MBMB

I very nearly wadded my '89 GT today.

During rush hour, I made a late decision to exit I-10 and flicked right to the exit at freeway speed. I somehow wound up yawing clockwise (toward the guardrail) then overcorrecting (onto the grass between the exit and the freeway) and rotating counterclockwise as I went down the slope so that I wound up in the far right lane of the freeway…except that, to me, it was the far left lane…with the engine stalled.

Fortunately, nobody hit me.

I pushed the car onto the shoulder. She started right back up. I saw no body damage and no fluid leaks and heard no unpleasant sounds. The steering still tracks straight.

This was in dry weather, with several-year-old Fuzion tires with plenty of tread. The car is well maintained.

Any hypotheses for what I did (or what went) wrong?

p.s. A hundred yards up the exit ramp from the freeway, a lady had stuck her Japanese sedan in the grass on the left shoulder. That happened before my mishap. Maybe a strange coincidence, maybe a data point. I didn't see her until after I had my off-road excursion. I saw no sign of oil, ice, or anything else extremely slippery on the road.

86'928S MeteorGrey

It may have been something on the roadway previous to the offramp. (Since another car had trouble in the same area.)

I'd check your alignment, suspension components and tires for abnormal wear. Also check your sway bar linkages for breaks or bent parts.

Were you on the gas when the yaw occurred?

Glad you escaped unscathed.

Ever see that movie Chronicle?

mickster

First off-glad you are okay. Second my thoughts say some petroleum based liquid or melting asphalt-although not sure how hot it was today in Houston.

Which exit? My wife's from Houston and most of the family is there-

Speedtoys

You yanked the wheel and lifted.


Track days with instructors will exorcise these subconscious bad habits from your brain..so critical actions like this in the future happen more..predictably. You simply violated traction and weight distribution physics.

There's no blaming tires, alignment..it was user error.

VERY glad you..and the car, are ok.

86'928S MeteorGrey

The Weissach axle usually corrects when lifting off the throttle during a turn. It's why the 928 sucks at drifting. I'd inspect the car fully if it were me.

Speedtoys

Ya..it helps, but its not infallible.


User error.


Ive heard _every_ excuse picking up cars off racetracks for 15yrs.

Its ok to say "I did that wrong, didnt I?" and learn from it.


A _really_ loose shock bolt maybe, REALLY loose. But ive driven a 928 where you had about 1/4" of random gas on/off rear toe from that problem, and it wasnt _that_ bad.

MBMB

That's my theory, and why I asked.

I'll look for a track day. Thanks.

MBMB

Taylor Street exit. We live in the Heights.

Speedtoys

You can never stop learning to drive..its not about the speed, its about the calm control you learn..by being ahead of the car and anticipating 'how' it all works.

mickster

Not too far from my Father-in-law's business on Collinsworth (3 miles).

hacker-pschorr

Agreed driver error is the #1 factor here.

However, people need to realize....... "several-year-old Fuzion tires with plenty of tread".......tires have a shelf life.
The old school "check the tread with a penny" doesn't apply to performance tires.

Age is the #1 factor, 5-6 years they are gone, regardless of tread depth.

Spun

Not exactly. Tires that are in a cool dark place do not age. It is the sun, heat with O2 that ages and distroys rubber. 5-6 yrs outside, agreed... In a storage facility... No issue.

hacker-pschorr

Sure if you buy brand new tires, store them in a climate controlled garage covered up for 6 years they will still be ok to use....fine. We have race tires at the shop a few years old that are like new.

That's hardly the topic at hand here. If you drive your car, the tires are outside, in the sun, heat, and O2 aging them.......

Just tyring to make a point that people need to look beyond tread depth. Especialy with soft performance tires.

M. Requin

Good response, Mark. I think Speedtoys and Hacker-Pschorr are right, since I have BTDT (though with worse tires), and like you, got away very lucky.

Eplebnista

I disagree. Depends on the tire (the individual tire, not the brand), but a 5 - 6 year old tire is not fit for its intended use. My S.O. works in the business and they scrap inventory that has been kept in a cool dark place after 4 years. Consensus in the industry is that a six year old tire should probably be nailed to a dock and not mounted on a rim.

Seems funny to me that few members here would agree that a six year old timing belt is fine but are absolutely ok with tires that are that old or older.