I've read two stories recently of people wrecking their vettes around a turn. Both guys say "I guess hit the gas too hard" and the rear end comes around and smashes something. Both neglect to mention if active handling was on.

How many of you have gotten surprisingly out of control in your Corvette with the AH on?

 

When I used to fly, it was called getting behind the airplane or power curve. Too much car, not so much experience.

 

AH has saved by butt more than a few times especially here in the Pacific Northwest where the roads are damp/wet often.

 

Would be my guess

 

Active handling's never going to fully compensate for poor judgement - - compounded by little tread or wet roads. A little wiggle now and then can be fun, but every car- regardless of technology- has a limit even a reasonably experienced driver can exceed.

 

My AH doesnt work. It did for a while, then quit. I drive without it all the time. Occasionaly sliding around, and spinning tires. It is all about throttle control. Most don't understand it, and have little experience with it. It is almost like playing a video game with our fly by wire set ups. Most people smash into walls playing video games too. lol. Regardless, the computer helps, but doesn't work magic. It is also a 10 year old system that doesn't learn road conditions on the fly, like newer models.

 

I've only had my AH kick in once in the 2 years I've had the car and that was when I made it engage in an empty parking lot. I wanted to see just how squirrely you need to get the car for it to be activated. I guess I've just been lucky enough to not put myself in a situation where I needed the AH to save my butt.
I guess on one hand it's easy to break the car loose, but on the other hand if you don't drive like an idiot you shouldn't have to worry.

 

No mechanical device can overcome the laws of physics. Back in the day, the guys that raced 911s used to say that if you overcooked a corner, the only choice you had is what direction you went off the road-forwards or backwards.
Another aviation comment:
"Out of airspeed, altitude and ideas"
Same applies to cars, only on two dimensions instead of three.

 

I spun out crossing railroad tracks with the rubber mats at the crossing. It was raining and they were like ice. Not much throttle did it . And AH never came on! So I don't trust AH.

 

Well .... I didn't think it was surprisingly out of control, but the AH seemed to think so a couple of times. On one occasion it didn't seem to want to make the car go the same direction I did. Fortunately there wasn't anything in the path either way!

 

 

Most drivers rely heavily on the electronic nannies built into modern vehicles, and have very little, if any understanding of car control and vehicle dynamics at or near the limits. This knowledge can only be obtained at a driving school or on a closed course environment. When I taught Street Survival (teen safety driving course) with BMWCCA, we would e.g. pull the fuses on the ABS so they understood threshhold braking. Would also set up a skidpad, watered down with liquid detergent, so they could understand the concepts of oversteer and understeer but at lower speeds. We would explain weight transfer as it relates to handling and steering. Today if you have the cash you can buy a 200MPH, 1.0G+ lateral acceleration ZR1, with no experience and HOPE the traction control/active handling keeps you from killing yourself. FWIW.

 

I love kicking the *** end out through the first four gears for fun. After a year of driving my current C5, I've finally started turning the few nannies it does have, off. It's alot different than my last two C5s, where I ALWAYS turned the nannies off as soon as I started the car. I use to sling 580hp through the mountain roads up here with everything off with zero trouble.

Many drivers on this forum have never pushed their cars hard, and wouldn't know what to do, once the back end did start coming around.

 

My '98 doesn't have A/H. Only T/C.

 

A/H-TC will help, But you still need to know your limits...

 

Agreed No Your Limits ..... It doesn't have to be damp outside to lose control of the car

 

Yeah, back in the day when captains were real captains we used to joke that new co-pilots could get so far behind the airplane they'd never have to worry about a mid-air LOL!! CRM changed all that.....

 

The throttle pedal on my 00 A4 car is like a hair trigger. Bumps in the road cause me to add or remove throttle w/o trying. I can see it in the data logs.
The car has a 3600 stall and 3.42 gears. And runs bottom 11's.

I just about looped it turning left onto a busy street because I just got more pedal than I meant to!

I'm a good driver. I've auto crossed, taken road race driver training and this just flat surprised me. Road was dry.

So, for myself, I will be figuring out how to make the pedal stiffer, and finding a big parking lot to see what THIS car does in these situations.

BTW, AH kicked in and straightened me and the car out.

Ron

 

I've driven hoards of cars like an idiot, drifted virtually every vehicle I've ever owned. Even done it in my Silverado. The Vette I've now put about 3500 miles on and I still feel like it's unpredictable. With no warning, all of the sudden it gets loose. It did it last night while driving home. Had enough rain that I needed to hit the wipers 3 or 4 times (single swipes). Virtually no rain, 45-50mph in some pretty snake'y mountain turns. Out of the clear blue, the rear end twitches. Wasn't a big deal, and I just slowed 5mph and continued. But, I wasn't playing or anything. I was simply driving home.

Mine doesn't have active handling, and even if it did I'd have it turned off. The reaction it has to turns though was enough to make me search here for potential problems. I just don't think it should act like that.

So, maybe I have some rear suspension maintenance to do. Maybe need new end links or bushings, etc. If so, I'd say that some of the stories people have of these cars getting loose is due to worn rear suspension parts. Might not be enough to show up in a casual inspection, not enough in normal daily driving. But, enough to make the car act unpredictable when it's asked to perform. Even if only a little bit. I'll be checking mine more closely.

I can sorta understand why there's threads here with people talking about stickin their cars in the weeds. If you're not familiar with these types of cars and get a little froggy, looking for the cars limits, they may show up at a bad time.

 

Just drive with it off that way you know its not going to kick in. Heck its more fun that way...