Braking in a curve?

[blank]

I'm sure there may be exceptions, but in my experience most decent handling
vehicles do not respond well to braking in a curve. They are set up to
handle best under acceleration. I've always been taught to brake before the apex and acclerate through it. Better a controllable
four-wheel drift or hitting the guard rail broadside than punching through.

I understand that the Porsche 911's are notoriously intolerant of this. A
fellow near my hometown in NC killed his girlfriend and was lucky to escape
death himself when he got into a curve too fast in his 911 turbo, panicked
and hit the brakes. The rear end broke loose and the car went off the road
backwards, coming to rest upside down in a creek.

Of course little of this is applicable to GMC's as a more sedate driving
style is recommended.

Patrick

>
> Another unchallenged benefit of ABS occurs when drivers find they've
> entered a curve too fast. The natural reaction, as evidenced by the
> skid marks we've all seen, is to push as hard as possible on the
> brake pedal.
> The result, without ABS, is the vehicle's brakes lock up and it skids
> absolutely straight, often over the edge.

 

[homebase1]

Patrick

>>>
I cut my teeth on the 356's . The 911 series was a driver's delight
"comparatively" speaking

I've been awake for two nights wondering if someone with a GMC
has actually rounded a corner in full 6 -wheel drift And if they
would like to do it again, this time intentionally, call me

Mikeb
Antigonish, NS..............' 77 Kingsley

 

[blank]

> I've been awake for two nights wondering if someone with a GMC
> has actually rounded a corner in full 6 -wheel drift
> And if they would like to do it again, this time intentionally,
> call me

Go to sleep Mike. I don't even want to think about it!

Actually, a topic like this was covered a few months back and someone posted
that GM had done some skid pad testing and determined that the GMC couldn't
be rolled. I don't think I would make that absolute a claim, but I do doubt
that a 6-wheel drift would be possible. Seems more likely that the front
tires would reach their traction limit long before the rear resulting in
gross understeer. It would also seem a certainty that, if you struck a curb
or low guardrail in this condition, that you would probably make a liar(or
at least a fool) of the claim that the GMC couldn't be rolled.

Patrick

 

[blank]

>
> Porsche's are a special case, because of the rear
> engines, if you brake the center of gravity shifts towards
> the front, and the rear wheels will let go every time. In
> a porsche ( silent E folks, it's a french name), the thing
> to do is hit the gas. Very gutsy move but the only thing that
> will save you.

Well, it's not unique to Porsche. Every vehicle will exhibit this trait to
some extent because the shift in weight forward changes the suspension
geometry. I've been told that it's more pronounced in Porsches because
Ferdy built his cars to corner and accelerate, not brake.

Most of my youthful driving was in a 1970.5 Camaro SS and you could
definitely feel it "tighten up" as you rolled onto the accelerator in a
turn. If you "chickened out" and hit the brakes tho', it would make you
think it was related to a Ford Falcon. It also had a delightful and
controllable four wheel drift, which is probably what allowed me(in addition
to the grace of God) to make it into my 20's.

Patrick

 

[antnip]

Front wheel drive adds a whole other dimension to this question. While
hopefully none of us are slamming into corners at top speed in our coaches,
front drivers have a willingness to swap ends when hitting corners with too
much speed, and unlike rear drives, where letting off the gas may bring the
tail back in line, letting off the go pedal will only make the end swapping
happen faster. The way to prevent this goes against human nature. Mashing
the gas when a spin starts will often keep things in line, but goes against
our better nature which is to slow down at the sign of trouble.

I have never spun our coach (knocking wood big time over here), but have
done so on a couple of occasions in front drive cars.

Tony

- ----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 8:20 AM
Subject: RE: GMC: Braking in a curve?

> >
> > Porsche's are a special case, because of the rear
> > engines, if you brake the center of gravity shifts towards
> > the front, and the rear wheels will let go every time. In
> > a porsche ( silent E folks, it's a french name), the thing
> > to do is hit the gas. Very gutsy move but the only thing that
> > will save you.
>
> Well, it's not unique to Porsche. Every vehicle will exhibit this trait
to
> some extent because the shift in weight forward changes the suspension
> geometry. I've been told that it's more pronounced in Porsches because
> Ferdy built his cars to corner and accelerate, not brake.
>
> Most of my youthful driving was in a 1970.5 Camaro SS and you could
> definitely feel it "tighten up" as you rolled onto the accelerator in a
> turn. If you "chickened out" and hit the brakes tho', it would make you
> think it was related to a Ford Falcon. It also had a delightful and
> controllable four wheel drift, which is probably what allowed me(in
addition
> to the grace of God) to make it into my 20's.
>
> Patrick
>

 

[darren paget]

Love to try a six wheel drift. Who wants to donate their coach. Don't think I'd
wand to do it on a dry pad though. It may be fun. Darren

>
> > I've been awake for two nights wondering if someone with a GMC
> > has actually rounded a corner in full 6 -wheel drift
> > And if they would like to do it again, this time intentionally,
> > call me
>
> Go to sleep Mike. I don't even want to think about it!
>
> Actually, a topic like this was covered a few months back and someone posted
> that GM had done some skid pad testing and determined that the GMC couldn't
> be rolled. I don't think I would make that absolute a claim, but I do doubt
> that a 6-wheel drift would be possible. Seems more likely that the front
> tires would reach their traction limit long before the rear resulting in
> gross understeer. It would also seem a certainty that, if you struck a curb
> or low guardrail in this condition, that you would probably make a liar(or
> at least a fool) of the claim that the GMC couldn't be rolled.
>
> Patrick

- --
Darren Paget
76 Experimental
Another Fab Day
http://www.TZEplus.com