Almost a total disaster!

I entered the motorway as I usually do (a fair amount of acceleration but nothing over the top). The road surface was slightly damp. All of a sudden my car was fish tailing all over the place then heading sideways.

All I can say is I was damn lucky not to spin out or hit anything. I have no idea how I managed to keep from hitting anything to be honest. All this in a totally stock car with traction control.

I can tell you it scared the hell out of me! I was shaking all over. Not a pleasant experience at all.

I think I need wider tyres!

:eek: VERY glad to hear you're OK Speccy. Your wheels too. Just remember that things like traction control and 4WD etc do not affect the adhesion of your tyres to the road. I had similar problems last night in the rain. Nearly ran up the back of someone.

:(
Oz

I tell you it was a very scary experience.

My tyres aren't anywhere near wide enough for the wheels (they've got the Japanese drift look about them!).

I'm just thankful the sun's out again and the roads will be drier for my drive home tonight.

These are the tyres:

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/products/car/treads/gIII.asp

"The Bridgestone Potenza GIII is a high-performance sports tyre that offers class-leading manoeuvrability in both wet and dry conditions".

I don't think so Tim! My Toyos were MUCH better!

Glad to hear you're ok....sounds to me like hydroplanning..are your tires worn or do you have summer dry traction tires?

anyway the wider tires won't help you with hydroplaning...what is important is the tread pattern...you need something with good watter evacuation

oh and another thing that really helps me to deal with nasty situations are my autox courses...it really teaches you to control the car at its limits and what to do when you mess up...all under a controlled environement

IMO lesons leaned at a pro driving school or some autox(or whatever you guys have in NZ) are priceless

Wider tires will only make it worse...at least in rain. All-season tires suck too. toyo Proxes Ra1's are the best damn tires for rain, $150 each (in U.S.A). They're expensive, but wouldnt you pay that much for tires just to be sure you won't slide on water?

Good luck, and I hope that doesnt happen agian.

we don't have those tires in the US so i don't know anything about them...but if you don't like them get rid of them ASAP...tires are by far the most important part of a car

oh and i have a question...you have a a Gt-s right? Does it come with the fancy 4wd and all wheel steering as the GTR?

hmmmmmm.....I'm not going to say hydroplaning- due to the surface being only SLIGHTLY damp- but the tyres are either worn or the surface did have something to do with it (Since motorways are tar-sealed) I'd suggest a Holden/Ford/BMW advanced driving course- they are magic for preventing these types of things

Good to know that nothing bad happened as a result.It may be a stock car,but it's not a stockcar! Take care until you get some reliable rubber,and I promise not to make comment based on driver gender,or driver location... :grinno:

It definitely wasn’t aqua planing. The roads weren’t wet enough for that.

Also the tyres have a good amount of tread on them and are apparently supposed to be a very good tyre.

I had Toyo T1 Proxes on my 17” rims before I got the 18s and they were AWESOME! Didn’t make any difference if the roads were wet or dry. They stuck to the road like glue. (Integra818 I think they might be the same ones you mentioned).

I miss my Toyos!!!! :crying:

I miss my Toyos!!!! :crying:


hint hint moondog;)

The T1 is the one that has the 'V' looking thread, right? The one I mentioned was the RA1 which is street-legal but wears out quickly (has a threadwear of 40).

I say you go back to the T1's, you seemed to like them when you had 17s :)

Awww, glad to hear you're ok, I use federal 205/40's and I love em.

hint hint moondog;)Moondog's spent enough on me lately!

Will have to wait until after Christmas. I'll just have to be very careful in the wet. Luckily it's Summer over here so shouldn't be too bad.

The T1 is the one that has the 'V' looking thread, right? The one I mentioned was the RA1 which is street-legal but wears out quickly (has a threadwear of 40).

I say you go back to the T1's, you seemed to like them when you had 17s :)http://www.frisbyracetire.com/T1Spage_1.htm

These are the ones I had on my 17s. Great tyres. :)

Speaking of close calls, nearly the same thing happened to me a few days ago, it was an uphill 90 degree turn, I was going 40 and didn't see that there was water on the corner until I was right on top of it. A little fishtailing, some frantic steering and a right foot glued to the floor put everything back in order - good thing nobody was coming from the oposite direction!
And just a couple days ago, I very nearly rolled an elderly Renault Le Car (R5) going around an uneven corner a bit to fast - I'm still surprised I didn't end up upside down, and it's a good thing too, as I didn't bother with seatbelts while driving it.
Anyway good tires are no replacement for a good driver, it's good thing you were good enough to get everything back under control without destroying property or senior citizens.

Spec - I'll do you a favour. I'll take both your 18" rims and 17" rims, whack 'em on the Rolla and let you know my pick and why :)

I should also mention that I will be keeping both sets in return for this service. :icesangel

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. My heart stopped when I got the phone call informing me about this. :( Guess driving in the GTt in the wet will have to be just like my 25t when I had those crappy GT radials on it. Get beaten by nanas in Daihatsus if it's wet :(

Lol, like my CRX in the wet when I had the standard 14 inch rims on it, not even the "Wet power control" button (aircon, which stole power) helped me take off at the lights without more wheelspin than I can get in the dry on purpose.

I'm glad no harm befell you. You're going to need a lighter touch to keep that little beast on the road.

hey, when u crash that skyline......

let me have the rb25det for my 240 :)

Strange, it almost came true...

-Grendel

The important thing is that Spec is okay. :D The next important thing is that the CAR is okay. :p

Someone needs to be more gentle on the "skinny pedal". ;)

yep - I was so relieved that nothing bad had actually happened. Still not quite over it though. She's not allowed to do that again. Going sideways is one thing if you mean to (not that we ever do, occifer :p ), but when you're not expecting it, it's totally different. Just as well the motorway was relatively clear, and the cars that were there were all in the far left lane.

Strange, it almost came true...

-GrendelI must say that thought crossed my mind too. He must have jinxed me! :p

Someone needs to be more gentle on the "skinny pedal". ;)The scary thing was that I didn' really give it that much either. :uhoh:

Don't know if I want to do any modifications to make it faster!

Don't know if I want to do any modifications to make it faster!
hehe - stealth. Quietly fast. :D

Here's an idea- I give you my FWD Civic and I'll take your RWD Skyline- fair trade right?


least you won't lose it in the wet again :p

The scary thing was that I didn' really give it that much either. :uhoh:

Don't know if I want to do any modifications to make it faster!


but you want some brake modifications speccy! :biggrin:

Its good to know that your ok spec.

I must say that thought crossed my mind too. He must have jinxed me! :p
im sorry! lol

go EASY ON THE GAS~!

and bridgestones NO

yokohoma!

man, u guys are sssoooo lucky....dont have to pay 90 grand for r34 GTR :-(

:biggrin:

damn Andy you should just nswap cars with me and all your problems would be solved :)

But yeah that rain today mae the roads slipperyer (spelling) than they were all winter

:biggrin:

Bridgestones!

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:


For NZ conditions they one of the worst tyres in existance.
Even my crappy Prelude with all of its 100hp will light a set up in the dry, then squeek going in 2nd and 3rd! :lol: :lol: :lol:
In the wet you can imagine how bad they are on a FWD car, especialy one thats all front end, and so all understeer, I managed to bumb the fronts up against the kerb the other day when I entered a corner a bit fast, and Iv gone for more than a few skates.


For Kiwi roads the best tyres I have ever used where some Yokohamas, I ran them on both the Civic and more importantly on the Triumph, which is about the same size and weight as a Skyline. It loved them, and they lasted extremly well given the abuse I threw at them.
Uniroyol are a close second, beating the Yokos in the wet, but don't quite have the same limits in the dry.
Forget about anything else, Toyo's are nice, most of the Elise owners switch to useing them, but they are to soft for a big car, and although cheaper simply won't last long enough to justify it.


But Spec2, it sounds to me like its time you had a proper offensive driving course. The BMW, Jaguar and Lotus car clubs run a combined one every year which is awsome, it consists of laps of Puke with experianced race drivers and gives you some free time as well. I spun my kit car there about 3-4 times but learned more than I thought possible about car control.
I acredit what I learned then with saving my life, or at least serious injury at Easter when someone decieded to drive into the Civic. I used what I learned at the training day to go around instead of into the car comeing at me, and although I got hit hard, and still wraped the car around a post, if I had just tried to hit the brakes, or panicked and done nothing I would have gone straight into the side of them, which given the speeds involved would have been extremly nasty.


I recomend getting some track time in the Skyline, find a club running a track day and use your membership with SDU to get in, or even better get the SDU to run one. If your no longer SDU members then join the South Auckland, or Auckland sports car clubs.
At the track day ask around to see if someone with lots of experiance would be willing to ride along and do some teaching.
Theres nothing like actualy losing control and going madly round in circles to truely learn how to control your car.
If non of that is possible then as Jimster suggested at least do one of the skid training course run by Holden, or the place in Manakau.

The only way to learn control is to lose it.