Re: Augered in my 5000s wagon!

[Bob@hpbs114.boi.hp.com, Kunz@hpbs114.boi.hp.com, <bkunz@hpbs114.boi.hp.com>]

> 
> > From: Bob Kunz <bkunz@hpbs114.boi.hp.com>
> > Subject: Augered in my 5000s wagon!
> > 
> > This was on a downhill left hairpin turn which I entered too fast. I had
> > been braking on the straight before previous turns and applying power
> > about half way through to bring the front end around. I simply entered
> > this one too fast and didn't have the room to increase speed to power out.
> > 
> > What would be correct technique for this situation? Is light application of
> > the rear brakes through the manual brake going to help? At the time I was
> > in 2nd gear (5 sp manual), engine at about 2500 rpm and about 20 mph.
> 
> When going into a corner "too hot", it is not generally a good idea to
> apply the brakes or lift up on the throttle any more that a small
> amount.  The best approach is to "ride it out" or as a former president
> would say "Stay the course".  Especially in FWD cars, lifting off or
> braking will cause a weight shift forward, which will increase
> oversteer, even to the point of the rear-end coming around.  I learned
> this on my '78 Fox in Syracuse NY.  Accelerating at the limit in an
> FWD vehicle will only make a wide turn wider.
>
> On Bosch ABS equipped FWD cars, one can apply the brakes in a curve
> with no problem as there is a rotation sensor in the ABS which will
> allow the system to modulate the brakes in order to prevent spinning.
> In a wet, greasy parking lot I verified this feature on my '92 100CS.
> Try as I may, I could not get the car to spin using the brake pedal.
> However, it was very easy with the handbrake or throttle.
> 
> I found a good technique for getting around corners quickly with FWD
> was to brake just before turning, thereby shifting the weight forward;
> this seemed to improve initial turn-in and reduced the tendency to
> understeer in the turn as well.
>
This car is ABS equipped and I did indeed brake before the turn but
still couldn't get the front to come around fast enough. Are you 
implying that I could brake through the turn and expect the front
wheels to actually turn the car? This was a downhill left hairpin
with a decreasing radius. The worst possible case.

I think my mistake was using the engine to slow the car down. I'll 
need to devise an experiment to safely test this and try to brake
through a turn with the clutch disengaged. Plenty on snow around
here these days. Thanks for comments.

--Bob