lost control of my coupe, very lucky.

this morning I was driving along on a road i knew very well I was cornering at a moderate speed but within speed limits on a sweeping B road.
halfway through the bend the steering felt non responsive and the back swept out. pulling the car to the right and across the other road lane.
(thank God nothing was coming the other way)

At this point my pants changed from a shade of navy blue to a lightish brown.

I was spinning to the inner kerbed section of corner at a sideward angle, and so I managed to counter the car from the skid but I was now travelling at a 45 degree angle to the road and the car ran over the kerb and onto the grass verge at around 15mph, but thankfully at this 45degree angle.

Now sat on the verge having travelled through the grass a few metres I sat there, before getting out and walking round the car shaking like a leaf. all wheels were present and appeared bolted and at true angles. I got back into the car,
At this point a car drove past and embarrased i pretended that it was not bizarre for me to be parked here, I must have looked like a bird watcher or someone who had chosen a poor site for sexual acts.

I started the car and drove very slowly, bizzarly, no rattles bangs, squeeks, even the steering was true. at slow speeds I could not identify any obvious fault.

I winged the girl in home
all the way back i was thinking about how bad the bodywork, le kit, alloys, intercooler, etc. must have been hit.
On getting home I had a good look round getting the jacks out,
The car has only just had new wishbones, Trackrod ends, droplinks, clutch, tyres, tracking etc. so this is where i looked first but knew id done the job properly and so all was ok, back tyre was down 10psi and so far this is my culprit and possibly my tracking is out although it had been checked, hmmmm

so damage report,
my shabby front bumper is now really bad and so I shall repair and respray it as i already had bought the paint.
one tyre has a damaged belt, so no driving the car on it as it has a bulge.
slight scuff to the alloy.
and Tracking needs doing.

I feel so very lucky and glad i was not travelling fast but was incredibly shaken,

here are the pics.
still had grass on le lips

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/matthewlittle2006/2010_0524ccc0013.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/matthewlittle2006/2010_0524ccc0012.jpg

Lucky escape, good to hear you're ok and the car only suffered minor damage.

Glad you came out of it OK, like you say, very lucky there was nothing coming in the other direction! Hope the repairs go well, i'll check my tyre pressures tonight......

Jeez you're lucky mate!

Glad to hear you're ok and the coupe only suffered minimal damage, but that is a very alarming incident. Could there have been oil or something on the road?? Sounds very odd to lose the back end like that!

thanks for nice messages,

I am so lucky, it is strange as I have pushed the car much harder and is always predictable. I must add that the car pre spinning did not feel stressed or going too fast in anyway and only a small amount of throttle was applied.
I was stunned when it snapped away with no warning,
I am still having a good inspection but the car feels nice and tight.
It will be thoroughly looked at but has just passed an mot with flying colours.
In all honesty when it happened it felt as though the front wheel had ripped out and I was sure the steering arm had broken or a wheel had come loose.

My 1st thought is the car is very firm and whether a rear tyre running 20 psi as opposed to 32 on other side and 37 on fronts... although i cant see it...
my only other suspicion is tracking being set incorectly by tyre fitters.

Oil / diesel was a thought, i really ought to have checked and reported if so. But shock just made me want to get home slowly

Lcuky boy, I had exactly the same happen to me in my first coupe and there was unfortunately a car coming in the opposite direction. I would check the rear suspension ?(I think the rear arm bushes wear). Never got to the bottom of my accident, road surface had a defect and the road was slightly wet, could have been anything or a combination of them all.

It happened again in my LE but I put that down to extreme wet weather and the road surface having tramlines (that was on a roundabout) from lorries.

Very lucky indeed. Could of been a lot worse.

Did you check the road surface?

I have seen a car loose all traction when going over some sort of diesel/oil spill sounds similar to what you experienced.

It definately is suprising when these things happen and then never happen again. In my old 16vt i was on a duel carriageway and had to brake sharply because a motorbike infront got himself into trouble, only to have the car lurch to the left (and into the, thankfully, empty left hand lane).

Upon reapplying the brakes it didnt happen again, and didnt happen ever again in my ownership of the car.

No, really regret not doing so,

37 psi on the fronts, surely should be 39??

Nice wheels.

Glad to see you're both safe and well

Try your hardest to find out what caused your skid - revisit the scene as soon as you can and you'll maybe find some farm diesel or chemical spillage

If not I'd book a visit to PowerItalia or Motormech for a checkup on the car's components that could have temporarily failed and caused this.

Fingers crossed...

A tyre 30% low on pressure? There's an accident waiting to happen. The asymmetrical response you'd get, particularly under braking/turning as the back end goes light, is going to cause all sorts of heartache.

I doubt you're looking for something on the road, I'm afraid.

Glad you're safe and well and that nothing more serious occurred.

I'm pretty sure that my offside rear was to blame when I bent mine, just a little bit too soft

That was a painfull lesson!

Glad to hear you're ok mate.

very lucky indeed...ive also experienced this sort of behaviour from the coop before on the track....albeit at much higher speeds than on public roads. The rear gets light mid corner and comes away so that the car's body is at a 45 degree angle to the intended path. One time was in the dry and luckily the section was wide enough to continue the drift, in the wet same happened but much harder to control with counter steer.

well, went back to the scene and all looks oil free. I am thinking that Barnacle is right, the suspension (koni springs and dampers) are very solid and so am thinking movement in the tyre is less absorbed by the suspension just my opinion though. But looking at it as a percentage the psi was far too low. Have the car in the air and tomorrow will be looking for any movement mechanically, just for peace of mind.

@ Duncan, find -2 psi on the fronts help with the comfort and is nt noticable handling wise, unless of course it was why she span lol

thankyou so much everyone for concern support and opinions, I will keep everyone posted on my findings.

ps, MattW, thanks

ah ok, I try to stick religiously to the tyre pressures in the manual.

Main thing is you're alright and the car hasn't got any major damage, i've not experienced anything like that in the coop .. would have me up too !

Nice plate

I like your wheels. What are they and do they clear the brembos without spacers?

Look like wolfrace triad or dare `v2`s,they need spacers and wabble bolts,I have the same wheels

Dave

Ps glad you came out of the incident unscathed.

these ones need spacers, am not sure what car they came off as regards the offset but the chap i bought them off had 20mm universal spacers for a vauxhall.


I am running 20mm hubcentric spacers that bolt to the hubs first.

unsure of make but think they are very similar to dare V2 alloys

Sorry to hear what happened, but glad you're ok

Glad to hear nothin major was damaged bud.
paul.

Hey, glad to hear this story didnt have a bad ending. You have very similar alloys to what ive got on my coop, i love this look, anyone else think these are some of the nicest style aftermarket wheels for the coop? Great choice bridges!!

Good to hear you saved the car and yourself! Great looking car, even with a bit of grass attached

wow. I had exactly the same situation during the winter, very unpleasant. But I wasn`t that lucky and had a crash. no injuries but lots of money to repair the coop.

You know how everything seems to slow in an accident, through my mind looking at the verge, I was thinking Ive just put genuine wishbones trackrod ends droplinks and spent a fair time getting car nice plus is quite low on newish suspension, I was thinking it was going to cost a lot of money, I used to repair accident damage cars so know what hitting kerbs sideways does to hubs, wheels wishbones suspension,
hence i knew i had to at least try and get it to hit straight on.

well, front bumper is repaired, tyre replaced, steering retracked, and I have been over every component, I can conclude that it was a tyre pressure issue as all else is nice and tight.

Thanks for all your help everyone. I must say that the old girl is driving beautifully and handling very well and is now in top condition mechanically and bodywork wise. Am loving the coupe.

Glad to hear you are OK - thats the most important thing and hope you get to the bottom of the cause.
If its any compensation your car still looks good even with the damage!