PSA: as temperatures drop....

[Chris!]

Almost had a bad situation this morning.

Was heading down to my parents, had driven around a bit, went to Dunkins, went to cvs. And headed to the highway...

As I came around the on ramp, I rolled on the throttle as the ramp apexed, and the car came completely sideways. Like snapped out, with little effort. I straightened it back out while looking at the guard rail and right into the slow lane.

Thankfully there was no traffic, and thankfully I was able to right the car.

I gotta say, if you're not used to a powerful car, and it's below 55*, get a different set of tires, or don't drive at all.


So the reminder...factory tires suck. And suck more when it gets cold.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

[freakshow12]

I know the feeling. I wanted to go for one last rip before it goes for a 7 month nap. Any type of tip in and it just goes where it wants. I have driven on drag radials for over a decade and they are way safer than these lol. That's what this thing is getting over winter!

 

[Colleton]

The 6 months I had my '13 were all winter and early spring months. I had to be extremely careful with the car as these tires just do not do well in the cold, even with the mild winters down here.

My '14 should be here in 3-4 weeks. It's going to be another long winter.

 

[raustin0017]

I will add that most High Performance tires don't do well in low temps. My M3 had MPSS while I was Germany. I did drive her even when the temps went down to the 20s..never on snow/ice. Was drivable...but had to be very careful under throttle.

 

[SVTKen]

Ford should have never used those tires. They are unsafe in cooler (not even cold!) temps. Glad you were able to recover and avoid an accident.

 

[Norton]

Ford should have never used those tires. They are unsafe in cooler (not even cold!) temps. Glad you were able to recover and avoid an accident.

x2!

 

[Chris!]

Ford should have never used those tires. They are unsafe in cooler (not even cold!) temps. Glad you were able to recover and avoid an accident.

Me too! That would have sucked.

Dog was in car too. She was lookin at me like "wtf are you doing?" For the next 20mins lol

Ill do different tires. And more than likely wheels as well in the spring.

 

[evolve]

lol^. Glad you and the pooch are ok!

 

[Lethalchem]

I gotta say, if you're not used to a powerful car......don't drive at all.

Fixed it for ya.

 

[BrunotheBoxer]

I had a dog like that when I was young. West highland terrier she was my first dog. Glad you made it out of the situation unscathed.
Now I have an apbt.

I think I'm going to regret not getting a gt500 but I'm saving for either a gt350 or what ever they're gonna call it or a c7.

 

[662HP631TQ]

Don't romp on it! Geez, how do I constantly see this. I drove in the cold raining and made it 240+ miles away with little problem, NO SPIRITED driving!

 

[Devious_Snake]

Fixed it for ya.

x2

 

[ObieFox]

Between the stock tires and the power these cars make when it cools off and they can really feed, one needs to be very careful...

Glad you knew how to recover it....so many don't....

 

[Chris!]

Don't romp on it! Geez, how do I constantly see this. I drove in the cold raining and made it 240+ miles away with little problem, NO SPIRITED driving!

Didn't romp. Rolled on the throttle.

 

[reason4treason]

as soon as I started to read your post I knew it was going to be about the GYs. glad nobody and nothing are damaged. ever seen the way the GY Blimp bobble-heads around the skies of Pompano Beach in the winter? seems like the tires aren't much different

btw, did you know you can get car insurance that will cover your dog too?

 

[Husky44]

Didn't romp. Rolled on the throttle.

I knew it wouldn't take long for an expert to correct you...:nonono:

 

[mustangc]

Glad to hear you're okay Chris. I'm surprised the Advancetrac didn't rescue you sooner. Its quite scary actually!

Continuing the PSA:

• Accelerating while cornering always tests traction because the grip being used for lateral acceleration isn't available for accelerating or braking (If one is cornering hard enough, NO throttle or braking acceleration is possible).
• This car has 631 ft-lbs of torque, and over 500 available right off idle. It doesn't take much of a roll on the throttle to generate a lot of torque for the tires to deal with. Can you say throttle induced oversteer?
• When the traction envelope is reduced by cold tires or surface anomalies (dirt, loose asphalt, expansion joints, etc), it'll take even less to get out of shape. Solid rear axles are doubly sensitive to bumps in corners.

 

[YELL03]

Before I knew that summer tires became hockey pucks in cold weather, I had a similar incident with my 2007 C6 Z06, scared the hell out of me.

I actually traded the car shortly after for a 911 Targa 4, it had summer tires, but the AWD compensated.

With my 2011 GT500, I just picked up a set of Michelin Pilot A/S 3s, they might not handle 600rwhp+ (TVS swap coming next week) as well as a Drag radial, but in winter months I will feel more secure than my stock Goodyear F1s.

They are better than the stock Goodyears in warm weather also.

 

[Lethalchem]

Before I knew that summer tires became hockey pucks in cold weather, I had a similar incident with my 2007 C6 Z06, scared the hell out of me.

I actually traded the car shortly after for a 911 Targa 4, it had summer tires, but the AWD compensated.

With my 2011 GT500, I just picked up a set of Michelin Pilot A/S 3s, they might not handle 600rwhp+ (TVS swap coming next week) as well as a Drag radial, but in winter months I will feel more secure than my stock Goodyear F1s.

They are better than the stock Goodyears in warm weather also.

Trading out the tires...or sometimes even the entire car? Nothing will save you from poor awareness of conditions.

See video for best mod you can add to any car:

:bowdown: Kenny Brack in the wild Ford GT40 - YouTube :bowdown:
:bowdown: Kenny Brack interview on how he raced GT40 at the Goodwood Revival - YouTube :bowdown:

 

[Chris!]

I knew it wouldn't take long for an expert to correct you...:nonono:

Lol.

Definately rolled on to it.