TPMS for Winter Tyres

[alexperkins]

That must've been rather scary

Yes auto boxes and skidding is a totally different ball game

[perarduapropatria]

That must've been rather scary

Yes auto boxes and skidding is a totally different ball game

I like to blame the Rolling Stones.

Gimme Shelter came on, I'd been at the gym and was on a bit of a high, felt the love and the next thing I knew I was facing the wrong way down a dual carriageway.

So Jagger is at fault.

[alexperkins]

Haha. Yes, Jagger is at fault

[Tooks]

I bet it did!

I had a similar experience in my Edition 30 - had some copy cat continental sports on it and they handled like they were made of pencil erasers.

Changed all four to Goodyear Eagle F1 asymmetric 2s and it was like night and day - good tyres those.

I've some evasive driving experience, but nothing prepared me for that.

The problem was that I corrected the skid and tapped the brake, forgetting it was a rear wheel auto box. Tapping the brake shifted the weight forward and away from the driven wheels, making the back lighter and easier to spin.

Rear skid in an auto? Foot off gas, let the gearbox do the braking. Lesson learnt.

That's why on a front wheel drive car you should always have the best tyres on the rear, because a rear skid is far harder to control, in a fwd car, than a front skid.

In my 20's (so 20 years ago!), I used to rally a Vauxhall Nova at club level. Whilst I'm no Juha Kankunnen, it was a fantastic way to learn car control. The club 'old hands' were also very free with advice, and in a front wheel drive car the technique to correct a back wheel 'skid' was to keep your foot in! The back end can't go anywhere if it's being pulled was the logic. Didn't always work though!

I remember as a new driver understeering my car into a ditch when the car didn't go where I'd pointed it, and I was clueless how to stop it.

I suppose the point I'm making is driver experience is key, as you learnt in your Jag.

I've heard the best wheels on the back thing before, and it came about because I guess it's thought understeer is easier to control than oversteer (most people back off and that transfers weight forward and help the tyres to grip again) but I'm not sure it's as relevant these days with just about every car having ABS and/or ESP. It's enormously frustrating not being able to fully disengage ESP on my GTI...

I'd say four good tyres is the way to go anyway, as there will be times where road conditions and circumstances mean the back is going to step out no matter what.

My wife drives a lot with work, and her firm sent her on a defensive driving day which included a skid pan session. She really enjoyed the latter as for the first time in her life she was able to experience a car doing something other than pointing where she'd wanted it to, and she found it hugely enjoyable and useful.

I take a lot of pride in driving, I 'make progress' where it's safe to do so, but I'm also always learning and that won't ever stop hopefully.