So It Rained Today...

[RICCA]

mate, next time just select second gear

make sure your window is down

make sure your right foot is firmly pressed to the floor

and remember to shake your fist out the wondow while shouting "DORRRIFTOOOOOOO"

hahahahaha +1

Also yes If u knew how to drive

[bubba]

The only time my 32 has ever stepped out when I didn't want it to was when I had shitty LingLongs on the back. Couple the shitty tyres with rockhard suspension and a 2way diff, it was rather scary.

[syfon]

Haha its awesome

I went from my toyota paseo to my skyline and driving it in the wet for the first time is scary....the second that turbo gets any boost you start going sideways and sh*t yourself lol

Its good to learn how to control your car in the wet and know your limits aswell....

[MLCrisis]

and I was on the way up to the petrol station. was on the road, going 50km/h, braked down to 30, entered roundabout, got halfway through, let go of accelerator, turned to go around and started to lose the back end, corrected twice and was back on the road. OMG HEARTATTACK.

apart from my driving errors, what should i look at to fix the traction problems? tyres obviously, hicas maybe? the thing should be serviced anyway at this point.

auto r34 gt

There seem to have been a load of half answers to your questions and a lot of other stuff besides. In an attempt to pull it all together, please allow me to summarise - and hopefully answer your questions:

a) We don't get much rain here in WA. We also have loads of stone in the tarmac, so it does not melt in the heat. Deposits of rubber, oil and diesel/petrol residues build up on the tarmac/stone. Add water, via a passing shower, and it can become a skating rink in places. Roundabouts are particular favourites because people have fuel spillages and leave more deposits due to going around the corner.

b) Someone already mentioned "classic lift-off oversteer". If you are in a corner and lift off the gas, the balance of the car moves forward. I believe that the science is that it actually moves forward at a tangent to your turn, so a component of the force acts to the side as weight lessens on the back wheels, so on slippy stuff they then slide out.

c) If you have bald tyres, loss of traction is more likely. Some crappy makes of tyres don't perform too well in such conditions, even when they have loads of apparent tread. No tyres perform very well in such conditions.

d) Bugger all to do with HICAS, especially in an R34 which is third generation HICAS. If you are a high performance driver, who has developed a feel for a car over years of driving, you may be able to notice when HICAS does something in a high speed corner. Otherwise, for mere mortals and average drivers (and by the laws of maths, the majority of us are average drivers), you will not be able to tell when HICAS is doing its magic, but like many of the electronic driver aids out there, it is almost certainly helping you.

e) I would be surprised if you have any aggressive limited slip diff in your car. If it is factory, it may have a viscous LSD, not an aggressive mechanical one. So ignore that.

f) If you have non-factory suspension, especially anything that is set rock-hard, then that would not have helped. All that rock hard suspension does is rattle your teeth, destroy the normal, everyday road-holding and give you bragging rights for the few track days you manage to get to. If you have factory suspension, then that ain't part of the problem.

So, in summary: WA roads are very slippy in the wet; your tyres are worth checking; don't make any sudden control changes in a corner. Forget the rest.

Hope this all helps.

Cheers.

[kikutaknight]

be careful overtaking in auto as well. when mine was auto i went to overtake a bus in the wet and it kicked back on me and you recon you had a heart attack. sideways pass a bus on the opposite side of the road = not good

hehehe...wish i could have seen it.

[syfon]

There seem to have been a load of half answers to your questions and a lot of other stuff besides. In an attempt to pull it all together, please allow me to summarise - and hopefully answer your questions:

a) We don't get much rain here in WA. We also have loads of stone in the tarmac, so it does not melt in the heat. Deposits of rubber, oil and diesel/petrol residues build up on the tarmac/stone. Add water, via a passing shower, and it can become a skating rink in places. Roundabouts are particular favourites because people have fuel spillages and leave more deposits due to going around the corner.

b) Someone already mentioned "classic lift-off oversteer". If you are in a corner and lift off the gas, the balance of the car moves forward. I believe that the science is that it actually moves forward at a tangent to your turn, so a component of the force acts to the side as weight lessens on the back wheels, so on slippy stuff they then slide out.

c) If you have bald tyres, loss of traction is more likely. Some crappy makes of tyres don't perform too well in such conditions, even when they have loads of apparent tread. No tyres perform very well in such conditions.

d) Bugger all to do with HICAS, especially in an R34 which is third generation HICAS. If you are a high performance driver, who has developed a feel for a car over years of driving, you may be able to notice when HICAS does something in a high speed corner. Otherwise, for mere mortals and average drivers (and by the laws of maths, the majority of us are average drivers), you will not be able to tell when HICAS is doing its magic, but like many of the electronic driver aids out there, it is almost certainly helping you.

e) I would be surprised if you have any aggressive limited slip diff in your car. If it is factory, it may have a viscous LSD, not an aggressive mechanical one. So ignore that.

f) If you have non-factory suspension, especially anything that is set rock-hard, then that would not have helped. All that rock hard suspension does is rattle your teeth, destroy the normal, everyday road-holding and give you bragging rights for the few track days you manage to get to. If you have factory suspension, then that ain't part of the problem.

So, in summary: WA roads are very slippy in the wet; your tyres are worth checking; don't make any sudden control changes in a corner. Forget the rest.

Hope this all helps.

Cheers.

I couldnt agree with you more

[Ehgriez]

^^+1

[ash_29]

Why has no-one mentioned the obvious thing. R34 gt.... no LSD. Have fun in the wet with a single pegger bud hehe!

[drift spR33]

r u guys cracy the wet is sik 4 a bita shits n gigs drivin just gotta not be a dik ed and your fine

always slideways

[Ten Four]

^ lol... Took me ages to read and understand that.

[08yannch]

worst place to be for the first rain after a hot streak or for any rain is the roundabout on east pde in east perth just after farmer fwy

lol u have to take that at -15km or ur going to go sideways. lol first time around there i just rained and went to go around like normal speed hahaha i was sideways all the way round to brook st i got some funny looks that day.

also i know a girl trying to get on to Mirrabooka Ave from Boyare Ave after first rain she lost it panicked and went into a tree she was fine but the car was a complete totaled

[BANGN]

what the rain can do...

Before:

+ Horseshoe bridge with mild acceleration and not enough rear swing room at 80kmhr

After 8K damage

I have had 2 more R32's since then.. lesson learnt.. See if that makes you be more careful

[bubba]

Surely you don't mean the Horseshoe bridge?! htf can you do 80kmh on the Horseshoe bridge?!

[Char]

all 4 corners?

ping pong anyone?

Edited April 29, 2009 by Char

[big col]

I love the rain and my hard suspension... not. Sure it handles fantastically in the dry (which WA mostly is), but in the wet it becomes near impossible to drive normally. Even letting the clutch out near stall point on a slight incline and barely touching the throttle it will nearly always spin the wheels for a little bit. Just have to power through it and ignore the dirty looks from nearby drivers Anyway, no accidents but I definitely have respect for wet roads and don't do anything stupid (at least when there are other people on the road ). I drive slower/brake earlier than a grandma when it rains haha

[Psyrus]

Yeah I have pretty stiff suspension too [car came like that] and going through a roundabout I've taken for over 6 years now for the first time I lost control... horrendously scary when you don't mean to do it. Luckily it was @ 3am after work and I was able to counter-steer/fishtail it till it came to a stop (still on my side) so I was pretty happy with the end result.

[Neuroglider]

awesome, just bought my car..and SO not looking forward to driving it in the wet..:S

[djr81]

It is not your suspension, it is your tyres. Cheap shit tyres have stuff all grip in wet/greasy conditions. That is why you spend money on good tyres as opposed to spending money on panel beating.

[bubba]

It is not your suspension, it is your tyres. Cheap shit tyres have stuff all grip in wet/greasy conditions. That is why you spend money on good tyres as opposed to spending money on panel beating.

+1

[br3ndan]

It is not your suspension, it is your tyres. Cheap shit tyres have stuff all grip in wet/greasy conditions. That is why you spend money on good tyres as opposed to spending money on panel beating.

+1

So are both of you saying high end coilovers which are built to be STIFF... DO NOT affect your traction in any way at all?

Somehow i doubt this. If anything, its going to be a combination of the two. Having shagged suspension will also lessen your traction, as well as having over stiff suspension in the car in COMBINATION with sub standard or worn tyres.

Obviously this is because when you take off from a stand start, the car is unable to "squat" down which in doing so provides more contact with the road, hence more traction. (Which is why most draggers will use STOCK suspension, as its perfect for achieveing this)

The coil overs I'm using now are extremely stiff this is becuase that are the "drift" series of the the HKS Hipermax, which really is meant for race use only. According to HKS, they are stiff to help the driver enable to initiate the drift. After this a "helper" spring which is built into the rear coilovers then help to press the tyres to the ground, giving the driver more "feeling and control" on how his or her car is going. Due to this, HKS does recommend that the car with this suspension fitted uses "high grip radial tires" to help offset this.

Having said this, I am running street tyres on my skyline. Fed 595SS. 235 FRont and 255 rear. When taking off in the wet ( at normal speeds and revs) SOMETIMES my rear tyres will spin a bit. This is a COMBINATION between Feds being not to great in the wet and my suspension set up being too stiff.

However, when cornering, as long as i take it slow and be careful my car will not spin out or anything extreme like that.

Thats My 2 cents on the matter.