Sliding, Slipping, Drifting
 

So I've had my 370z now for almost 5 months and have yet to really get a "feel" for the car in terms of how it handles. I do drive it to work everyday but I have yet to "push it " to see what the car is really capable of. IN NO WAY am i condoning wreck less driving or exceeding the speed limit, but with every car I've owned I've always tested the handling to make sure I fully understand what it can do/cant do-which in my opinion believe makes people better drivers. I have yet to take the Z to the track to test out its handling, but does anyone have any stories of how the Z handles? A few examples that I would like to hear about it, include

• -did you lose control and then regain it, what happened?
• -were you at a track testing out the handling of the Z
• -were you drifting with the Z, is it particularly hard to do this and regain control?
• -were you driving in inclement weather and the Z did not handle well in a particular situation
• -Any general stories about testing out the Z and its handling......

What I am trying to do is figure out from other peoples stories how the Z will handle when I go to the track and test it out for myself. I would like to be prepared so I figured i would start this thread. Thanks

I tried a couple high-speed turns, but VDC kicked in to save my *** every time. I never did any tests with VDC off.

So while I may not know the full capabilities of the Z, I know VDC works great!

I actually had our 370Z mad tyte overnighted to Japan so I could dorifto it on the Touge yo!

But on the real, it's actually fairly difficult to break the 370Z loose without intending to do so, even with VDC off. It's very neutral from the factory, which is sweet.

its very neutral? hahaha that's driving that evo talking... no way - the 370z understeers like a mofo stock - while this is normally a good thing - it is far from neutral.

I've driven hard on some bendy back roads. I'm amazed at its balance through corners. It can be a little stubborn over crests and dips when you don't have an LSD (like me). Taking the VDC off, I will occasionally gun it a bit into a turn to feel the back slip out, but I can quickly regain control by turning into the skid. But even then, I don't do that when it's unsafe, and when I do, I do it only for a second, when I have enough room, and then I go back to normal driving.

I think "understeers like a mofo" is a bit of an exaggeration.

But it depends on which side of the apex you're talking ;)

This is a funny post, and I have a perfect story that happened to me just last week. I was goinng about 35 to 40mph on the interstate with about 6 or 7 car lenghts inbetween me and the car in front of me. I looked in my right mirror for just a second to get to see if it was clear to get over which it was. As soon as I looked back up the car in front of me was at a dead stop. i was bracing for impact, cause i new i was going to clip the guy in front of me at the least. I turned the wheel hard to my right to get over into the open middle lane, and was able to straighten up without losing control and going into the far right lane. it was pretty amazing. i literally missed the car in front of me by inches. Scary scrary stuff, but amazing car.

Just a thought, but our local SCCA autoX group always does at least one training day with national caliber drivers during a season. Usually at the beginning but sometimes to wrap up a season as well. You might want to check around. Great way to spend the day and roughly $25!!!


I strongly recommend this to everyone that has not had an opportunity to find the limits of their car and their own ability in a safe, controlled environment. This will not replace track days at a road course with an instructor, but is a great place to start.

I have had my wife drive my TwinTurbo in several events and she is a much better driver on the road for it because she knows exactly what to expect at the edge. During one of the events, it rained before her third a fourth run and she got to hang the back out a little (that was about 200hp worth of mods ago). She did really well.

Best of luck but be careful... the track is addictive! :driving:

Here's my contribution:
http://www.the370z.com/track-autocro...le-mishap.html

The Z will understeer like crazy if you cook a turn, but take the turn at an appropriate speed and the handling is excellent.

I can vouch for this. I used to autocross my 2005 WRX about 5 years ago. This is the proper place to test the limits of your skills and your car handling. Not condoning and yet considering to push the car is just as reckless, as anything adverse you can do on the road... blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, go to the track and you'll enjoy your car a lot more better!

I agree that autocross or a race track session are the proper places to really test a car's performance limits.

But man, the wording of your post...

I think it depends on your skill level as a driver, anything is going to push if you blow the apex, the Z is light on it's feet and has the response of a lighter car.

The VDC is actually pretty awesome. You can kick out the rear at will, but it will go out just enough to turn incredibly neutrally through corners without losing speed, power, or road feel.

I think VDC off is for off road and only if you are a really seasoned driver who can initiate and terminate a tail slide with confidence.

If you want to practice going all out, sign up for an auto-x day in your area, preferably one where there are opportunities for taking a training course.

Hey I just watched your video, was the VDC off when this happened?

hahaha I was at work when I typed the post. There were several people around me so I didn't want them to see it. AWFUL English huh?

lol I had to re-read it several times. Could just be my edumacation level. :tup:

took a friends daughter for a ride in the z the other night and on the way back to her house she asked if it goes sideways... took it down the next road to the left and turned off the vdc and gassed it through the turn and it slid out with no problem but despite counter steering it didn't recover until it was halfway in the other lane(no cars on the road but me). i would say this is more of a power slide than drift but i've had the vdc on and had the car sideways and it definitely helps in the recovery. all in all the vdc and sync-rev tranny make all of us z owners much better drivers than we are in real life.

I personally believe that you would have to be a mad man to even bring the Z close to its limits on a public road not only because it is dangerous, but mostly because the limits are so high that you need to be going stupidly fast.

I am a first time RWD car owner and I have only turned off VDC a couple of times in the parking lot. Even with my Touring and the open differential, I was able to step the back end out relatively easily. My recommendation is find a professional performance driving school and learn how to properly push a car like the Z to its limits under supervision and instruction, then start Auto-x'ing and tacking the car.

Do you mean the Z oversteers like crazy? Your video showed the car oversteering.

RE: Any general stories
Within 24 hours of driving my new Z vs older Z, I comfortably took all turns 10% faster than previous personal best. Then worked up from here.
I am in the minority about the VDC. I think it a fine feature in wet weather. I turn it off all the rest of the time. It is faster out of the sharp turns. The VDC triggers when you are in no danger too, so off it stays. The VDC to me feels like an automatic transmission driving downhill when you don't know when it will shift.
The car recovers easily when you make a mistake. I am not a big drifter but it does it well.

I was initially timid to turn VDC off because of the way people on this site revere it and fear the alternative. A poll here at the 370.com shows 60% of members are under 30 years old. 30 years is how long I've been driving rear wheel drive sports cars, none of which had traction control so I learned to become the VDC and apparently prefer it.

Yea, yea... but you got my point.

But talking about understeer, WRX have it worse.

Kind of a side note on the subject... The weekend after I got the roadster, I was leaving a parking lot with two exit lanes. I was preparing to make a right waiting for traffic to clear. There was a guy to my left also waiting. He apparently decided not to wait for both directions to clear because as the first break in nearer traffic approached, I saw him start to crank the wheel in my direction as he edged forward... still watching traffic and never looking to his right. I went for the horn as I dumped the clutch. Good thing he heard the horn and jumped on his breaks because the VDC left me stumbling in his path! I came very near to catching one in the drivers door... and then going to jail for choking him.

Power can get you in or out of trouble, but the VDC tries to out think the driver. In this case stumbling.