180 Spin, very lucky Neil

Neil F · Post by **Neil F** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 8:39 pm

Hi,

I had a bit of an incident on the way into work this morning that I couldn't quite get my head around. It was very slippy but I was still a bit baffled, the back end on the ZS decided to just let go and point me straight towards the curb, so I steered the other way and over corrected, this went on a couple of times swinging like a pendulum! I just couldn't get it back, at which point I found myself heading straight for a truck on the other side of the road (thinking 'I'm going to find out if the airbags work'), last ditch attempt was to yank the steering wheel right round and pull the handbrake, this took me nicely through 180 degrees and back onto my own side of the road, narrowly missing the truck :shock:

fortunately there was nothing following me closely. So I sat in the road facing the wrong way before turning the car round and driving the few hundred remaining yards into work.

I think this may have had something to do with the incident...

Thats the inside edge of the drivers side rear tyre.

Cheers

A very lucky

Neil

fd. · Post by **fd.** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 8:52 pm

ouch, unlucky there m8.. glad ur ok .. could of been a lot worse considering the truck..

lost the back end the other day myself comming into my street.. so icy, luckily i was only doing about 5mph but still didnt expect it.

stuartm · Post by **stuartm** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:23 pm

Picked up the boss today,he had gone off the road and in a dyke.The 106 was on it's roof, half in water & was 20ft below the road :shock:

.He overcorrected many times but was not so lucky.The passenger side roof was ollocksed.He was in his suit with his briefcase all covered in mud & water.Been there an hour in the cold.

Leo · Post by **Leo** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:34 pm

Whoa Neill that sounds scary!

Glad you (and the car) are alright though

Dave400 · Post by **Dave400** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 10:25 pm

thats very nasty mate, was quite icy round my way this morning, felt the back end twitching alot, saw two cars that had spun/collided.

Last time I had a gash like that, it was the rear passenger tyre on a Nova Saloon, some arse had stuck a knife in it, but I didn't notice till I was half way round a Roundabout with a serious slide going on, before that a slippery roundabout where I did do a whole 180.

Glad to here you kept it together though.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 11:55 pm

Glad you are OK :!:

What rubber was on there and do you think its a design problem with anything on the rear (catching/rubbing/etc) ?

Steve

Steve220 · Post by **Steve220** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 12:03 am

i can't see the picture too well, but i see a bit of wear. I'm glad you're ok Neil, i span mine on a roundabout and i know its not a nice thing to happen

marko · Post by **marko** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 12:29 am

Eeew, rear blowout and a pretty biggun at that; about as nasty as they come!

Good idea with the last move though, if I'm not going to get it back at least its going into the ditch AWAY from the truck - not many people would consider that under the panic!

All's well that ends well; good journeys when you can walk away from the car, excellent ones when you can re-use it afterwards and all that....

Colin · Post by **Colin** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 12:47 am

Ste wrote:i can't see the picture too well, but i see a bit of wear. I'm glad you're ok Neil, i span mine on a roundabout and i know its not a nice thing to happen

Thats the second time in a week i've had to tell you to turn your monitor brightness up after watching them porn movies

Take notice!

Steve220 · Post by **Steve220** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 12:52 am

but i love it so :cry:

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 12:54 am

Now that is nasty, glad your ok!

radddogg · Post by **radddogg** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 2:49 am

[quote="SteveWhat rubber was on there and do you think its a design problem with anything on the rear (catching/rubbing/etc) ?

Steve[/quote]

I think it was a case of hitting black ice on a corner when decelerating. Weight shifts onto front wheels and off rears, rears lose traction and rear end slides. Only way to get it back is to get back on the gas and put the weight back on the rear. Don't wanna sound condascending though so sorry if I do. Glad you're ok though. You can fix bent metal, harder to fix broken bones.

Incidentally my sis spun her polo this morning in the ice too. Ended up facing the wrong way on the opposite side of the road. Lucky there were no other cars around at 9am.

Jonny 5 · Post by **Jonny 5** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:43 am

raddogg123 wrote:[quote="SteveWhat rubber was on there and do you think its a design problem with anything on the rear (catching/rubbing/etc) ?

Steve

I think it was a case of hitting black ice on a corner when decelerating. Weight shifts onto front wheels and off rears, rears lose traction and rear end slides. Only way to get it back is to get back on the gas and put the weight back on the rear. Don't wanna sound condascending though so sorry if I do. Glad you're ok though. You can fix bent metal, harder to fix broken bones.[/quote]

Can you not see the gash of several inches in the sidewall? :shock:

Neil F · Post by **Neil F** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 9:35 am

Hi,

I was actually accelerating at the time probably doing somewhere between 45mph and 60mph (can't be more exact as I wasn't really concentrating on the speedo when it happened

, and before anyone says anything it is a nice wide, straight, national speed limit road), I did keep my foot on the gas to try and pull it back in line, just wasn't having it

that's part of the reason I couldn't get my head round not being able to get it back, I thought I had done everything right).

It was the first time I have ever 'bricked it' in a car, I used to rally and have done a few track days including driving the Nurburgring at decent speed, I've had cars sliding big time, this was different, just felt like I was completely out of control :cry:

Fortunately luck was on my side this time, now I've just got to find a local stockist for a Michelin Pilot Sport 205/45/17 at short notice, I'm not driving 15 miles to work with the space saver!

Cheers

Neil

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:13 am

Neil,

Dont know if its of any use, but I have a good Pilot Sport in my garden which I took off when I changed the rear tyres..

Steve

Neil F · Post by **Neil F** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:26 am

Cheers Steve,

but I'll have one this afternoon, Leaseplan are picking up the tab, which is nice

, one of the few remaining advantages of having a company car.

Cheers

Neil

Steve220 · Post by **Steve220** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:33 am

Neil, could it have been a bit of diesel on the road at all do you reckon?

Neil F · Post by **Neil F** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:39 am

Ste,

I think it was the sudden loss of air from the tyre when it just decided to split. It's in the photo mate, probably just too dark to see on your screen.

;-)

Neil

Steve220 · Post by **Steve220** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:46 am

i can't get it any lighter, and Colin's on msn using a large amount of smilies making me feel bad

Glad you're ok though

radddogg · Post by **radddogg** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 6:31 pm

Jonny 5 wrote:
Can you not see the gash of several inches in the sidewall?

To be honest, I can't see the gash even with my monitor at full brightness and contrast. I just thought the damage happened during the spin not caused it.

Chris220SDi · Post by **Chris220SDi** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 7:21 pm

Christ glad your ok mate

jase · Post by **jase** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 5:36 pm

Neil, are you saying that tyre failure caused the lack of control? if youd asked me before hand id of put good money on you recovering it pretty quick. Im a bit suprised a rear tyre failure would be uncatchable.

The only time ive had a tank slapper that was un recoverable was in the snow. in that case i tried to pre-empt the next slap, corrected to early and slide sideways to a stop! Traction could be a link, but you should of had plenty on the factory recommended michelins.?

Glad you escaped ok tho, on coming traffic is a killer, literally, when your sideways!

A tip that few people seem aware of (have you come across this neil?) for recovering from 'oversteer' is to gently dab the brake, sounds backwards but done carefully does bring things into line far more serinly than a boot of power and oppo lock! (depends on circumstances of course)

J

Neil F · Post by **Neil F** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 6:14 pm

Jase,

in all honesty, I don't know, it was probably a combination of the tyre going, the slippery conditions and my actions, I was very suprised at how out of control it got though, my initial over correction probably didn't help though.

Yes they where the factory specced Michelins, just over 38,000 miles on that one with about 4mm tread left.

I've not heard of or tried dabbing the brakes to get back in line with a fwd car, but I'll give it a try next time I get in a nice wide open space, I plan on having a play with it over it's limits, just to see how it does react and get myself a bit of practice in safety.

Cheers

Neil

jase · Post by **jase** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 6:39 pm

Funny you should say over correction Neil, thats how i got in a state in the snow.
Still, i find it worrying that someone who knows what they are doing could 'loose' a front driver.

Lesson for us all i spose, we aint as safe as we think in our fwd's

J

Grant620 · Post by **Grant620** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 8:58 pm

I had a rear tyre failure which ended in me ploughing into the central reservation on the motorway, careering through 3 lanes of traffic and ending up on the embankment inside the hard shoulder!!
Believe me - this IS possible - and is the only time I've lost control of a car and been stunned by not knowing how or why!!

alexf2828 · Post by **alexf2828** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 9:08 pm

imagine if there was no speed limit like germany!

jase · Post by **jase** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 1:27 pm

Grant probably thought he was in germany!

they showed a video on the telly a while back of a plod senator having a blow out at 140. that was a bit scary to.

Mind, id rather have a tyre failure on a motorway at 100+ than on a B road at 50.....

Grant, isnt saying you were a bit stunned a small understatment!!!!

J

gta · Post by **gta** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 1:52 am

Nasty stuff, rear tyre damage is one of the worst things that can happen. Oversteer in a FWD aint pretty, great move on pulling the handbrake I shall remember that one if all else fails.

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:06 am

If you had posted today it would have been 1 year since the last response

Steve220 · Post by **Steve220** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:10 am

christ, old thread

gta · Post by **gta** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:21 am

Using search to check on lock ups, I had one at 60mph the other day. Wasnt nice, nothing obvious like this tyre thing though, except it was wet and the tread and pads are much less on the rears so

(me reads on)

Leo · Post by **Leo** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:51 am

This confused me so much, I was reading Neil's thread, thinking "Whoa, sounds nasty, glad he's ok tho".... then saw a reply from me!

Dave400 · Post by **Dave400** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 10:03 am

Leo wrote:This confused me so much, I was reading Neil's thread, thinking "Whoa, sounds nasty, glad he's ok tho".... then saw a reply from me!

Ditto, confused me for a second.. Then looked at the dates!

Rovertech 2.0

180 Spin, very lucky Neil

180 Spin, very lucky Neil

Re: 180 Spin, very lucky Neil