My new ride!!!
- Thread starter lazylathe
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Nice wheels - watch out for the speed traps.
Andrew - just my 2c worth (for all I know you're Schumaker's better twin) - my advice to anyone buying a high performance (power / weight ratio) car is to take it down for a track day or advanced driving course.
Far better to find out its foibles in the relatively safe environment of a track than on a public road.
Check out your insurance and motorplan requirements before doing so however.
That car tends to understeer unless you chuck it into a corner etc. etc.
Then again maybe I'm preaching to the converted or you just use it to go to church on Sundays - whatever.
Have fun with your new ride.
Ken
Andrew - just my 2c worth (for all I know you're Schumaker's better twin) - my advice to anyone buying a high performance (power / weight ratio) car is to take it down for a track day or advanced driving course.
Far better to find out its foibles in the relatively safe environment of a track than on a public road.
Check out your insurance and motorplan requirements before doing so however.
That car tends to understeer unless you chuck it into a corner etc. etc.
Then again maybe I'm preaching to the converted or you just use it to go to church on Sundays - whatever.
Have fun with your new ride.
Ken
Oh!! just another car.
I thought you had bought yourself a big ride on lathe or mill ;D
Nice wheels BTW.
Just two too many.
John
I thought you had bought yourself a big ride on lathe or mill ;D
Nice wheels BTW.
Just two too many.
John
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Darren English
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What layout is the engine is it a straight 5?
Andrew,
Nice car!
I had the Golf's predecessor many year ago, a 1976 VW Rabbit (called Golf in Europe at the time). 1600cc carburetter motor.
Ran like a scalded cat! Handled well, too.
Like Ken said, understeers a bit till you get hard into a corner. Then the inside rear wheel comes off the ground and settles into a groove. Stay on the power and it just pulls right through.
Also the best car I ever had in the snow, it never got stuck.
Nice car!
I had the Golf's predecessor many year ago, a 1976 VW Rabbit (called Golf in Europe at the time). 1600cc carburetter motor.
Ran like a scalded cat! Handled well, too.
Like Ken said, understeers a bit till you get hard into a corner. Then the inside rear wheel comes off the ground and settles into a groove. Stay on the power and it just pulls right through.
Also the best car I ever had in the snow, it never got stuck.
arnoldb
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Only the rims & engine differ... Mine's a 1.4TSi... - so not a rocket, but still good for 200+kph and a sub 10 second 0-100 ;D Had it for 3 months now, and it's an absolute pleasure to drive!Enjoy the car Andrew; it's amazing all the refinements VW puts into these.
Kind regards, Arnold
lazylathe
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Thanks guys!!
It is a lot of fun to drive, although slowly for the first 1000k's...
Get everything run in and loosened up and then the real fun starts! ;D
Arnold: Very nice!!! Mine was the last fully loaded one available in Ontario.
I love the smell of leather in the morning!! :big:
I noticed they only go up to 1.7 before moving to the GTI in S.A.
And the prices for some of the add ons was crazy...
Way more than what i paid here...
To everyone else:
Thanks for the words of wisdom and warning!
I will heed them on a daily basis.
When i used to live in south Africa i took courses up the the Advanced BMW course offered at Kyalami,
a local racetrack.
Anyone remember Sarel Van DeMerwe? He was there the one day, quite a lot of fun!
You go through all the handling of a car, driving in dry, wet, flooded conditions.
Very exciting stuff spinning out at 120!!! ;D
Aquaplaning is also real fun!
Doing these advanced driver courses are fun and you learn a lot about driving a car.
Also did a few when i owned my Honda VFR400RR!!
Although they teach you a lot of different techniques for riding a bike.
Andrew
It is a lot of fun to drive, although slowly for the first 1000k's...
Get everything run in and loosened up and then the real fun starts! ;D
Arnold: Very nice!!! Mine was the last fully loaded one available in Ontario.
I love the smell of leather in the morning!! :big:
I noticed they only go up to 1.7 before moving to the GTI in S.A.
And the prices for some of the add ons was crazy...
Way more than what i paid here...
To everyone else:
Thanks for the words of wisdom and warning!
I will heed them on a daily basis.
When i used to live in south Africa i took courses up the the Advanced BMW course offered at Kyalami,
a local racetrack.
Anyone remember Sarel Van DeMerwe? He was there the one day, quite a lot of fun!
You go through all the handling of a car, driving in dry, wet, flooded conditions.
Very exciting stuff spinning out at 120!!! ;D
Aquaplaning is also real fun!
Doing these advanced driver courses are fun and you learn a lot about driving a car.
Also did a few when i owned my Honda VFR400RR!!
Although they teach you a lot of different techniques for riding a bike.
Andrew
Yarwellnofine - like I said - preaching to the converted.
Supervan is still going strong in the masters series.
On a related topic to driving quick cars and based on a round table discussion over a few beers after a track day.....
The traction and anti-lock braking systems on most of the new cars seem to be having an unintended consequence.
It leads drivers to believe they are better than they really are.
With most of these systems, once you have got the car into a corner (without throwing it away on entry) you can pretty much bury the throttle or the brake and all you have to do is point it in the right direction and the traction control etc. takes care of the rest.
Which is fine untill you hit an oil slick or any other change in the surface and then since you were already close to the ragged edge will lead to you rapid departure from contolled motion.
For this reason some of the systems are a bit "nannyish" reacting at maybe 60-70% of the cars actual capability (I drove a Jag XKR round the racetrack and it objected to the first corner and I was not even warmed up), others run very close - my BMW M3 for instance- I have done several aggressive laps before I noticed that I had forgotten to disable the traction control - so its probably near about 95% of the car's capability whereas my wife's 318 is probably only about 70% or so (my guestimates - not to be relied on).
I'm rambling.
My point is be aware of your cars limitations and don't rely on the safety systems to keep you out of trouble.
Like any safety system, once you start leaning on it, it becomes part of the process and is no longer a safety system as such.
Ken
P.S. Andrew - aquaplaning is definitely brown tousers stuff - for those who've never experienced it they should try it in a controlled environment.
1) You're on top of the water.
2) Therefore you are driving a boat.
3) Its a very badly designed boat.
4) You don't have a rudder.
5) You probably don't have a skipper's ticket.
Supervan is still going strong in the masters series.
On a related topic to driving quick cars and based on a round table discussion over a few beers after a track day.....
The traction and anti-lock braking systems on most of the new cars seem to be having an unintended consequence.
It leads drivers to believe they are better than they really are.
With most of these systems, once you have got the car into a corner (without throwing it away on entry) you can pretty much bury the throttle or the brake and all you have to do is point it in the right direction and the traction control etc. takes care of the rest.
Which is fine untill you hit an oil slick or any other change in the surface and then since you were already close to the ragged edge will lead to you rapid departure from contolled motion.
For this reason some of the systems are a bit "nannyish" reacting at maybe 60-70% of the cars actual capability (I drove a Jag XKR round the racetrack and it objected to the first corner and I was not even warmed up), others run very close - my BMW M3 for instance- I have done several aggressive laps before I noticed that I had forgotten to disable the traction control - so its probably near about 95% of the car's capability whereas my wife's 318 is probably only about 70% or so (my guestimates - not to be relied on).
I'm rambling.
My point is be aware of your cars limitations and don't rely on the safety systems to keep you out of trouble.
Like any safety system, once you start leaning on it, it becomes part of the process and is no longer a safety system as such.
Ken
P.S. Andrew - aquaplaning is definitely brown tousers stuff - for those who've never experienced it they should try it in a controlled environment.
1) You're on top of the water.
2) Therefore you are driving a boat.
3) Its a very badly designed boat.
4) You don't have a rudder.
5) You probably don't have a skipper's ticket.
True, true - I don't get to practice ice driving much in South Africa but I once slithered about 3 miles down a mountain road in France, I don't think I was ever truely in control the whole way down.
Ken
Ken
Fun isn't it! :big:
As "snowbelters" Andrew and I have lived that nightmare!
I hate ice! Interestingly enough most traction control systems don't tolerate it well.....they basically lock the car up and you can't move.
Finding "black ice" on a highway overpass at night....it freezes on the bridges first....is down right sinister!...it just looks like a wet road....but it's not! and the best bet is to not do much of anything that will upset the car....clutch in, stay off the brakes and just roll to the otherside.
Like anything else...if you do it for a while, you get better at it.....but no matter how long you've been behind the wheel, it will bite you!
Dave
As "snowbelters" Andrew and I have lived that nightmare!
I hate ice! Interestingly enough most traction control systems don't tolerate it well.....they basically lock the car up and you can't move.
Finding "black ice" on a highway overpass at night....it freezes on the bridges first....is down right sinister!...it just looks like a wet road....but it's not! and the best bet is to not do much of anything that will upset the car....clutch in, stay off the brakes and just roll to the otherside.
Like anything else...if you do it for a while, you get better at it.....but no matter how long you've been behind the wheel, it will bite you!
Dave
lazylathe
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Driving in the snow can be a lot of fun at times.
As Dave says you never truly know what is going to happen because the conditions
that are present under the snow vary greatly.
Especially if it rains and then freezes and then snows on top!
I much prefer dry/wet conditions to the snow!
It is a bit more predictable.
The one thing that i always find amusing living in Canada is that when the first bit of winter
arrives, everyone forgets how to drive!
The number of vehicles you see in the ditch on the side of the highway is crazy!!
Black ice is a big contributor for these events!
And the funny thing is they warn you on all the radio stations to slow down and be careful...
Andrew
As Dave says you never truly know what is going to happen because the conditions
that are present under the snow vary greatly.
Especially if it rains and then freezes and then snows on top!
I much prefer dry/wet conditions to the snow!
It is a bit more predictable.
The one thing that i always find amusing living in Canada is that when the first bit of winter
arrives, everyone forgets how to drive!
The number of vehicles you see in the ditch on the side of the highway is crazy!!
Black ice is a big contributor for these events!
And the funny thing is they warn you on all the radio stations to slow down and be careful...
Andrew
Yes - hitting a patch of black ice is pretty much the same thing as aquaplaning.
Most ABS systems allow lockup below some speed (typically about 20kmh) this serves two purposes..
1) On loose surfaces like gravel and sand, lockup works better than the ABS over the last portion of the stop.
2) If you do throw it away, lockup is desirable as the car will carry on its trajectory and not suddenly shoot off in some arbitary direction (once a car is sideways the wheels are going to go below the ABS speed limit and lockup is possible).
Its standard practice to lockup on the racetrack if you lose it. I learned that the hard way when I knew I should have pounded the brake to the floor but my ego told me I could handle it - well I couldn't and the car suddenly shot me into the wall - damn - you don't really notice how fast those things are going by until it suddenly comes at you - AAARRGGGHHH.
As you say you pretty much shouldn't do anything other than coast and steer.
The problem is people panic and hit the brakes - it only takes a touch and your zero grip wheels stop more or less instantly - the problem is touchdown - invariably one wheel makes contact with the road - usually a front wheel - and its stopped - the inertia to get it turning again is sufficient to start the car into a spin (the other three wheels being frictionless at that instant) and away you go.
And as you know this happens in a very short space of time.
Fun fun fun...
Ken
P.S. Andrew you used to live here - same thing in South Africa - the first heavy rains and the roads are littered with car wrecks.
I drove 240km in a heavy downpour the other day and in that time I saw 6 wrecks all of them single cars on their roof on in the wall / ditch / Armco - I would imagine there were more that had been cleared away by the time I drove past - can you imagine this lot on ice ?
Sorry I didn't mean to Hijack your thread - I'll shut up now.
Most ABS systems allow lockup below some speed (typically about 20kmh) this serves two purposes..
1) On loose surfaces like gravel and sand, lockup works better than the ABS over the last portion of the stop.
2) If you do throw it away, lockup is desirable as the car will carry on its trajectory and not suddenly shoot off in some arbitary direction (once a car is sideways the wheels are going to go below the ABS speed limit and lockup is possible).
Its standard practice to lockup on the racetrack if you lose it. I learned that the hard way when I knew I should have pounded the brake to the floor but my ego told me I could handle it - well I couldn't and the car suddenly shot me into the wall - damn - you don't really notice how fast those things are going by until it suddenly comes at you - AAARRGGGHHH.
As you say you pretty much shouldn't do anything other than coast and steer.
The problem is people panic and hit the brakes - it only takes a touch and your zero grip wheels stop more or less instantly - the problem is touchdown - invariably one wheel makes contact with the road - usually a front wheel - and its stopped - the inertia to get it turning again is sufficient to start the car into a spin (the other three wheels being frictionless at that instant) and away you go.
And as you know this happens in a very short space of time.
Fun fun fun...
Ken
P.S. Andrew you used to live here - same thing in South Africa - the first heavy rains and the roads are littered with car wrecks.
I drove 240km in a heavy downpour the other day and in that time I saw 6 wrecks all of them single cars on their roof on in the wall / ditch / Armco - I would imagine there were more that had been cleared away by the time I drove past - can you imagine this lot on ice ?
Sorry I didn't mean to Hijack your thread - I'll shut up now.
