common misspelling for camaro is camero.

and your camaro shouldn't have done that. there was either somethign wrong with the car, somethign wrong with the tires (bald, low tire pressure), something on the road that caused the loss of traction (oil, water), or driver error (lifted off the throttle in a off camber turn, weight shifted and spun). and if it was any of those, then it could happen to any car, even FWD cars.

that said, DSC might have saved that. Get a model that has DSC and leave it on while driving on the road (track or autox is a different story).

 

...

 

see

haha, someone beat me to it

 

you spin all the time in your truck? good lord. i hope you never "drive" that thing on public roads. and if you do, i really hope its no where near me.

 

it's as easy as the driver is bad.

 

i spun for the first time this friday night. of course it was intentional in a HUGE, empty, WET, slick-surfaced parking lot. and my tires are worn to ****.

 

The tires were okay, and I wasnt increasing speed on the turn.
The tow truck driver told me afterwards that there were alot of accidents on that lil stretch of road where I had mine.
So it might well have been water/oil somewhere on the ground. becasue it just started to drift diagonally.
In either case the camaro was a beautful car but drove/handled like ****.
Even shifting in it was a chore.

 

well, lifting off the throttle wouldn't increase your speed, but if done abruptly, could shift the balance of the car forward, off of the rear tires, inducing a spin, especially if the turn was off camber...OR...there could have been a small bump or dip in the road that could have upset the balance of the car causing the spin.

and if there are/were a lot of accidents in that stretch of road, then it's likely a poor design somehow...be it poor drainage, or some sort of surface abnormality.

 

and i've only driven a late 80s Z28, but it was twitchy as hell. you had to almost expect it to jump out at any moment. the 8 is very much a different car. it is very "sure-footed", although, it can be coaxed to step when wanted.

 

I have an 04 Base model with no DSC. I have not spun out at all, but the stock Dunlops are a bit scary in the rain. If you drive like a retard you will crash, hows that?

 

Even with turbo, I've never had the car actually spin out. The back end has come out quite a few times, but that was in wet conditions with stock tires (a definite no no). You should be fine, especially if you keep the DSC on.

 

I agree to the idea that pickup trucks are a quick way to go for a spin. Before ABS, an energency stop might cause the tail gate come around ahead of you... that can be pretty exciting. That unloaded rear axle and stiff leaf springs were a recipe for trouble.

I see all of this talk about the RX-8 handling, and I begin to wonder if learning to drive with FWD cars has given newer drivers the wrong instincts/reactions when driving RWD cars.

The RX-8 handles great and I have yet to see a vice. It exceeds my expectations, and everytime I ask it for more, it delivers. Ok, I take it back, the stock sways may allow too much roll, but otherwise...

I spent a lot of time in my early Camaro slightly drifting (no smoke, but the car was not moving it the direction it was pointed) decreasing radius turns coming off and going onto the freeways. I worked a lot of very AM hours in those days.

I agree with the idea of spending some time in your car and learning how it reacts. And give a lot of consideration to conditions so you are not caught out doing something stupid.

What is the phrase? Don't 'die in a ditch, like some cheeze eating high school boy'?

 

I have DSC, I haven't spun out. I've danced on the "almost spun out line" though

If your an older gentlemen(or lady) and drove RWD when cars didn't have the toys(DSC/ABS/Seat warmers/etc) then you probably won't need DSC> If your under 30 do yourself a favor and get DSC. It will let you drive the car to the limit without worrying about pushing it over the limit. I'm an under 30 driver and I know I can't drive worth of ****(or maybe i'm to afraid of taking DSC off to see my real skills ! lol, but DSC has saved my *** a few times..


MrJynx

 

Have you never driven a RWD V8 w/o traction controll if not rent one for the weekend and I swear you will become a better driver 10 fold (statistics taken from 2004 june issue of C&D)

 

Ok I've driven quite fast in the 8 but had never activated the DSC once (maybe it happened but I didn't realise), is its really that reliable at saving people's ***?

If I drive it the same way like I did before but this time without the DSC on, will I kill myself?

 

The RX-8 can oversteer at will, and it doesn't have to be throttle oversteer where mashing the throttle in mid turn causes the tail-end to come around. A simple flick of the steering wheel will get the 8 sliding (as most RWD cars).

The good thing I've noticed is that the RX-8 slides are very controllable (anyone seen the Top Gear episode where Clarkson says the RX-8 is one of the eaisiest cars to drive at the limit?).

A heavy nose (example is a 5.7l Camaro) makes the car much less controlable when sliding (not to mention the lack-luster suspension) creating kind of a pendalum effect--the weight of the engine pulling the car in what ever direction you are starting to lose control.

Mid-engine cars (such as the MR2) have a much higher cornering limit usually (which is why they are some of the fastest cars in auto racing like the prototype classes of Le Mans or F1 cars and the norm in exotic cars such as Ferrari and Lamborghini) but once you lose control or reach the limit it is much harder to recover.

Any RWD car can spin-out under the right conditions (and usually does when you're least expecting it), but I think it's a rare occasion in the RX-8 if you have RWD driveing experience (and especially if the TSC/DSC is left on).

Renting a V8 rwd car might be a good idea like 98 T/A said but very few cars handle alike even when they are both RWD, and the RX-8 has totally different handling characteristics than most V8 rwd cars.

 

I was trying to say about the same thing. Heavy American V8s are hard as hell to controll when they start drifting out so if you can hold that slide down you shouldnt have much prob with the 8

 

I've driven a RWD V8 w/o traction control, and it never did anything special for my driving.

It was a '74 Ford Gran Torino station wagon.

 

i've broken the wheels out a few times - dsc kicked in. as long as you have it on and aren't driving stupidly, you should be fine. it is hard to kick the back out. unless you're intentionally trying to do it, or driving like a dumbass (or in the snow w/o snow tires) the car will be fine.

 

I've lost it twice. once not meaning to and once meaning to.

the one not meaning to it was really cold and i underestimated how much gas i was giving. The second one i was just messing around to see if i could get it to do a little drift (i guess you could say) but as soon as i pushed the clutch in it was like it had arms and does held itself down and got its traction back.
if thats not the lamest simile ever.

 

the car is quite easy to recover from full sideways, the avg driver is a different story ...

 

my rule of thumb
use dsc in temps of under 50 or when surface is wet
use dsc when with ppl .. dont want to scare them or put them through something unforseeble or get sued by them later
dsc off on nice dry roads and decent temps

in my experience dsc is foolproof so far .. though i havent done snow yet .. it gives you about a foot long slide sideways before applying the breakes .. then it sux cause the engine takes a while to recover .. but you can certainly mash the gas and get some slides

dsc soft off makes for some nice fishtails and side slides .. when they get out of control your breaks pretty much stop the slide in the position you are .. btw abs usually kicks in too since youre wheel rotations dont add up .. so breaking recovery is not so bad .. actually happened to me today when i was kind of sliding into the next lane in my turn .. didnt really want to be in that lane .. so i hit breaks .. abs kicks in .. back in my lane

dsc hard off - only had that on a few times .. and so far staying off of it .. just because i may want to turn it back on .. dont feel like waiting to turn it off .. not sure what exactly it all disactivates and finally soft off works good enough
anyways in hard off .. second gear spin outs not too hard to trigger at all .. though i have limited time trying that setting

in anycase ... side action control not surprisingly very controllable .. i never really felt like letting of the gas .. just let it right on sliding until i get into my direction and place .. except for today off course

compared to mx5 .. which basically came around with no option for recovery when i smashed it the 8 handles worlds better

 

What is DSC soft off and hard off? Are you taking about turning off the traction control when you say soft off?

 

It can spin, sure, but if you follow a few rules it's unlikely:

1. Don't floor it in first from a standstill around a tight corner
2. Don't abrubtly get off the gas if your at the limits
3. Don't touch the brakes if you are even near the limits
4. If accelerating through a corner, don't try to shift in the middle of it
5. Slow everything down by 20% if you don't have summer tires on

Also it's worth finding a safe place (like an autocross) to see what the limits of the car are and what it feels like and how it reacts at or beyond those limits.

Frankly these apply to any rear wheel drive car.

 

True but be cautious with the autocross. Most car ins. co's dont cover that or track/strip