Quote:
Originally Posted by Taymaishu
I completely agree with everything you said - and yes, it's self-evident that I was going too fast as i lost traction (however it's not like I was hammering).
It's not like i'm disagreeing with you at all - quite the opposite. DTC was born for those people (the ultimate majority by a long way) who don't use driving dynamics to pull themselves out of tricky situations.
However.. There was one situation where using the handbrake (and a huge amount of strength) has possibly saved my life. In that same car, i had a blowout on the M2 freeway in Sydney, after the M2 Tunnel. The front left went, and the wheel reefed itself to the left, aiming me straight at the left concrete barrier. I jammed the brake as a matter of reaction, but as i was doing 100km/h (legal limit there), and due to the shredding of the tyre, i wasn't stopping.
Right hand on the left side of the wheel, under one of the driving wheel 'spokes', and pulled the shit out of the wheel. Once over to the right, touched the handbrake up, fishtailed it back and slid into the brakedown bay.
It took me about 30 minutes to get my heart-rate down and an M2 patrol car came and helped me change the wheel after they saw it on CCTV out of the tunnel.
I was hesitant to drive for a week after that incident, but i firmly believe had i not pulled up the h-brake, i would have plowed into that wall.
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Understeering, handbrake turns around roundabouts and high speed tyre blowouts - it sounds like your driving life is one big Nascar event. I might have to pack a helmet if you ever offer me a lift.
If I was in the same situation, I'd still think maintaining traction with the road surface was the best option, so I'd give the handbrake a miss (I'd imagine as the front left was retarding your forward motion, that applying the handbrake may have the potential to throw you into a left hand spin). Anyway, you're still alive and kicking, so at the end of the day that's the most important thing (it's easy for me to dissect your actions now after the fact, but in the heat of the moment you did what you thought was the best thing and you walked away inscathed).
Ok, back on topic...........