My last run at the AX on saturday, I spun out twice. Both times I didnt put the clutch in. The second time I could not restart the car with the key, I had to pop the clutch a few times to get it going. Whats the deal?

Do not spin the engine backwards.. you can blow up the MPS and fry the alternator.


B

When you spin, CLUTCH IN! The results are not good if you reverse spin the motor.
Geoff

as others have pointed out, 'in a spin, both feet in.' bad things can happen to a D-Jet car (especially) when spun backward, but -probably- it's not as dramatic as that. it's probably just a combination of running rich, slightly wet, fouled plugs, and the sudden stoppage of cooling air that causes a bit of vapor lock.

Hey Rich!

Nice to see you here!

-Rusty

Ha ha ha...

I stopped telling people both feet in. A 4cyl 2.0 914 will only go 100mph on the race track. If you lose it coming out of a corner... you can really only be doing 80 mph or so... push in the clutch and apply brakes off and on depending which way the car is facing.

I SWEAR the both feet in came from the racing schools trying to save THEIR cars.

One of my friends loses it coming out of a fast turn and ruins 4 brand new HOOSIER tires (flat spots) because his "schools" taught him "both feet in". 800$ down the drain in 5 laps. I'll pump the pedal..... I have enough "awareness" that I can tell when the car will be rolling in the same direction of travel as I started... this is when I brake and I dont mean panic brake.

B

Ayup....with a little practice ( ?) your mind will still function while it's happening. I just about got it down pat.

Ill "work" on it. When I spin, I usually just go with the flow, because I know once I am past a certain point it is impossible to correct. I just sit back and enjoy. Now Ill put the clutch in.

I offer the following observation: Dale Earnhart Sr. locked the brakes on every spin I saw him do. He managed to avoid for the most part secondary damage to his car due to additional contact with the wall and he was usually going in a predicatble direction allowing other drivers to miss his spinning car. I believe he was able to continue on in the race more than average. I realize that what I have just stated is relative to oval track racing, but I have seen a lot of bonehead moves on road courses because the driver re-looped back into harm's way. the less experience one has, the more important both feet in becomes. Brad, you and other seasoned race car drivers understand what is happening more than the hobby racer. I vote for both feet in until you know what your position is on or off the track.

THis is prolly a little racy and ill colored bad timing joke:

"what do PINK FLOYD and Dale Earnhardt have in common?"

their last big hit was "the wall"


OK...sorry FLAME AWAY!!!!!!!!!


:gilloutine:

i think we have to define the location in order to decide how a given driver should react .
i will drive my car close to the limit by virtue of the fact i comute in the snow , ice , and rain all the time. how i would behave on the track is a completely different situation .
all said , its not good to abruptly spin any recp. engine
in reverse .

On the track/course where Chris autoxes, he might hit 60 mph on the straight parts. The big turns 20mph tops and that is where most spin. This course is on a old old airport runway soo there is lots of room to spin without hitting anything but grass. I have only seen one car spin and hit the grass and it wasn't a Porsche.

Chris should learn how the car "feels" when spinning and maybe even learn to control the car so he can come out of it in control. My son Blair has a knack for that, I don't yet. Stay off the brakes other than tapping 'em and clutch in. That is how I learned from late David Said.
Geoff

I can usually tell when I am going to go around, and mostly I can steer out of it, but I KNOW when its too late, because I think "I just over-corrected..." then I go around. Because I am new at this, I spend the time during spin thinking "gee, this is fun!". I will learn to feel the car as I go, and now it is way out of balance, so I will probably be starting over soon, once I put the 22mm torsoins in.

Once the car is balanced, you can feel the rear end getting loose using the throttle. Keeping it in control with the throttle is fun, spinning is not. If you are going to install the 22mm bars what are you doing for the bushings? New too?
Geoff

Yep, new street bushings. I want to get a set of Muellers eventually, but quite frankly, I dont have the extra $$$$

I don't have that extra money to spend either on Muellers bearings. Maybe after you get the work done, come on down to the UW parking lot and do some big turns to learn how to control the ass end of the car.
Geoff