Got scared?

[Local Boy]

Got a bit of a scare yesterday. I usually 'am traveling with the kids, so I don't have many opportunities to take the car to the edge. Well I was alone, and wanted to hang the car out to get a feel as to how it will handle in extreme situations.
Here's what happened... I approached the freeway entrance...no one around (ahead or behind) upon entering the freeway (two lanes)there is a sweeping right hand turn. So I hit it, wanting to see how this car handles high speed turns. Got up to a few ticks before the three digit mark, turned into the inside lane looking to work the apex of the turn. You well know the lateral G-forces kind of pins you to the door (pushes left) while turning right. Well the car is flawless smooth and turning like its on rails. This is when the excitement begins. Before I get to the apex, I see traffic merging on to the right lane. No problem, I start letting the car drift (left)out to the outside lane. That's when it happened! I hit a dip in the road, turning right...drifting left...at a high rate of speed :eek: I feel the suspension compress fully (did not bottom out), I imediately let off, and straighten out as much as I could (trying to avoid spining out after suspension rebounds) with out going into the grass medium, while bracing for the suspension to rebound. I feel the car lift (rebound) and become very light :eek: Not a good feeling! :shake: Still with a good amount of G-forces pushing left. I thought I was going air borne SIDE WAYS :eek: and prepared for the worst. I quickly glanced at the grass medium to try to plot how and where I would slide this rocket and avoid oncoming traffic. A quick prayer that the tires stay in contact with the road happened just then. In short, my prayers were answered. The suspension did what it was designed to do and kept the tires on the ground. :banana::party::party::party:: party:The car tracked beautifully and went the direction I pointed it. In retrospect, I think straightening out before the rebound saved it for me. I do believe if I had kept the tires turned (during the rebound phaze) I certainly would have spun out because of the weight transfer.
I post this in hopes it will enlighten others NOT to do the same thing. Important lessons learned here! I don't intend to do THAT again!:o But knowing the car will respond to my actions is comforting. No high speed testing! :bows: Done, finished, caput, over!!! I'll go back to driving it like I do when I have the kids with me...nice and easy.

BTW: No scoldings needed. We all make mistakes, and this was mine. I remain grateful that there is a good ending to this very stupid action on my part. PRAISE THE LORD!!! ALOHA

[sailsmen]

Go out and look at your car. It is not an F1.

I floored it while making a left turn and she spun left right left right left, almost hit a lite pole on the mdian. The spin started on the 1-2 shift. I also did this to see what she could do.

[Local Boy]

Good one my friend. LOL... Glad yours had a good ending as well.

[Motorhead350]

On sharp highway on ramps I take them at 60mph+ but I learned to make sure that 1-2 shift is in my control... like not full throttle during the shift on a turn. :o

[Advancedautosec]

hey, glad to hear you made it out safe. I know we have all done something like that before, and we all learn....

[Bluerauder]

Sounds like a manever that should have been attempted on a controlled skid pad first where if you lose it there is space to recover. I assume that you were not quite familiar with that particular stretch of road because the "dip" caught you by surprise. High speed, heavy turn and an unforeseen dip is a recipe for problems. Glad you were able to recover. I think you'd agree that you were lucky and that the short prayer may have saved your bacon. I am sure the car helped as much as it could. Nuff said.

[CBT]

My worst one out of a few was when I actually had time to yell at myself through gritted teeth "Well this was a nice car!" as I was headed sideways towards one of the ginormous cement supports that was holding up the fly-over I just barreled off of. I felt like I was in one of those tea cup rides at the carnival. It was truly a miracle when it straightened it self back out, and I bet you couldn't have drove a stick pin up my arse with a sledgehammer for hours after that, it was puckered so tight.

[Local Boy]

Bluerauder, you're right. One lesson here is when you test...it's pass or FAIL...Proposition! You risk your life or at the very least your MM... need some place safe to fail, like a controled environment. Thanks for the support.
CBT, you funny. I like the way you put it...very well articulated. LOL Mine was pretty tight toooo! Thanks guys for understanding and laughs. ALOHA

[ckadiddle]

I have had a couple fairly buttpuckering experiences with the Marauder. It's the day to day drive to work at low speed that got me in the end though.

[BigGuyBigCar]

I had a Wheel-Of-Fortune moment doing only 45 mph! I was in the center of a three-lane local road, came over a slight rise, to see that on the other side the wind had been blowing lawn sprinkler water onto the pavement. I hit the brakes perhaps a tad too hard trying to slow down before I hit the water. That put the nose down, and then the back broke loose. I waited (anxiously!) as the car spun through 180, 270, 285, and then finally stopped (stalled out) at about 300 degrees. Hit nothing. I unclenched my hands ( which hurt all the rest of the day) and drove off. In retrospect, I would have been safer just driving through without touching the brakes.