unusual sideways moment 1503

Brimstone

Or hit ice.

I've been pbutting a truck; gone from 30-80 in the length of a large HGV tanker in an X1-9, and found the combination of sidewind and pressure, and presumably ice, resulted in my X1-9 spinning and travelling

Fortunately I was able to spin the car 180 and carry on, and frankly it all happened so quickly I didn't actually have time to crap myself. But, at no point was I overcooking it. I've had a car hit sheet ice in conditions which did not suggest any such issues and simply travel in a straight line at 10mph, like a curling stone and with about as much ability to control it once it happened.

What I actually think happened is that Tim is used to a little 'sliding' at the front at speed on a gentle bend; I used to do the same thing with my 306, power-understeering and then backing off to snap it into line. Perfectly safe, but I tried to apply the same technique to my Beetle and had the stability control panic and snap the front-back into line, sending the car a foot to the left at the front (and potentially into the path of traffic on the lane inside of me).

Without the ESP the Beetle is a very interesting car and not in the least bit fun to drive fast, but I found the margins of 'play' it allows and haven't crossed them again ;)

Richard

-- Cars - 2004 Beetle Cabrio, 1989 Supra 3.0i, 1990 Sera, 1989 Volvo 740 MidiGuitar, AU-X. Apple 77-04. See links. Email - upgrade to 128 ;)