How important is to understand the behaviour of ur car?

[rks]

Originally Posted by Psycho

[...]
PS: Do not think about going sideways into anything as the front end of the car is a crumple zone made to protect the occupants in case of a crash, the side only have impact beams.

This is seriously misleading, if not totally in error. For example, if you misjudge an overtake and are about to hit an oncoming vehicle head-on (or if you are about to hit a parked vehicle head-on in the right lane), then cut into your left lane, even if that means a sideways impact with the vehicle you are overtaking. Chances are that you will get away with a minor grazing collision or even no collision (if the driver of the vehicle you are passing reads the situation and reacts). Whereas a head-on collision with a vehicle moving in the opposite direction will almost certainly be disastrous in terms of injuries/fatalities and damage to the vehicles.

You are forgetting that the car is better protected at the front end precisely because the impact velocities are likely to be much higher (as in a head-on collision with two vehicles moving in opposite directions, or even if one of the vehicles is parked). It does not follow that it is safer to get into a head-on collision rather than a sideways impact -- quite the opposite.

[suman]

Hope I'm not OT but I'm just curious - Mclaren, how did you manage to vote on two options....?

[mclaren1885]

Also let me explain the circumstances under which i explained using hand brake to go sideways into a impact .. Not very long ago while i was taking a left hander at about 40 saw a vehicle on the wrong side of the road like 10 feet away from me .. Went into it head on and ended up with a totalled bonnet , front bumper , grill , radiator and condensor .. Had i pulled the handbrake and taken the car slightly sideways at most the impact would have been to the rear door or to the rear fender and the dicky .. I guess thats better than paying for such extensive damages to the front end at the same time risking the engine ..

Also , though i did think about going sideways never managed to pull it off as i too went by convention that crumple zones exist in the front .. That said when i sit down and think today , feel i could have used the handbrake instead ..

Warning : This has to be tried at low speeds (say under 60) only incase u cant avoid hitting something thus preventing damage and more expenses to the front end of the car .. At high speeds one cant control the sideways drift and would lead to total calamity ..

Originally Posted by suman

Mclaren, how did you manage to vote on two options....?

Well before i met up with psycho and the rest there were at times though didnt know the theory behind the behaviour that my reflexes would just do the same .. Like correcting steering inputs in case of opposite lock in certain cases or accelerating around a bend when i thought braking would make me loose control completely .. This was like a couple of years back .. Now after knowing the theory behind it goes to show how unknowingly reflexes do help in doing the right thing ..

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

Hope I'm not OT but I'm just curious - Mclaren, how did you manage to vote on two options....?

Well, it does allow multiple options to be selected, if that is what you meant. (And to test the possibility, I tried selecting all 3 options and unfortunately succeeded).
Mods, any way to delete my vote (from all 3 options) ?

[suman]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Well, it does allow multiple options to be selected, if that is what you meant. (And to test the possibility, I tried selecting all 3 options and unfortunately succeeded).
Mods, any way to delete my vote (from all 3 options) ?

Yeah I just saw that SB ....so which was your choice actuallY?

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by suman

Yeah I just saw that SB ....so which was your choice actuallY?

Yes, really stupid of me.
Regarding my choice, I have been following this thread from the beginning, but just can't make up my mind between options 1 & 2. I feel that it is definitely important to be in sync with your car, but reflex (or more correctly gut instinct) also plays a vital role. Thats why I abstained from voting and instead decided to soak in all the gyan that was coming in from the experts.

[Psycho]

Originally Posted by rks

This is seriously misleading, if not totally in error.

Agree with you on that point of overtaking however I made it as a generic comment. Moreover do realise manouvres like that need to be avoided at the first place, which is where I have said please remember to signal.

Typically people who try go sideways end up rolling the car and also another point that sideways will typically increase the contact area reducing the total force of the impact. This will however have serious consequences as the occupants are less protected on a side impact. Take my word for it as I have seen enough accidents and have lost a few of my family just because of that mistake.

Rough driving on the road will almost defn lead to an incedent.

[rks]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

[...]
No matter what car you drive, no matter where you drive, conditions never remain the same.

What applies on racing cars, applies on street cars as well.

Try driving your car (at the limit) on a stretch at 7am and drive on it again at 2pm, you'll see a diff in behavior.

Shan2nu

Maybe, but what applies to racing does not necessarily apply to street driving and vice versa. I am sure you are aware of this, just pointing it out to remove any ambiguity. There is a saying that professional race drivers do not make good city drivers. The reason is that many of the race drivers cannot get rid of their gut instincts and approach each drive and each curve with the attitude of "what is the max. speed at which I can do this", whereas a good street driver has to have a completely different mind-set -- he is constantly calculating what can go wrong (maybe somebody will come on the wrong side at this curve, maybe that idiot will cross the road now, etc.).

[Rtech]

The reason is that many of the race drivers cannot get rid of their gut instincts and approach each drive and each curve with the attitude of "what is the max. speed at which I can do this",

Actually its the opposite. In general, regular race drivers are much less agressive on the street. I guess its a point of taking out your agression on the track rather than the road.

But ofcourse, there are always exceptions to the rule!

[Psycho]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Also let me explain the circumstances under which i explained using hand brake to go sideways into a impact .. Not very long ago while i was taking a left hander at about 40 saw a vehicle on the wrong side of the road like 10 feet away from me .. Went into it head on and ended up with a totalled bonnet , front bumper , grill , radiator and condensor .. Had i pulled the handbrake and taken the car slightly sideways at most the impact would have been to the rear door or to the rear fender and the dicky .. I guess thats better than paying for such extensive damages to the front end at the same time risking the engine ..

Also , though i did think about going sideways never managed to pull it off as i too went by convention that crumple zones exist in the front .. That said when i sit down and think today , feel i could have used the handbrake instead ..

Did you ever stop and think what if there was oncoming traffic what would have happened if you went sideways?

PS: I would like to know how many ppl out there know where the car will impact you go sideways coz there is no way of predicting how the car will react especially in the case of a drastic decellaration. It is easier to go around the corner with caution rather than thinking of technical approaches to drive the car.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Psycho

It is easier to go around the corner with caution rather than thinking of technical approaches to drive the car.

This one line says its all. Always err on the side of caution. BTW, nice tips psycho.

mclaren1885, when you had that accident sometime ago, I remember the thread discussing it. We (I think Navin was the other guy) agreed that even though the other guy was in the wrong, if you had exercised the caution due before turning, the incident could have been avoided. Irrespective of whether we or the other party is in the wrong, any damage (financial, physical, etc) that results, has to be borne by us. This is not to blame/advise you or anything.

[Rtech]

Mclaren seems to be trying to minimize his vehicle damage by those sideways maneuvers. Vehicles can be repaired, its harder to fix humans if the car rolls!

[rks]

Originally Posted by Psycho

Agree with you on that point of overtaking however I made it as a generic comment. Moreover do realise manouvres like that need to be avoided at the first place, which is where I have said please remember to signal.

Typically people who try go sideways end up rolling the car and also another point that sideways will typically increase the contact area reducing the total force of the impact. This will however have serious consequences as the occupants are less protected on a side impact. Take my word for it as I have seen enough accidents and have lost a few of my family just because of that mistake.

Rough driving on the road will almost defn lead to an incedent.

On this I do agree. I should also mention that wild swerving to avoid collisions can also be dangerous. Most of the time you can apply the brakes and slow down your car in time -- it is amazing how close you can get and still avoid a collision by braking. My point in the previous post only applies when you have no option but to swerve to the left to avoid a head-on collision -- in that situation, swerve and hope you will get away with it.

[MKRAFT]

Understanding the cars capability is definitely important...but its similarily important to behave maturely.
racing lines ....racing lines ....racing lines ....cant we talk about anything else ....


racing lines on public roads !!!!!!!!!
i think its more important to keep your car in one piece and drive sensibly

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by Psycho

Did you ever stop and think what if there was oncoming traffic what would have happened if you went sideways?

I meant going into a stationary object like my baleno did before speedrun keshav .. Werent u the first one who actually asked me why i didnt think of going sideways ?? Or maybe u must have forgotten .. It was you who made me think otherwise in the first place ..

Its anyday better to end up with this



than having a broken bumper , bonnet , radiator and the condensor .. That said the pic doesnt have to do anything with me having gone sideways , this happened when my car was stationary and some corolla guy whacked into it ..

Originally Posted by supremebaleno

mclaren1885, when you had that accident sometime ago, I remember the thread discussing it. We (I think Navin was the other guy) agreed that even though the other guy was in the wrong, if you had exercised the caution due before turning, the incident could have been avoided. Irrespective of whether we or the other party is in the wrong, any damage (financial, physical, etc) that results, has to be borne by us. This is not to blame/advise you or anything.

Sb , completely agree with u and navin , but once u were through the turn and figure out that u cant avoid contact what do u do ?? I was just looking at possibilities of lessening the damage to the car ..

Originally Posted by supremebaleno

He should not actually be worrying about vehicle damage at all, considering the fact that he has access to an ATM that never dries up, however much he withdraws from it. (To those that are not aware, the funding bank is called DAD)

Trust me dad gets wild when the car even gets a scratch .. To sum it up he didnt pay a penny for the repairs the last time nor did he allow me to claim insurance .. I had to shell it out from my side ..