Rain + RWD = Scary

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
stillmatic
Posts: 438
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm

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I probably shouldn't share this because I know what I did was really dumb. Let this be an example for those of you looking to f around in the rain.

My friend and I went to visit our friend's house. He wasn't in his driveway working on his bug like the usual, because it started raining when we got there. So I said f it, let's just go to the mall and come back later. While we were cruising at the mall, we saw our friend's cousin driving his own bug... BTW, this guy also owns an 89 or older 4dr Honda Civic with a B16a Del Sol engine (165hp stock). His Civic is really beat up giving it that ultimate sleeper look. It runs low 13s on the quarter mile with all N/A mods. No turbo or nos. He just got some cams, tuned ecu, and ported/polished the head himself. His dyno was somewhere around 200 horses.

The story about this guy is that he has always been talking sh*t about my car. He keeps telling me that I need to get an SR... Whatever. I told him I was going turbo with the KA, and he said it's not possible. I said, yeah it is, in fact a lot of people do it. There's even this guy with a 10second KA-T in Texas. Then that pretty much made him quiet temporarily. However, everytime I go to my friends house and he's there, he keeps telling me the same thing. Get an SR, blah blah. I told him I don't want to swap an SR in my car because I wouldn't be able to pass smog. I told him that if I'm going to do a swap then I'm going all out with an RB25. And again, he said it's not possible to put a Skyline engine in a 240. Geez, what is it about the SR and Honda folks? The sad thing about it is this guy really knows sh*t about cars, both domestic and imports.

Anyway, back to the story. So my friend and I saw this guy at the mall and started tailing him. Our cars were both fishtailing on normal turns (Both RWD). He tried to lose us but his small block bug that was just broke yesterday was too slow. He got us on the uphill because I had to wait at the stop sign but then I caught up with him on another stop sign. He made a right turn and fishtailed to my lane, and then something broke on his car. He pulled over, shook his head and smiled at us cause his sh*t just broke. LOL, we just smiled back.

So we went back to his cousin's place (our friend) and told him what just happened and left right away. I asked my friend if we should take the highway or just go straight from the highway intersection to his house, and he said just go straight. But then, I was like are you sure, because the highway is much quicker. The light turns green, and my friend said, okay, take the highway...

Here it is...

On a dry or not so wet surface, this would've been a regular getaway burnout turn, but since it was raining heavily here's what happened:

I made a left turn on the intersection then floored it to 6800rpm. My friend knew it was coming too. He said, here it is... The car starts fishtailing like crazy and then I tried to recover the steering wheel to the right. I ended up busting a half 360 spin facing the incoming traffic. We were lucky that their traffic light was still on red, otherwise, I would've crashed my 240 to someone else's car. So my car died out facing the incoming traffic, I start it back up and everyone was just looking at us. I got off the highway as quick as I could cause I know one of them is gonna call the cops on us. After I dropped my friend off, what I do see? 3 cops on the highway. I had to wait for them to go away before I went back home.

I know what I did was extremely stupid, and I'm not going to be f**king around for a while or maybe ever, but it's funny how my friend thought it was really cool. I was just like yeah, you like the way we were facing the traffic... and so on. He said, hell yeah! It would've been tight if we had it on video. Sigh.. I just went along with him cause we almost got into a huge accident.

Well, that's my story. Remember to play it safe in the rain.


IvoryJ30t
Posts: 3076
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2003 1:36 pm
Car: 95 Maxima GLE, 95 Maxima GXE

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yeah, made the same mistake with my old MR2. was going 70 around a 20 mph ramp to I287, racing my friend in a 84 thunderbird w/302. well, the radius of the turn reduces at the end, so i oversteer to the right, correct left, and wind up getting hit by a cherokee at a right angle. the cherokee was goin about 40, and spin me the other way around completely and totally tore up my car.

the moral of the story- just back off the throttle and gently correct.

180fan
Posts: 7799
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2002 12:16 pm
Car: 89 fastback

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well be grateful that you're still alive. Racing on the street isn't just dangerous for just you, it's dangerous for other drivers and shouldn't be done. If you lose your ride to your own actions, that's all on you, but if you mess up and drag someone else down with you that's not cool.

milo
Posts: 188
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 10:19 am

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At least you learned your lesson without getting killed/hurt/maimed/etc

:ylsuper

yeswepromise
Posts: 1853
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2002 10:12 pm

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i like the color of your car.

dima
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 2:13 pm
Car: my wife, cars, linux

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Well for this reason I got myself LSD. It shold help a little with sliding in the rain.

Altiman94
Posts: 5891
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2003 12:13 pm
Car: 1989 Nissan 240SX

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It's fun to slide in the rain, but can be dangerous. I actually like to mess around in gravel.

leftovercrizack
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yeswepromise wrote:i like the color of your car.


Ditto.

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-HyJynX-
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yea nice color man haha. At least your safe and you learned your leason

MainEvent212
Posts: 4182
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2003 1:21 pm
Car: 95 Nissan 240SX SE w/ SR20DET+goodies

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i've never spun out a RWD car before...and i've driven a G35 w/o tcs on in the rain many a time...weird...

guess im just a really good driver :rolleyes

Rockenreno
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i've never spun out, but I've been pretty sideways in the rain. Sometimes I just get too gas-happy. Best to be safe and gentle on the throttle in the rain though. Rather take a few extra minutes to get there in one piece.

stillmatic
Posts: 438
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm

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Well, I just got back from a party and some parking lot chillin at In-N-Out. Two guys came up asking if any of us (there were like 30 heads) wanted to run. They had a VW 1.8t and a BMW 3 series with a modded M3 motor in it. He asked me about my 240 and I was just making up some BS. I told him I have turbo and everything, so he was like let's go run then. I was like nah, I don't even have traction and I don't f**k with DSMs. Then later on I told him I was just making stuff up and he also told me everything about his car. I knew it was a beast too, dyno'd at 680hp. It was an auto, though. I think I could've taken the 1.8t but I didn't even feel like racing. I told them about what happened to me and my friend earlier, and he said I'm supposed to let go of the car and not try to recover. So that's prolly why I spun out.

I recently had my stock wheels/tires put on too and I'm running them at 40 psi all the way around. It's what my "mechanic" friend recommended... But cot damn, my car is really bouncy even on dry surface and my rear be wiggling even when I'm driving normally.

Oh yeah, I did burn a GSR with 4 people in it on my way to the party, that's why I didn't feel like racing no more. I only raced him cause I read his lips and he was making fun of my stock wheels with no hub caps and blingin tuner lugs. He didn't want to look at me at first but then I kept staring at him. It was just a friendly race. I let him catch up like 3 times, then I dropped the gear back to 3rd everytime he got closer. The guy gave me the thumbs up at the stoplight. My friend thought the Integra was gonna smoke me too..

Anyway, some of you guys are right. I'm glad I learned my lesson without getting hurt or hurting anyone. An hour after the incident, the cops closed part of the highway where it happened at. I was on my way to pick up my friend so I had to go around the highway. Then out of nowhere this f'ing E Class Mercedes started using his high beams then he cut me and the stang in front of me off. He did this in a 1 car lane 2 way residential street just to catch up to his friend. I was thinking, damn, I hope you crash into someone so you'll your lesson. I was so piss I f**kin did a wet burn out in front of him and his Camaro friend. Well, my wheels actually didn't have any traction but I meant to do it that way anyway.

Oh, and for those who are curious, my car color is Indigo Blue straight from Earl Scheib :D. Feel free to copy it because I don't really care at all. Just make sure you pay extra for the door jambs if you have your car painted over there.

240oz=drunk
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sliding in the rain can be very very fun if you know what your doing. but they key component in that is that well --you know what your doing. Take it one step at a time.

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Syntax360
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My first car was a camaro and I was terrified of the rain for prolly a year after I got rid of it. It seemed like every time it rained that camaro tried to kill me or put me in a ditch (no i wasn't playing around). Ever since every time it rains I have a decent stretch of road to myself and a turn coming up I kinda play just to get a better feel for sliding in the rain. It has saved me many times when I don't expect the car to slide and she starts too. Moral of the story - practice makes perfect? Glad to hear you/your car are all ok :-)

yeswepromise
Posts: 1853
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2002 10:12 pm

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how is the quality of the paint? is it messed up anywhere?man it looks hot. i am probably gonna do my s14 in a color similar to that one day down the road.

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D1SR240
Posts: 3232
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 11:55 am
Car: 2002 BMW M5
1991 Nissan 240SX

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live and learn

nissanrcer240
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stillmatic, what color was your car? did you get a complete color change? my car is the stock light metallic blue color but i wanted to get it painted, but not pay to get the jams, engine bay, etc. painted so im just doin the outside, so i was thinkin maybe just a different tone of blue, more of a deeper blue(alot of people call my car color purple, gets annoying) or lighter silver, but now that i see your car im thinkin the same color yours it, you got any other pics of it or a page with pics on it that arent flashing?

Jimmyg41
Posts: 53
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2003 8:02 pm

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I've always had RWD cars and let me tell you. My mustang would always want to swerve all over the place in the rain. I had to always take it very easy on the throttle when it rained.

stillmatic
Posts: 438
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm

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Stock color was burgundy. The paint job is alright. Earl Scheib doesn't use primer though. I suggest you guys buy your own primer and have them use it instead of their initial base coat.

I didn't know the door jambs were an option at $50 each, so my sh*t is still burgundy. It's all good because I'm going to paint them black. Never heard anything about the engine bay option. Earl Scheib are full of lazy people so I doubt they'll paint the engine bay even for $100.

I paid $250 for their Pro3 package. Add about $125 for the door jambs and hatch. $30 for extra clear coat and $50 for UV sunscreen. So for less than $500 you can get yourself a pretty good paint job. Pro3 also comes with their 6 year warranty. Oh, in case you guys didn't know, not all Earl Scheib shops are created equal, so please don't blame me if your car ends up looking sh*tty.

I have lots of pictures of my car, but I'm not about to upload em with my 56k modem. I'm switching to dark metallic blue as soon as I start seeing clones :D.

AceInhole
Posts: 478
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2003 1:36 pm

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It isn't RWD that makes the car dangerous, it's the nut behind the wheel.

Get a good nut behind the wheel and a RWD car is perfectly safe.Get a bad nut behind the wheel of a FWD car and he can snap- oversteer into a spin just as easily as you spun out by purposefully losing control of your car.

Now... RWD + power + good nut = loads of fun not having traction in 1 - 4.

gore
Posts: 230
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2003 11:06 pm
Car: 93 240SX hatch (ca18det)

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stillmatic wrote:I told them about what happened to me and my friend earlier, and he said I'm supposed to let go of the car and not try to recover. So that's prolly why I spun out.


I was goign to say that before I read that post, I swear to you I have the most fun in the rain. you dont have to worry about killing your tires! I'm a cheap bastard.

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240SX=fun4me!
Posts: 192
Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2003 5:23 pm
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Ever downshift from third to second to fast on a hill in the rain before? I have. Was kinda fun......until I remembered the guard rail on the corner I was downshifting to make. I jus tapped the gas a tiny bit and she gripped right in. I then proceeded after i got to the end of my turn to spin sideways a lil'.

I live in the middle of nowhere, I get plenty of time to practice being stupid.....SAFELY. So i'm a safe stupid person, which is better than an idiot behind the wheel stupid person...if that makes sense. :confused:

Surprisingly I find my 240 to act alot like my fourwheeler does in conditions.....which means more fun for me, cuz i have a good basis to work off of.

Glad ta hear ya lived and learned your lesson Stillmatic. I know some people who didn't get there second chance, be lucky you did.

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krazy skwerel
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stillmatic wrote:I was just making up some BS. I told him I have turbo and everything, so he was like let's go run then. I was like nah, I don't even have traction and I don't f**k with DSMs.


Was he offended that you called his Beamer a DSM? I know I would be. On the note of spinning cars. I spin mine at the autocross nearly as much as I make a turn. Not something to be proud of I know but damn it it so much fun. :D

Edit: I am assuming you know that DSM stands for Diamond Star Motors, Mitsubishi eclipses, 3000gt and their counterparts. I am pretty sure the 3000 is included in that group, but if I am wrong well **** it. :D

stillmatic
Posts: 438
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm

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krazy skwerel wrote:Was he offended that you called his Beamer a DSM? I know I would be. On the note of spinning cars. I spin mine at the autocross nearly as much as I make a turn. Not something to be proud of I know but damn it it so much fun. :D

Edit: I am assuming you know that DSM stands for Diamond Star Motors, Mitsubishi eclipses, 3000gt and their counterparts. I am pretty sure the 3000 is included in that group, but if I am wrong well **** it. :D


ROFL dood :ylsuper! I was actually thinking of DTM. LOL, but that guy wasn't offended at all. I guess he thought I was saying DTM. From what I remember, I asked him if he was on any website and he said something about dsm too. LOL, nice catch.

574-240sx
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Just shows you anything can happen, I know I found out. I liked playing in the rain just throwing the rear end out a little on the way to work. Now I can't because I hit a tree last weekend, and I wasn't even drifting. Nick

MarkEmark
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Any of you who are boosted know it's EXTREMELY dangerous to drive our cars in the rain.

Whenever I hit boost in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th (yes, 4th), my wheels start spinning (LSD) and it starts getting out of control. I never screw around in the rain (well, not really.)Maybe I should start fulling up with a full tank of gas and put some more weight back in the rear of the car :)

However, with my suspension, it's kind of an empowering feeling knowing how easily I can get it sideways...just a throttle tap away--and it does it so smoothly and easily it seems like it's right...it never hesitates or protests like most cars do that are at their limits...

dareo
Posts: 892
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2003 10:13 am
Car: 1993 Q45, 1989 240sx

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it rained pretty good here Sunday, i had the best time. I was drifting like a maniac all over the place. Luckily hardly anybody is out on the roads on Sundays here.

its all about the countersteering. Steer with the end and you'll drift, hold the turn and you'll spin like a top. Snow, rain and driving a chevy S10 pickup with a 4.3l Vortech taught me a lot about losing rear end traction hehe.

Practice, Practice, Practice

IvoryJ30t
Posts: 3076
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2003 1:36 pm
Car: 95 Maxima GLE, 95 Maxima GXE

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krazy skwerel wrote:Was he offended that you called his Beamer a DSM? I know I would be. On the note of spinning cars. I spin mine at the autocross nearly as much as I make a turn. Not something to be proud of I know but damn it it so much fun. :D

Edit: I am assuming you know that DSM stands for Diamond Star Motors, Mitsubishi eclipses, 3000gt and their counterparts. I am pretty sure the 3000 is included in that group, but if I am wrong well **** it. :D


i used to have one. 90 eclipse gsx in blue. thats thing was badass, but i was fixing it more than driving it. finally destroyed the center diff and sold it.

stock block and head, 2g manifold, o2 housing, big16g turbo, 2.5" downpipe, test pipe, 3" exhaust, walbro 255 FP, AFPR, 660 cc inj [rc], and fmic and 2g MAF w/ TMO ecu. [ACT xtreme 2600lb clutch and street disk]

oh, yeah. DSM- plymouth laser, eagle talon, mitsu eclipse3S- mitsu 3kgt, dodge stealth.

i was a dsm'er before i got rid of the eclipse and got the j as the next project.

IvoryJ30t
Posts: 3076
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2003 1:36 pm
Car: 95 Maxima GLE, 95 Maxima GXE

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i love those cars but they are a pain in the ***.

AceInhole
Posts: 478
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2003 1:36 pm

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MarkEmark wrote:Any of you who are boosted know it's EXTREMELY dangerous to drive our cars in the rain.

Whenever I hit boost in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th (yes, 4th), my wheels start spinning (LSD) and it starts getting out of control. I never screw around in the rain (well, not really.)Maybe I should start fulling up with a full tank of gas and put some more weight back in the rear of the car :)

However, with my suspension, it's kind of an empowering feeling knowing how easily I can get it sideways...just a throttle tap away--and it does it so smoothly and easily it seems like it's right...it never hesitates or protests like most cars do that are at their limits...


I guess I have to reiterate:Quote »It isn't RWD that makes the car dangerous, it's the nut behind the wheel.

Get a good nut behind the wheel and a RWD car is perfectly safe.Get a bad nut behind the wheel of a FWD car and he can snap- oversteer into a spin just as easily as you spun out by purposefully losing control of your car.[/quote]


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