Re: Post 360 spin and impact advice

[SIMDOG123]

Sounds like you had a very close shave there, could easily have been much worse though so your lucky, are you running Michelins out of interest?

 

[Williams]

Ouch...! sorry to see of your miss-hap Kevin. As mentioned, it might have been alot worse eh.. still gutting to see damage of any kind though! Glad you're both ok, if a little shaken.

Regarding the seat.. you may be better off looking on ebay for 182 seats. Going by pics of the repairs I've seen to seats that have had the airbag deployed, repair isnt the way to go if you want to forget about the incident.

Simo... look like Michelins to me fella.. lol Check out the pics.. :wink:

 

[SIMDOG123]

Simo... look like Michelins to me fella.. lol Check out the pics.. :wink:

What a plonker I am, never clicked on that one.
:s

 

[Williams]

I would if I were you Kev.. but I dont think you'll have much luck finding any for the front. Michelin ceased production of their 205x45 18's a few months ago.

 

[looch]

All seems a bit weird... Were there any substances / spillages you could have hit ??

Glad your both ok

 

[stevo]

only takes a little diesel followed by a wee bit of rain an it's leathal...

 

[Deb]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that, sounds scary. Sounds like you were fairly lucky mind. Hope everything does turn out ok with it.

 

[Dan P]

I'm sorry to hear about this Kevin

I hope you were both okay and that your Vee will be given the all clear after a check over

 

[Matt]

Same thing happened to me in France when we were on the Dieppe trip. Coming off a roundabout 15-20mph in the pouring rain back end stepped out - too quick to catch it and next thing i know I'm over the other side of the road! Quite scary and certainly made me nervous for the next couple of days! Absolutely nothing I could have done differently to prevent it and it was scary how slow we were all going, given the conditions for that to actually happen.

 

[Brett]

Same thing happened to me in France when we were on the Dieppe trip. Coming off a roundabout 15-20mph in the pouring rain back end stepped out - too quick to catch it and next thing i know I'm over the other side of the road! Quite scary and certainly made me nervous for the next couple of days! Absolutely nothing I could have done differently to prevent it and it was scary how slow we were all going, given the conditions for that to actually happen.

I remember this Matt. You were very VERY lucky that particular day. Are the OEM Michelins cracked up to what they should be? Even though I've got a ph1 and have driven it in all conditions its never been twitchy at low speeds. I even drove Bill Patchell's at Bruntingthorpe in the wet and to say it felt planted was an understatement. He has Ph2 wheels fitted but with wider rubber.

Glad to see that you and your son walked away completly ok though. If your after decals try Ebay fella. Some very good quality ones on there.

 

[phillv6]

Are the OEM Michelins cracked up to what they should be?

I think you'll find that most of these low speed "incidents" happen to folk running the Michelin OEM tyre :s indeed I had a couple of rather hairy moments myself [smilie=icon_eek.gif], but since moving over to Continentals I've found the car much more predictable in the wet [smilie=bunny_4.gif]

Phill

 

[Brett]

And people go out their way to keep them?? Nutters lmao

 

[Brett]

And people go out their way to keep them?? Fair play for trying to keep their cars up to oe spec but I'd pass on them if they have a reputation for letting go. Nutters lmao

 

[Williams]

Well.. it doesn't take much to work out, that if most the cars are using the OEM tyres.. then most of any 'incidents' will involve the OEM tyres.. [smilie=icon_cyclops_ani.gif] :wink:

 

[Kett]

Are the OEM Michelins cracked up to what they should be?

I think you'll find that most of these low speed "incidents" happen to folk running the Michelin OEM tyre :s indeed I had a couple of rather hairy moments myself [smilie=icon_eek.gif], but since moving over to Continentals I've found the car much more predictable in the wet [smilie=bunny_4.gif]

Phill

When evo magazine had a group test for performance tyres a few years ago, Michelin Pilots came out best for dry handling and worse for wet.
The tests were subjective rather than objective for the record.
I believe Goodyear Eagle were the best wets (but worse drys).
I guess you can't have it all...

I'll give you all 10 guesses why my Vee's a fair-weather toy. :badgrin:

 

[WONGY]

I had a similar incident a year ago on my Mk1 running Yokohama A048s (told semi slicks by my tyreman) turning right at a junction in the wet at about 20-30 when the backend just went, ended up drifting left then right but fortunately caught it. Smoked 2 fags at once after that one!

But since I fitted KW V3 suspension this year the car has been far more planted in the wet and seems unstickable in the dry, am sure new tyres would improve it as well.

I alsofind that running 20 psi on the fronts (recommended 23 I think in the handbook) also improved the handling

 

[Brett]

I had a similar incident a year ago on my Mk1 running Yokohama A048s (told semi slicks by my tyreman) turning right at a junction in the wet at about 20-30 when the backend just went, ended up drifting left then right but fortunately caught it. Smoked 2 fags at once after that one!

But since I fitted KW V3 suspension this year the car has been far more planted in the wet and seems unstickable in the dry, am sure new tyres would improve it as well.

I alsofind that running 20 psi on the fronts (recommended 23 I think in the handbook) also improved the handling

Ive ran similar tyres as yourself just the smaller AO32R's. The grip they produced was unreal in both dry and wet but they are well known to let go very suddenly on greasy roads. Not quite sure how they have made them road legal.

 

[k1ano]

Same thing happened to me in France when we were on the Dieppe trip. Coming off a roundabout 15-20mph in the pouring rain back end stepped out - too quick to catch it and next thing i know I'm over the other side of the road! Quite scary and certainly made me nervous for the next couple of days! Absolutely nothing I could have done differently to prevent it and it was scary how slow we were all going, given the conditions for that to actually happen.

Similar thing happened to me on a large roundabout not long after I bought my car and the first time out on a damp road. I was probably around the same speed or less. I was conciously driving conservatively due to a damp road and did NOTHING in terms of aggressive throttling or steering, simply light acceleration off the roundabout as you would do in any car and, as I say, being even more wary on this occassion ... and the back stepped out very suddenly and sharply.

I remember shouting out at the car (no passenger BTW) as there was no real reason for the Vee to do what it did and I was really annoyed and angry at the cars behaviour ... I caught the spin and decided from that point onwards not to take the car out in the wet if I could help it ... It had OEM tyres on at the time and I do put the incident down to diesal on the road as there was no other real explanation.

Martin

 

[Brett]

I reckon we should organise a day out at bruntingthorpe to put the OEM tyres against other leading brands. Might prove a point that it shouldnt be the car with the bad handling reputation, more so the expensive yet not so great tyres lol

 

[k1ano]

Whatever the reason Brett, and there are many differing views and opinions, the Vee DOES have handling challenges in the wet and can catch many people out. The tyres are likely to be a BIG factor I agree but even so the car itself has characteristics which amplify poor tyres, road conditions and yes, dare I say it, less experienced driving abilities ...

The key issue for me, whether an owner is a good driver or not, whether the tyres are good or not, is that once the Vee lets go - which is much easier in the wet, it can be a real handful to recover and, if you don't recover it, a VERY hefty bill can result.

As many agree though ... All of this adds to the character of the car and respect you have to have for it ...

Martin