Nice suprise on the way home, but ???

122 Vega

Retired MSP Racer!
:
03 Mazdaspeed Protege #1668,2005 Mini Cooper S, 75 Cosworth Vega
I was just coming home today on the freeway and heard a familiar PFFFTGOBBLEGOBBLEGOBBLEPFFT. Wait, I didn't just shift did I? No, out of the corner of my eye a 3.5 Titanium comes up on me in the left lane.

I give him the thumbs up and notice the Injen sticker on the back window and what appeared to be yellow tow hooks up front. Hmm...he didn't respond. It is as if he doesn't know what I am driving. I decide to follow him for a bit as the rain starts to come down.

We approach the 217 Southbound interchange, a long 72 mph (for the MSP in the dry) negative cambered sweeper to the right. He heads towards it like how I've put mine through it many times before, and I think, Whoa, this'll be fun, dicing though this turn in the rain, just the two of us. But then, he lifts throttle in front of me at about 60 mph. He turns in nicely and eases up on the brake. I plan on diving in on him, late apex the turn and come out past him at WOT. That'll suprise him!

But then I notice that I have developed a severe amount of understeer at the limit. The front is all loose, washing out from under me instantly. Scary. I lift the throttle and check my mirro to see if it is safe and clear for me to swing into the left lane if I have to. I open my radius a little wider and regain control, albeit now at a whopping 40 mph.

I see the Titanium hammer down as he unwinds the turn and soon he is just tailights. I creep through the rest of the turn and sheepishly take the next exit home.

Does anyone know why this happened? I have a theory, but I would like some other opinions first. It was not hydroplaning, the rain had just started.

Thanks,

Britt
 
I think the rain had alot to do with the poor handling of your car......they say the roads are the thinkest in the first 5 minutes of rain. I don't know though. Once when I got one it in my car in the rain it had massive amounts of understeer, I just associated it with the LSD.....:confused:
 
one time i took a corner really hard...and i got a lot of understeer..but then i realized..mine is a DX..i also dont have a good suspension..moreover, i dont drive an MSP..and finally..this didnt really happen..but hopefully you'll figure out what the deal is..good luck
 
when it first starts to rain its actually the most slippery on the road b/c the oil that is on the road actually is moving around with the rain water....after a little while of raining the oil is mostly on the sides of the roads...
just my .02
 
yeah i think thats what might have happend cause it had just barely started to rain and the road was prob covered in mostly oil and water.
 
Britt: What are the differences in the two cars? Yours is 6 months older and the tires have been on the road for 10k miles? So, your tread depth is somewhat less, the tires may be a little harder, you may have a different alignment. Hmm, were you exactly behind him tracking in the same portion of the road? There's lots of wear on the roads due to people running studded tires all winter (God! Why in Portland?) so there could be significant differences in surface traction only a foot left or right of the normal tire grooves.

I'm thinking it's the Bridgestones after 6 months and here's why. When I first had SO2s (last car) they were incredible in the rain. A year later and they were so hard, I could easily tell the difference. Then Bridgestone came out with the Pole Position SO2s with two layers of rubber, the deeper layer being much stickier to try to compensate for the tires getting so much harder over time.

Ours are OEM Bridgestone RE040s, so I don't think they are as sophisticated a design as the Pole Position SO2s. Maybe your tires are just a little harder after 6 months on the road. Then again, maybe I'm full of **it! :D
 
Wepll thanks for the replies, I thought it might have to do with the fact that I was tipping the scales at just under 10,000lbs!
/members/122 Vega/p1010512.jpg
Just messin' with you guys!

Britt
 
Iguess no one thought my joke was funny.

Just a new spin on the "MSP spotted" threads.

Britt
 

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