How U Drive In The Rain

[GreyWolf]

good accelerator control, esp in corners/roundabouts, will prevent car's rear from sliding out.

Edited April 13, 2010 by GreyWolf

[Ten Four]

+1 to GTRs understeer in wet. On my 33, I had shitty china tyres and it just ploughs straight ahead... Say doing 30 or so...

Just saying quality tyres are the go. Toyo proxe on mine = perfect traction all round. Full throttle 2nd gear (straight line) = no slide, minor minor shudder from gripping...

Also, I took my sisters s13 fairly quick through a corner, gripped like it was bone dry. (Michelin Pilot Sport)

Edited April 13, 2010 by Ten Four

[Niksmo]

2nd gear, turn.. floor it!!

but seriously good tires help (mine have saved me afew times) and keep off boost.

Edited April 13, 2010 by Niksmo

[niran]

I don’t mind the rain at all however i am a bit cautious and also leave a good gap from the car in front of me....loosing traction shouldn’t be a problem.. more the fact as already stated if you put your foot down, or hit boost in 1,2, 3 ish your most likely just going to get wheel spin.. well in my car anyways.

Defiantly do a wet day at AHG so you get use to controlling and don’t panic in case it does tend to kick out a bit.

[08yannch]

From a driver training course I did: pump your tires up. The intuitive thing would be to let your tires down right? Not so, because when you let your tires down, the centre of the tire makes less contact with the road. Even though it looks like you've got a fatter profile and its harder to steer so it feels like you're glued to the road - the middle bit that you can't see flexes upwards. It's only harder to steer because you're fighting the tire deforming due to lack of pressure. This also makes it more likely that you'll have a blowout - the tire wall is contantly flexing as it goes round and round so it heats up and wears faster.

Tires are actually a form of pump, that's why you have ridges in them - to pump the water away from the contact surface and out the back. Good contact = good tires. Letting your tires down in sand works because you're on a loose surface that changes its profile when you roll over it - so you want your tire to deform with the surface. Roads are hard so you don't want deformation .

Related: Manufacturers recommended pressures on your placard are actually a trade-off between ride-comfort and safety. If the placard says 32, go 36 or even a bit more. Uneven wear (when the centre of the tread wears faster than the outside) only really happens when you pump up to ludicrous pressures. Also, if you're running low-profiles, ignore the placard completely and run a few PSI over the manufacturer's recommended pressure.

I shit you not, since I started taking this advice - you have to be REALLY trying to break traction, it won't "just happen" and my tires are lasting a LOT longer.

thx 4 the advice my tires call for between 38 and 44 mine were at 35 this week pumped them up 2 day because just realized (yes i know im terrible) there now at 40 and will be putting them to 45 tomorrow.

and to all those saying that ppl that loose it are shit. back off its not like we try losing it. its dangerous as u will just slide across the top and have no control i saw a friend go into a tree trying to drift in the wet so thats the last thing i try to do.

the areas i have problems is were there are cars that stop and weight eg lights, stop signs etc. so hmmm stuff it im going to take of super slow stuff every body behind me im going to be the old granny driver for once.

[ossie_21]

So many hero drivers in this thread lol. Yes, you are better than everyone

[diamondjo]

So many hero drivers in this thread lol. Yes, you are better than everyone

Haha, true true.

Also, to be fair, I noticed that my first skyline (with stockies and cheap "get-er-complied" rubber) was a bit tail happy going round corners in the wet. I swear this is without being a tool or deliberately trying to over-cook it. There was one particular corner (Beaufort and Grand Prom) that really used to scare the shit out of me because of the angle you're going uphill as you're coming out of a corner.

Until I got wider rims and better tires I just had to take it REAL easy in the wet. By that I mean "driving miss daisy" not "still going too fast, just a little bit less so". The camber was out also when I first got the car so this may also have had something to do with it.

[inthisglass]

drift practice.

[ix9]

The only time I've lost traction unintentionally is crossing an intersection with oil on the road. Smarten up people.

[Neuroglider]

lol take it easy and stay off boost around corners...

and kark, agreed drift practise

[SKYRYAN]

Karl, remember we just finished installing Teins and it started to rain

[bubba]

"Losing it" implies to me that you have swapped ends, getting a bit tail happy isn't "losing it".

Tyres also do make a HUGE difference.. when I had 34GTT rims on my skyline, they came with Linglong tyres on the back..turning a corner at any speed, and any throttle, in the wet and she would step out (maybe the 2-way AND the shit tyres had something to do with it).

+1 on the skidpan, learn how your car reacts in different situations and build some confidence to deal with those reactions. No need for the ZOMG IT WENT SIDEWAYZ shit.

Edited April 14, 2010 by bubba

[Mr. Keets]

off boost (most if the time ) andI 'm careful with the understeer. Especially when it's the first rain in a while.

[gfunkk]

why are silvias and skylines so slippery in the wet?

when im in a normal car with someone and they go round a corner fast sometimes i shit myself thinking the car is gonna loose traction but it doesnt

[diamondjo]

Can I also ask (as I really haven't been keeping up with the forum for a few months), will SAUWA be organising a day on the skidpan sometime soon - for just this sort of thing. I'd be interested. - - Picking up the new 'line today! WOOT!!

[GTR-N1]

Skidpan in a FWD > RWD > AWD with equally good tyres on each.

After a long dry spell, when the rain comes down & the oil sits on top, a new dimension is created.

Besides tyres and brakes, other variables include worn suspension, taking the correct line, brake early before the apex and not late yaddayadda

[ichizora]

why are silvias and skylines so slippery in the wet?

when im in a normal car with someone and they go round a corner fast sometimes i shit myself thinking the car is gonna loose traction but it doesnt

by 'normal car' I'm assuming you mean FWD shitboxes like the excels and rollas... My explanation would be that RWD silvias/skylines would have different steering dynamics to the FWD (you can't get oversteer with FWD). And on top of that you probably have firmer spring rates which tend to transform your cornering force into lateral movement, while the excels/rollas have soft soft suspension which means they get more body roll (safer).

[slothvr4]

Skyline stays inside and the echo comes out dont trust other drivers(Holdens) in the wet...

[1R34SON]

How do i drive in the rain? Um normally i just drive like everyother day. Are u people doing 100k's into corners or somesh*t? Harden up and stop drivin like spastics. Otherwise people in Canada etc put chains on their tyres, give that a shot.

[08yannch]

How do i drive in the rain? Um normally i just drive like everyother day. Are u people doing 100k's into corners or somesh*t? Harden up and stop drivin like spastics. Otherwise people in Canada etc put chains on their tyres, give that a shot.

so u can honestly say that u have never stopped at lights were there is oil and lost traction. or driven a auto that has hard shifted from 1st to 2nd around a corner.

i know i dont drive like a spastic having never smashed in the rain and only smashed once on dry but i was not at fault. i drive with my lights on and leave extra space i just guess i take of a little 2 fast 4 my car. but thats the thing i can take of 2x faster in other cars so why do skylines seem to not like the wet (going by what other ppl are posting its not just me)