Where is the part with the threesome with his wife?

Didn't happen. Guy just wanted to watch. :icon17:

Two days ago I'd been creeping behind a truck that went left and allowed me to hit the hair pin turn alone. I turned off VDC and took the uphill turn the car flashed traction control and I had no power. I looked down to verify that VDC was off, what happened? Oh I'm in third gear and an idiot.

The next day I was already alone at the same turn, and with VDC off, in second gear, launched beautifully I had a bit of tire smell, and was alone until a quarter of a mile from the house. I came up behind law enforcement, and putted the last bit.

I had the first encounter with ice in the Z last night. Note: this refers to the central Texas version of ice :icon17:

:eek: oh gosh Jar! You had me nervous just reading this. Too many pics of our cars losing the battle w ice. Happy you came out on top:tup:

:tup: i hate it when I miss a gear!

Icy roads + cars -> disaster in TX. Just don't do it if you don't have to. If you don't screw up, someone else will screw up and hit you.

I just don't get it.

Well, I do - clueless drivers and all. But anyone with half a brain should be following the same order of operations on a day when questionable traction exists:

1) Start Car
2) Drive Car to closest street when plenty of stopping room
3) Press brakes progressively harder until the tires lock up, to determine approximate braking force required to "have a bad time"
4) ????
5) Profit

I think the actual sequence around here is:

1) Start Car
2) Finish that beer you left in the console last night
3) Drive to random street full of cars
4) Slam brakes randomly, spin out into oncoming traffic
5) ???
6) End up a redneck millionaire after suing the other guy for your fake neck injury, somehow.

I'm happy you are fine and know how to deal with ice. I do not.

RE: I let off the accelerator as the car drifted slightly left and traction was regained in about a second.
Do you come off the gas a little bit or all the way off?

My first recommendation is to echo wstar. If you don't absolutely have to drive in ice, don't. But that goes especially for locations that do not see ice frequently during the winter season.

As for your question, all the way off. Generally I am feathering the accelerator anyway, as I do a good bit of coasting. It's a constant on-off battle in real ice. A lot of it is knowing what the car is doing just by feel (like a lot of you guys have a feel on the track). I practiced up to 50 mph in serious ice conditions in a massive parking lot when I lived in Colorado. It was invaluable.

I was driving in the first real rain of the year coming back from San Francisco at the end of the Golden Gate Bridge is a slight left. Bump in the pavement? Thud/bump sound and My rear end felt like it was in the air and I was forced to make a quick correction and wondered what just happened. Was it a flat? I looked at the TPMS light and it was not on.

I drove slowly got to work and asked a tire guy to look at my tires. He said they were fine.

On Saturday I drove 30 miles round trip and was white knuckling it the wole way. I'd ask my gal if she felt that and she thought it was the wind gusting. No such luck. It was like a 15 mile drift until we got to the banquette where Johanes van Overbeek* spoke.

On the way home it was more of the same until I hit a huge puddle and hydroplanned like a SOB.

When I got home and looked the next day I am showing steel belts. The tires are shot and I have zero tread on the insides due to the negative camber. This has now determined that I will not drive on racing slicks in the future.

The tire guy looked at my tires awhile ago and figured they would still be fine.

Moral of story: Look for yourself and do not reley upon others.


*Johannes van Overbeek From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search Johannes van Overbeek (born April 14, 1973) is an American race car driver in the American Le Mans Series. He currently drives an HPD ARX-03b for Extreme Speed Motorsports.

Career[edit]Johannes raced go-karts as a child, and began racing sedans at eighteen. Since 1996, he has competed in several racing series in North America, including the Speed World Challenge, the American Le Mans Series, and Grand-Am. In 2007, he won the Porsche Cup, and was ranked as the top non-factory Porsche driver in the world.[1] He finished third in 2008. As of 2013, he has eight wins in the ALMS. He was the only driver in ALMS to finish in the top three of the driver's championship every year from 2004 to 2008. In 2009 he drove for Flying Lizard Motorsports. He switched to Extreme Speed Motorsports for 2010. With codriver Scott Sharp van Overbeek finished 2nd in the 2012 ALMS GT championship in a Ferrari 458 GT2 with 2 wins for ESM. Johannes has competed in four 24 Hours of Le Mans races, finishing sixth in GT2 in 2008, fourth in 2006, and third in 2005.

Johannes lives in Oakland, California with his wife and two sons.

Woah! Glad you're ok :tup:

How long was it since the tire guy said they were ok until Saturday?

I just purchased a digital tread depth gauge earlier today from Amazon. But then, I don't drive on slicks :icon17:

:ugh2: it always pays to personally know your car OR have a husband you trust ;) glad all turned out ok. Can't be losing you, or your friendly Z!


:tup: I procured for myself a digital tire pressure and tread depth gage :tup:
Hubby sees it and he gets one in his stocking for Christmas! Lol

Thursday. He did not actually look. He looked in December and thought they were fine then so they still were. I will not hold this against him (as I should) but I will not forget, nor let him forget, this either.

Nice purchase. Lincolns head on a penny may be too old a gauge.