[wutdhec]

Hi All,

I nearly crashed my GTV6 today after making a left turn on a slick road (it rained here in LA today)...the back end broke loose and then it was really hard to stabilize the car. In my old Z28 and even my Spider, I can easily correct a fishtail, but wow, this was scary. I was oscillating left to right and finally thought to kind of release the steering wheel so the car would just correct itself.

Is there something very different about how to handle a GTV6 vs. other rear-wheel drive cars? Guess I need an HPD course.

 

[gtv27]

The weight of the transaxle means that they have more inertia in a slide or fishtail situation, this can make them tricky to recover beyond a certain point - relative to a 105 for instance, which you can pretty much slide onto the lockstops and still get it back. Some time on a skid pan would be well worth while to get a feel for it (esp if you are used to the spider, you need to reprogram the brain to catch the slides more quickly)

 

[Little Italian]

I've never been able to break my GTV-6 loose. Guess the tires are bigger than the balls!

 

[Greg Gordon]

Normally it's pretty easy to control the rear of the GTV6. I have only found it to be difficult when it's extra stiff in the back due to stiff springs, shocks, or some other mod. For some reason this car reacts badly to these changes. If the car is stock I suspect the bushings and shocks are worn out.

Greg

 

[Balocco211]

I think what you are describing is polar movement of inertia. The weight of the engine in front and transaxle in the rear (polar opposite) and reduced adhesion would causes the oscillating left to right. GTV6 are very stable at speed but are slow to steering inputs than a vehicle with weight bias in front or rear. GTV6 will start to spin more slowly giving more time for driver inputs; BUT, once the spin has started it takes more time for inputs to correct.

Also consider that LA streets haven’t seen rain in a while and the build up of oily **** getting wet can induce slide in reduced coefficient of friction. It would be unnerving in LA traffic in a car full of parts no longer available.

Sounds like you made the correct adjustments. Congratulations! Find a wet parking lot and do it again, and again.

 

[racingswim2006]

Hi All,

I nearly crashed my GTV6 today after making a left turn on a slick road (it rained here in LA today)...the back end broke loose and then it was really hard to stabilize the car. In my old Z28 and even my Spider, I can easily correct a fishtail, but wow, this was scary. I was oscillating left to right and finally thought to kind of release the steering wheel so the car would just correct itself.

Is there something very different about how to handle a GTV6 vs. other rear-wheel drive cars? Guess I need an HPD course.

There's a lot that could be going on in your situation...

Tires, road type, suspension setup, etc. etc.

That said, I'm with Greg on this one - the GTV6 and Milano are comparably easier to manage in a tail-out situation due to the wonderful balance. Also, they are extremely forgiving at the limits. However, if you let it go too long, or overcorrect, the momentum and front/rear balance can tend to make the back end want to continue swinging around.

Sounds like you need to get yourself to the race track/big parking lot with your GTV6 and familiarize yourself with it

 

[wutdhec]

Thanks for your input everyone. I guess its all of the above, I'm going to need to find a big parking lot and mess around. Its possible I was overcorrecting since I'm not familiar with the dynamics. Man, I wish I had a video of my incident...would be fun to watch in hindsight

 

[bshorey]

Thanks for your input everyone. I guess its all of the above, I'm going to need to find a big parking lot and mess around. Its possible I was overcorrecting since I'm not familiar with the dynamics. Man, I wish I had a video of my incident...would be fun to watch in hindsight

The Southern Cal AROC chapter is very active on the track. Consider spending a little money and learning about your cars handling in a safe, controlled environment. They have a drivers school coming up in October.

Highly recommended.

bs

 

[Gabor K.]

Here how to do it with arm out of the window Since you probaly have a 2,5L you should try it on wet ,on a safe place, until you get confident!

!

G.K.

 

[Hydro]

The same thing happened to me once when I was entering a freeway on ramp in the rain. I think it caught me by surprise because normally the rear end NEVER comes out on my GTV-6. Have to say it was really spooky. Fortunately the car ended correcting itself in spite of my inputs.

 

[GVVGTV6]

I found the gtv6 to be pretty darn predictable, I wonder how old your tires are? Might be worth checking the code on them. This happened to me a number of years back — I just wasn't driving the car much anymore and it when through a year of sitting while doing paint and an engine - the tires were letting loose very easily - they had plenty of tread but the rubber was just hard... think they were only 5 years old too... GV