Car misbehaved a bit yesterday.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2022
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From: Stamford, CT
Car misbehaved a bit yesterday.
I was merging onto a highway in a spirited fashion and I saw all the lanes were empty so I goosed it a bit and steered left to get to middle lane and the car got a little unsettled for a quick moment and then it collected itself. I was in sport mode BTW. Temps were around 40F and my car has the OEM all seasons. I've had the car for almost 1.5 years, 1st time it's done that to me.
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Dec 8, 2024, 07:31 PM
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2013
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From: Granada Hills CA
I was merging onto a highway in a spirited fashion and I saw all the lanes were empty so I goosed it a bit and steered left to get to middle lane and the car got a little unsettled for a quick moment and then it collected itself. I was in sport mode BTW. Temps were around 40F and my car has the OEM all seasons. I've had the car for almost 1.5 years, 1st time it's done that to me.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 4,408
Likes: 3,485
From: Granada Hills CA
I was merging onto a highway in a spirited fashion and I saw all the lanes were empty so I goosed it a bit and steered left to get to middle lane and the car got a little unsettled for a quick moment and then it collected itself. I was in sport mode BTW. Temps were around 40F and my car has the OEM all seasons. I've had the car for almost 1.5 years, 1st time it's done that to me.
Instructor
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From: Phoenix AZ
2024 C8 of the Year Finalist - Modified
At temps that low, you bet it's easy to break them loose. Traction control will interrupt things unless you get really stupid. Most mistakes are made when hammering the throttle while turning, sometimes even just a lane change can be all it takes.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2022
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From: Stamford, CT
I agree
My prior car had 507hp RWD but the torque curve was more subdued, it built up power more gradually. I think I was caught up by the torque probably.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2022
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From: Stamford, CT
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Good thing that nothing really bad happened. I think you are right, tires were not up to a good temp.
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Trust the car. It is normal to have some slippage, but will right itself. Depending on the driving modes, it will allow more freedom but with it comes more driver skill needed. We were told at Fellows only the most experienced racer should take the car into the deepest Track level settings. For most drivers, Sport mode is good. The best thing I learned at Fellows was trust in the car. The car has incredible traction control and will right itself.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Uniontown Alabama
Trust the car. It is normal to have some slippage, but will right itself. Depending on the driving modes, it will allow more freedom but with it comes more driver skill needed. We were told at Fellows only the most experienced racer should take the car into the deepest Track level settings. For most drivers, Sport mode is good. The best thing I learned at Fellows was trust in the car. The car has incredible traction control and will right itself.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2022
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From: Stamford, CT
My question would be, have any of you ran into this? Although the throttle was 'goosed' it was in no way a massive injection of throttle (I've driven the car much harder) and the car was relatively straight, the steering input was mild enough to just veer 1 or 2 lanes over. Only other time I've had this type of odd behavior in another car was in my 99 Z3 M Coupe in a similar driving situation but that thing had a pretty terrible rear suspension (although it was massive fun to drive). My one beef with the C8 behavior is that it has an unpredictable DCT kickdown when in auto mode, there's some lag in there which varies and it does feel like the car may or may not lurch based on what and when the DCT decides to kickdown. While it's deciding what to do (which is a fraction of a second) it seems that power application is not continuous, there's a microscopic gap in power application while the car is trying to decide what to do.
Racer
Joined: May 2024
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The rule of thumb is to only brake in a straight line and not hammer the fun pedal while turning otherwise you can get sideways quickly.
But if that happens, you can just let off the gas and most of the time the car will stop the over steer.
But if that happens, you can just let off the gas and most of the time the car will stop the over steer.