 PM
I saw few video clips couple years ago....
some dude....from India I think, I'm not sure.
He was fishtailing about 80~120kph on highway with medium traffic....
and he was driving a 2002 Camry!!
plus, he was not alone, he did that with his family, again with his friend,
then again with more friends.
crazy....
I was wondering if there is anyone else doing this it's not a usefull racing technique, but more of a fun thing to do... however it can be dangerous at times especially at higher speeds... for the ones who don't know how its done here is a site that explains it :
http://loss4words.com/4fs/writings/fishies.htm
This is one of my favourites during the winter although i have also done it on wet surfaces, it's best done on snow... I have tried it in a fwd , but since i have been driving rwd for the last 3 years I have had more experience with that... this is easily performed at speeds of 40-60kmh i have done it even with 90 kmh however as I decided to quit I let go off the gas too quickly and almost span out (it can be very dangerous at times) I also witnessed once an audi quattro fishtailing with 120-130 kmh on a snowy highway... basically it should be done until the car grips itself but I have never had the combination of balls and share stupidity to take it that far... Has anyone done so?? any experiences???
some dude....from India I think, I'm not sure.
He was fishtailing about 80~120kph on highway with medium traffic....
and he was driving a 2002 Camry!!
plus, he was not alone, he did that with his family, again with his friend,
then again with more friends.
crazy....
I was wondering if there is anyone else doing this it's not a usefull racing technique, but more of a fun thing to do... however it can be dangerous at times especially at higher speeds... for the ones who don't know how its done here is a site that explains it :
http://loss4words.com/4fs/writings/fishies.htm
This is one of my favourites during the winter although i have also done it on wet surfaces, it's best done on snow... I have tried it in a fwd , but since i have been driving rwd for the last 3 years I have had more experience with that... this is easily performed at speeds of 40-60kmh i have done it even with 90 kmh however as I decided to quit I let go off the gas too quickly and almost span out (it can be very dangerous at times) I also witnessed once an audi quattro fishtailing with 120-130 kmh on a snowy highway... basically it should be done until the car grips itself but I have never had the combination of balls and share stupidity to take it that far... Has anyone done so?? any experiences???
bmwboy
11-06-2005, 07:53 PM
ummmmm 140 kmh in a fwd fishtailing, and your still alive to post this message, I am sorry but I can't imagine fishtailin with 140 without spinning out, you are literally gambling with your life because everyone who has done it knows what happens when you lose control you spin out and you hope nothing will come in your way (locking all 4 wheels helps because then u just continue drifting foreward down the road instead of hitting something, this is only works in cars without abs) especially the fwd is easy to lose control of even at lower speeds like 60kmh... BTW where do you live??
323
11-14-2005, 07:33 PM
I live in Canada, the best place for ambitious/reckless driving I guess. I know what you mean by spinning at high speeds, it happened to me a few times on a Rotax Kart@120 kmh. I was also doing it for fun at low speeds in dry parking lots. Sometime it can be possible to reverse the car in the right direction, especialy on dry surface. Maybe ill do a video this winter for all the sceptical of FWD drifting@140.
bmwboy
11-15-2005, 09:35 AM
Great idea :) I was thinking to do the same last year with my old e30 BMW, which was the tail happiest car I've ever driven... now its sold :( and the new one is not worth risking, then again I still want to make a video (probably will...)
Btw I live in Finland and we also have great drifting conditions during the winter
Btw I live in Finland and we also have great drifting conditions during the winter
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