ZoomZoomH

Warning: don't try this at home

today after work, I went to Wal-Mart to get some stuff. As I left Wal-Mart and started to get on the onramp onto I-66, I decided, "hmm, I just rotated my tires, I want to see how the car handles with the Yokohamas on the front and the Poortenzas on the rear," So I began accelerating as I go up the ramp. Oh yeah, it was raining hard, so I think you know where this is going.

As I begin to push harder, the front tires started to squeal, which is ok, but all of a sudden, the rear, shod with the Bridgestone Poortenzas, broke loose and start coming around. Since the onramp was kinda narrow, I decided instead of trying to straighten out the car and risk hitting the guardrail, I stepped on the brake, probably locked up the rear wheels in process, and proceed to do a 360 spin right in the middle of the onramp!!!!

As soon as the car stopped spinning, I quickly did a 3 point turn to turn the car around. As I was turning around, other cars began to drive up the ramp. They must be thinking, "what the hell is wrong with that guy" as they see a Protege pointing in the wrong direction on an onramp.

Curious thing is though, as I was spinning, I wasn't really scared or nervous. I just got a little bit more concentrated on stopping the car without hitting anything or going into the ditch, and slowly drove away once I had the car turned around.

moral of the story? Don't test your tire traction on public roads, do it on the track!!!! And Poortenzas suck in the rain!!!

Edit: thanks to cjb200, I just realized that it's actually a 180 spin, not a 360!!!

derrick1623

just don't do it in the rain...them was some badass storms that past by thisaway!

zeriak

Nice. But if it was a 360, wouldn't you be facing the same way you were going up the ramp??

cjb200

Yeah, I learned in a similar way how bad the Potenzas are. Look up the user reviews on Tirerack.com, evreyone complains about the Potenza's wet traction.

ZoomZoomH

good call!!!!! so it's 180 instead!!!

damn geometry

mopho

It is also a bad idea to have different tires front to rear, it screws up the handling

txzoomr

with the Dunlops my car has absolute horrible wet weather traction.

It feels like the clutch is slipping when you moderately drive.
it is the tires not biting. The car has 3K miles and the air pressure is correct...so once again

Oh cool story bout the 180/360 thanks for sharing...did you soil yourself?

ZoomZoomH

nah no soiling, I was actually surprisingly calm, after I stopped spinning, I slowly made a 3 point turn and went on my way

I guess all that autocrossing has desensitized me from sudden lateral acceleration changes

Makaveli

yeah, my Potenzas suck too, especially in the rain.....

I always have to offset it with very smart and laid back driving in the rain as I slid halfway through the intersection once right after I got my car. Keep in mind that I was coming off driving an '88 Tempest that sucked in the rain or shine.......

Potenzas

ZoomZoomH

I would've, except I didn't really want to try it with almost no margin for going off road or the into the guard rail, so I took the easy way out and spun to a stop in the middle of the road.

but I'll keep that tip in mind when I'm doing autox sunday. now that I've put the less grippy tires in the back, that should really reduce the severe understeer I've been experiencing.

ZoomZoomH

and oh yeah, this is the first time that I've ever spun out my car. So it's kinda hard to go against the instinct to slow down the car as I'm spinning

next time man, next time I'll mash the accelerator

proman

i had the same experience actually in my previous 90 lx. i believe i had old potenzas also but not sure. but it happend on dry roads. duriong the spin out i didn't panick either. but after i came to a complete stop, did a quick 3 point turn because it was narrow one lane split. THEN i started to shiver and told myself oh **** that was close. Amazingly i didn't hit the concrete wall . It was the first time i ever spun out but I'm glad i can keep calm during the whole experience.

ZoomZoomH

shoulda put a link to this thread in the 3rd gen group! It took me a while to find it!

ZoomZoomH

I sound happy because I DIDN'T F'ked up my car, so I feel really lucky and relieved at the same time. Also, I'm happy that I didn't panic when I spun, instead I was able to focus on getting the car stopped without hitting the guardrail or going into a ditch

I'll admit though, I was really stupid doing that in the rain on tire setups that I'm still not familiar with

that' why I said, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME

MazdaSpeedRacer

I have stock wheels and tires still. I DESPERATLY want new tires, but dont really want to spend $600(i want Yokohama A520's) and still have stock rims.

However the fact that it was in the rain that i spun out on the highway with the stock Dunlops....

The 60 series and up Dunlop SP5000's suck....the 55 and down series are called SP SPORT 5000 and they are rated very well.

I dont blame my tires for what happened(had to swerve suddenly to avoid an object in my lane going 105kms/hr, went into a 540 spin, off highway, into steel pillar, has been in the shop for 9 weeks)But i know the tires did play a part in it.

I dont know why Mazda went with such horrible tires...i hope they change these on the '03's.

As a side note, anyone have any MP3 rims for sale? I am very interested. I dont need the tires though, i want my A520's. If anyone knows where i could get some id appreciate it a lot. TIA!