Gabo3k

I missed a turn doing about 60 (a 25 MPH turn).

I turned the wheel and car kept going straight. I hit a curb at this speed and all I got was a scratched rim and some scratches under the car. Of course I got an alignment after this. I expected some suspension parts to be bent, and nothing.

My car jumped the curb, then I had to jump it back to get on the right lane. The curb was at least a five inches high dividing two lanes.

I know, this was dumb! At least I now know the limits of my car...


:P

I'm running with Eibach springs now. Soon to have sways, etc. installed.

I also now have RH EVO C4's, so I know I wont be doing any crazy driving!

Amazing how strong the suspension components of our cars are!

CLS2001_97124

whoa... lucky you still have the 4x4 CLS.

mantis23

lucky bastard. my rims have curb magnets in them.

Doc.Booty

You're lucky. My mom spun my CL-S on the highway (didnt' hit anthing, but did do about 2 360s) and i had to pay for new struts. Ouch

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

you had to buy new struts after doing 360's? why is that?

dgracer

Lucky you didnt kill anyone. What are you trying to prove? Save it for the track.

Gabo3k

Nothing to prove, just one of those "this is a type-s dammed" moment.

Now tell me you never had that feeling before, and did something stupid? ? ?

Crazy Bimmer

silly rabbit

GoldieAlek

Man after this I don’t worry about my car...
I kinda side swipe my both rims on curb…. I didn’t even hit it…just swiped it. So there was a lil tilt on my s. wheel but that got fixed with alignment...
I was worried tho if maybe somehow something was missed...but after reading this i think it should be fine!
I think one thing was slightly off is camber….. or something mechanic said that they cant do anything about that. Cause manufacture says that part can’t be aligned.... (I forgot what part it was.)
Glad you are all alright…and good to know!

TeamBlurryCL

common mistake of inexperienced drivers.

my guess is that you were on the brakes while making the turn, trying to slow down while making the turn. Big Mistake. Reason? to make a turn, your wheels have to be spinning. but since you were stepping on the brakes, your wheels stopped spinning. So, instead of the car moving in the direction of where the tire are pointed, your car lost grip and slid in the direction you were moving. in this case, straight. so basicly you had a better chance just turning the wheel hard and making the turn. yeah understeer is the biggest problem with most fwd cars.

dgracer

I think he just overcooked it. I've found that in a (stock) Type-S about the max you can do is double the posted speed of a turn. He was pretty well above that. Actually braking would have helped the front bite as long as the wheels werent locked. It is when you go charging in to a turn either under power or coasting that you experience understeer. Remember, weight on a tire is grip.

Gabo3k

Actually I am a pretty seasoned driver. It was just one of those instances, you know...

Nashua_Night_Hawk

This happened to me in summer 2001. At that time, after I bought my summer tires and the 18", I had a leak from one of the 18" wheels. I had to put a stock 17" wheel on the rear passenger side.

In Short, I was taking a ramp that gets to an overpass with a total of 270 degree turn at some 50 MPH. The posted speed is 25 MPH. Just as I was coming at the end of the ramp and entering the overpass straight, The stock tire gave away and I had 90 degrees right spin, VSA did it is best to correct, but it was too late. I was one of scariest moment I ever had in ANY car. I tried to correct by steering to the left as fast I can, It did not help! It was so fast, the CLS was moving side ways and ended hitting the right side curb head on and where the right wheel hit the curb first!

The CLS jumped over the curb, the front lower towing hook was bent, and once the front right tire hit the curb the CLS literally bounced back.

My passenger almost felt he died or going to die. He shut his eyes and thought we will be another statistics..

Of course, we were lucky to go from 50 MPH to zero MPH in 1-2 seconds.

I pulled back and tried to drive my CLS. Of course the steering wheel was messed up!

The list of damage includes:
1) A bent right from rim and busted tire that were replaced by the tire shop at no cost!
2) An out of alignment. Again fixed by the tire shop at no cost.
3) A bent hook. Still to date not fixed.
4) some scraps on the lower plastic splash guards.

And most importantly, some bruised ego and embarrassment.

You may ask why I was doing that? Simply a childish act to impress my colleague at work with the ability of my new CLS ride!

Lesson from the story, never drive on mismatched tires!

Nashua.

Dan

So you think he got one without ABS, huh?
Dan

BIGPOPPA21

lucky. last year i was making a u turn, and hit a huge patch of black ice there was nothing i could do hit the curb pretty hard and luckly no suspension damage, just fuked up rims

darrinb

close call

bullaculla

you should have your alignment checked anyway. I hit a pot hole bent two wheels and it threw my alignment off. wasnt going that fast.

proaudio22

Actually, you have it backwards. To turn, your front wheels must have traction. Braking while turning pushes the weigh distribution to the front, enhancing the traction. Stepping on the brakes does not stop the wheels from spinning (unless you keep on the brake), it only slows them down. Braking while turning can help, even if it lets the rear end slide out (oversteer) - that's easliy corrected by turning the wheel in the proper direction, unlike going straight into something like a wall. If you've ever watched an F1 racers in-car camera that is placed on their feet, you will notice they tend to press the gas AND the brake while turning, and do very little braking before the turn. Chances are that in this situation, he didn't really brake until it was just too late, and regardless of what technique he used, he was simply going too fast. Simply cranking the wheel hard, and not braking increases the chances of your tires losing grip, and you finding out very quick what understeer really is. Oversteer is the biggest problem on most FWD cars, not understeer.

Note: DO NOT take anyones work on braking. Find out for yourself and understand the techniques so you apply them properly so as not to damage your car or yourself.

bullaculla

:w-hat:

Doc.Booty

We went into the median and were spinning still. They were both leaking. Not a ton, but they were leaking.

Joe5.0

It would take a serious f-up to make most fwd cars oversteer. The heavy front weight bias coupled with shitty tires makes the CL understeer quite a bit when really pushed. I did something similat with my taurus last winter. I threw it into a dark turn too fast, and hit a curb straight-on at like 45mph. I also bent both front wheels and popped one of the tires, but no suspension pieces were hurt. :o

Jaydef03

SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED IN MY OLD TL.
fucked up the rim BAD on the curb, and the tire blew on contact. fucking Tl tires are $225, can u believe that BS!? anyway, talk ab bad luck, it was the third flat i got in 2 weeks, ALL ON THE SAME WHEEL! i could have gotten a damn exhaust for the price of all those tires.

there were skidmarks all over the road, it was a blind banana turn that kept getting sharper, and i guess i took it too fast, and the car started to swerve all over the place. y friend lost control in his WRX, same speed, in the exact same spot a few months later.... but that doesnt quite mean our cars could handle just as well as WRXs. hehe