Lift off oversteer (as a result of going too quickly into the corner then lifting)
Power oversteer (in a RWD car, the result of applying too much throttle into a corner)
Spillage / slippery patch on road
Knackered dampers - I had a Clio that unexpectedly did this once, and it turned out one of the rear dampers was leaking.
Bald tyres - easy enough to rule out
Oh and different drive systems can be dangerous if someone is trying to race you. I used to get idiots trying to keep up.
My old RWD hot hatch when I braked if a wrong wheel drive hatch was too close they were in danger of lift off oversteer.
Lift off puts car on inside of bend, power outside.
This is why a lot of hot hatch crashes are on the inside of a bend yet a Talbot Sunbeam would be on the outside especially if not fitted with better springs and dampers.
The vw golf gti might be the "wrong wheel drive" but I will happily choose it everytime over a "right wheel drive" Talbot sunbeam.
And naturally as soon as we get s single flake of snow you may as well leave your "right wheel drive" cars at home. I guess at least u get the day off work while the rest of us in our "wrong wheel drive" cars can still get to work.
The vw golf gti might be the "wrong wheel drive" but I will happily choose it everytime over a "right wheel drive" Talbot sunbeam.
And naturally as soon as we get s single flake of snow you may as well leave your "right wheel drive" cars at home. I guess at least u get the day off work while the rest of us in our "wrong wheel drive" cars can still get to work.
Even though a Sunbeam is worth more (10,000 to 30,000, even Ti are thousands now), faster (6.6 0-60), better handling, more comfortable (driven many miles in Rootes cars, VERY comfortable), and better traction (never lost a TLGP), you will need better shocks but that is it.
Oh and my current car will get me home regardless as I now have a 4WD car from Solihull.
And despite permanent 50/50 split it will stick its back end out if you boot it and front end if you go too fast into a corner, but the speeds are not high but it was interesting to see what happens.
Even though a Sunbeam is worth more (10,000 to 30,000, even Ti are thousands now), faster (6.6 0-60), better handling, more comfortable (driven many miles in Rootes cars, VERY comfortable), and better traction (never lost a TLGP), you will need better shocks but that is it.
Oh and my current car will get me home regardless as I now have a 4WD car from Solihull.
And despite permanent 50/50 split it will stick its back end out if you boot it and front end if you go too fast into a corner, but the speeds are not high but it was interesting to see what happens.
Sorry, not persuaded lol, and I have been in a Talbot sunbeam!
It's what makes you happy that counts.
.....but could they do that on a wet road!, without ending up in a hedge.
I am a bit bias due to the time I grew up in. Things that stick with me inc,
Cold winter mornings and people trying to start their British cars without much luck - yet the owner of German or Japanese cars simply turns the key once and drives away.
Leaving your place of work and never being sure your British car would start, or if it did, would make it all the way back home without giving up the ghost along the way.
So called British sports cars which leaked so much your feet would get wet inside the car.
You try to fasten your seatbelt and the socket falls apart.
The only reason British manufscturers started to install electric rear window demisters was to keep the hands of the people pushing it, warm.
....and then came the mk1 golf gti which soon done away with all those so called sports cars, with the exception of the Mazda mx5 which Japan had modelled on one of our old designs but with 1 crucial change - it worked.
Since then things have moved on still further. So even in my much slower polo, I can change gear manually in the blink of an eye or let the car change gear for me, and it can do 60mpg on petrol, seat 5 people, & has a boot, and is 5 star safety rated, and has abs, pas, tc, and esp. And u get modern day comforts such as aircon, and a 6 speaker stereo.
I covered around 60,000 miles in my Sunbeam (was a wreck when bought and I did it up) and only let me down twice, one when the rotor arm jumped off the shaft, once when the gear change mechanism popped a roll pin. Those push rod engines could do mega miles, and still go to the far side of 7000rpm. I knew someone with a 200bhp at wheels 1600 (nitrous) and it was reliable
Rotor arm was a silly, I drove home.
Gear change mechanism was annoying as I could not fix it but took the gearbox place a few minutes.
I had a spare gearbox, I blew the bearings on the original as it was around 20 years old (older than the car and was an early Avenger close ratio jobby), soon got the orginal rebearinged and refitted.
Been marooned by French cars (exploding gear box on a 60bhp engine, fifth gear fell off on the motorway!) & German cars (electronics needed replacement, 2 different cars as well , cam & crank sensors,) Another German car suffered from a poorly fitted LPG kit which took out the coil pack.
So out of 1 French, 2 British, 5 part German cars (various GM V cars).
Oldest at its time was the Sunbeam by 4 or 5 years. Ran to around 20 years old.
French car most unreliable. Carlton most reliable. Then my last Omega. My Discovery, Sunbeam and a couple of my other Omegas were average. The first Omega was a Lemon.
So a well maintained and sorted banger can be used day in and day out, killer in the end was the days it took for spare & service parts to arrive (pre internet), need a clutch cable err eventually.
I covered around 60,000 miles in my Sunbeam (was a wreck when bought and I did it up) and only let me down twice, one when the rotor arm jumped off the shaft, once when the gear change mechanism popped a roll pin. Those push rod engines could do mega miles, and still go to the far side of 7000rpm. I knew someone with a 200bhp at wheels 1600 (nitrous) and it was reliable
Rotor arm was a silly, I drove home.
Gear change mechanism was annoying as I could not fix it but took the gearbox place a few minutes.
I had a spare gearbox, I blew the bearings on the original as it was around 20 years old (older than the car and was an early Avenger close ratio jobby), soon got the orginal rebearinged and refitted.
Been marooned by French cars (exploding gear box on a 60bhp engine, fifth gear fell off on the motorway!) & German cars (electronics needed replacement, 2 different cars as well , cam & crank sensors,) Another German car suffered from a poorly fitted LPG kit which took out the coil pack.
So out of 1 French, 2 British, 5 part German cars (various GM V cars).
Oldest at its time was the Sunbeam by 4 or 5 years. Ran to around 20 years old.
French car most unreliable. Carlton most reliable. Then my last Omega. My Discovery, Sunbeam and a couple of my other Omegas were average. The first Omega was a Lemon.
So a well maintained and sorted banger can be used day in and day out, killer in the end was the days it took for spare & service parts to arrive (pre internet), need a clutch cable err eventually.
None of mine have let me down yet in terms of not being able to get home, do I win a prize?
Things like the vauxhall omega are very old designs by modern standards. In terms of safety I would choose a modern car any day esp the latest 5* rated ones.
In terms of my fav car I owned so far it would be an automatic (traditional "slush box" type) 1.8 petrol Astra. Very smooth, And the winter function made it awesome on snow & ice. It could go places other regular 2wd cars dare not go. My polo tdi (manual) was also good, also good on the snow/ice and very reliable and robust (in this respect better than the Astra by some margin). Now in a petrol DSG polo which is quite good & very similar economy to the diesel polo.
None of mine have let me down yet in terms of not being able to get home, do I win a prize?
Things like the vauxhall omega are very old designs by modern standards. In terms of safety I would choose a modern car any day esp the latest 5* rated ones.
In terms of my fav car I owned so far it would be an automatic (traditional "slush box" type) 1.8 petrol Astra. Very smooth, And the winter function made it awesome on snow & ice. It could go places other regular 2wd cars dare not go. My polo tdi (manual) was also good, also good on the snow/ice and very reliable and robust. Now in a petrol DSG polo which is quite good & very similar economy to the diesel polo.
I tend to run cars for as long as possible, 8 years one car, 2 others, 5 years.Even managed to keep one on the road during a period of unemployment.
A silly breakdown, easily fixed is no real issue with a car well into late teenage years doing 12,000 a year.
Worst in snow was the last Omega simply due to wide tyres, and the only issue was getting back into our estate, most people parked at the bottom, a few towed or pushed up.
Any car with narrow tyres and a reasonable amount of weight will work on ice and snow.
Not so sure about "any car with narrow tyres and weight".....
And in addition some people have no idea in the slightest about driving in slippery conditions. Some don't even slow down. On this very subject over last 2 days with the sharp frost making roads slippery, there have been a number of accidents related directly to this, people (many of them) are simply not reading conditions and it must mean that drivers with driving aids that warn of freezing conditions are just not taking any notice of them.
Just yesterday, I turned of the roundabout onto "school road" which is about 500yards long max and has a school on it, with a light controlled crossing, and a mini roundabout at the other end. This was when the school run was on as well. So I am trundling along this short road 25mph, with a gap behind me to begin with. Then I saw a compact BMW leave the main roundabout and approach from behind, travelling at a rate of knots-u know then the other car appears to be on rocket power, and this bmw almost shot up my rear end just as I resched the mini roundabout at the far end. So the driver wasn't doing circa 30mph, more like 40.....to pick up their fragile children from school I guess. And I will bet a weeks wages it would have at least one tyre which would be borderline mot pass if not a fail and when the frost makes the road slippy I bet the driver took no notice whatsoever and just Floors it as per normal.
And this kinda leads us back to where the thread started.
Comments
Lift off oversteer (as a result of going too quickly into the corner then lifting)
Power oversteer (in a RWD car, the result of applying too much throttle into a corner)
Spillage / slippery patch on road
Knackered dampers - I had a Clio that unexpectedly did this once, and it turned out one of the rear dampers was leaking.
Bald tyres - easy enough to rule out
Oh and different drive systems can be dangerous if someone is trying to race you. I used to get idiots trying to keep up.
My old RWD hot hatch when I braked if a wrong wheel drive hatch was too close they were in danger of lift off oversteer.
Lift off puts car on inside of bend, power outside.
This is why a lot of hot hatch crashes are on the inside of a bend yet a Talbot Sunbeam would be on the outside especially if not fitted with better springs and dampers.
And naturally as soon as we get s single flake of snow you may as well leave your "right wheel drive" cars at home. I guess at least u get the day off work while the rest of us in our "wrong wheel drive" cars can still get to work.
Even though a Sunbeam is worth more (10,000 to 30,000, even Ti are thousands now), faster (6.6 0-60), better handling, more comfortable (driven many miles in Rootes cars, VERY comfortable), and better traction (never lost a TLGP), you will need better shocks but that is it.
Oh and my current car will get me home regardless as I now have a 4WD car from Solihull.
And despite permanent 50/50 split it will stick its back end out if you boot it and front end if you go too fast into a corner, but the speeds are not high but it was interesting to see what happens.
Sorry, not persuaded lol, and I have been in a Talbot sunbeam!
It's what makes you happy that counts.
I owned one for over 5 years, and I knew a lot of owners.
None of the sporty ones had ever had any problems disposing of more modern hatches.
I am a bit bias due to the time I grew up in. Things that stick with me inc,
Cold winter mornings and people trying to start their British cars without much luck - yet the owner of German or Japanese cars simply turns the key once and drives away.
Leaving your place of work and never being sure your British car would start, or if it did, would make it all the way back home without giving up the ghost along the way.
So called British sports cars which leaked so much your feet would get wet inside the car.
You try to fasten your seatbelt and the socket falls apart.
The only reason British manufscturers started to install electric rear window demisters was to keep the hands of the people pushing it, warm.
....and then came the mk1 golf gti which soon done away with all those so called sports cars, with the exception of the Mazda mx5 which Japan had modelled on one of our old designs but with 1 crucial change - it worked.
Since then things have moved on still further. So even in my much slower polo, I can change gear manually in the blink of an eye or let the car change gear for me, and it can do 60mpg on petrol, seat 5 people, & has a boot, and is 5 star safety rated, and has abs, pas, tc, and esp. And u get modern day comforts such as aircon, and a 6 speaker stereo.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.1368906,-3.1317544,3a,75y,270.98h,82.14t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sktkFbhmiK16ISdAdsjh5pA!2e0
It does sound that you lost control because of diesel on the road.
Rotor arm was a silly, I drove home.
Gear change mechanism was annoying as I could not fix it but took the gearbox place a few minutes.
I had a spare gearbox, I blew the bearings on the original as it was around 20 years old (older than the car and was an early Avenger close ratio jobby), soon got the orginal rebearinged and refitted.
Been marooned by French cars (exploding gear box on a 60bhp engine, fifth gear fell off on the motorway!) & German cars (electronics needed replacement, 2 different cars as well , cam & crank sensors,) Another German car suffered from a poorly fitted LPG kit which took out the coil pack.
So out of 1 French, 2 British, 5 part German cars (various GM V cars).
Oldest at its time was the Sunbeam by 4 or 5 years. Ran to around 20 years old.
French car most unreliable. Carlton most reliable. Then my last Omega. My Discovery, Sunbeam and a couple of my other Omegas were average. The first Omega was a Lemon.
So a well maintained and sorted banger can be used day in and day out, killer in the end was the days it took for spare & service parts to arrive (pre internet), need a clutch cable err eventually.
None of mine have let me down yet in terms of not being able to get home, do I win a prize?
Things like the vauxhall omega are very old designs by modern standards. In terms of safety I would choose a modern car any day esp the latest 5* rated ones.
In terms of my fav car I owned so far it would be an automatic (traditional "slush box" type) 1.8 petrol Astra. Very smooth, And the winter function made it awesome on snow & ice. It could go places other regular 2wd cars dare not go. My polo tdi (manual) was also good, also good on the snow/ice and very reliable and robust (in this respect better than the Astra by some margin). Now in a petrol DSG polo which is quite good & very similar economy to the diesel polo.
I tend to run cars for as long as possible, 8 years one car, 2 others, 5 years.Even managed to keep one on the road during a period of unemployment.
A silly breakdown, easily fixed is no real issue with a car well into late teenage years doing 12,000 a year.
Worst in snow was the last Omega simply due to wide tyres, and the only issue was getting back into our estate, most people parked at the bottom, a few towed or pushed up.
Any car with narrow tyres and a reasonable amount of weight will work on ice and snow.
And in addition some people have no idea in the slightest about driving in slippery conditions. Some don't even slow down. On this very subject over last 2 days with the sharp frost making roads slippery, there have been a number of accidents related directly to this, people (many of them) are simply not reading conditions and it must mean that drivers with driving aids that warn of freezing conditions are just not taking any notice of them.
Just yesterday, I turned of the roundabout onto "school road" which is about 500yards long max and has a school on it, with a light controlled crossing, and a mini roundabout at the other end. This was when the school run was on as well. So I am trundling along this short road 25mph, with a gap behind me to begin with. Then I saw a compact BMW leave the main roundabout and approach from behind, travelling at a rate of knots-u know then the other car appears to be on rocket power, and this bmw almost shot up my rear end just as I resched the mini roundabout at the far end. So the driver wasn't doing circa 30mph, more like 40.....to pick up their fragile children from school I guess. And I will bet a weeks wages it would have at least one tyre which would be borderline mot pass if not a fail and when the frost makes the road slippy I bet the driver took no notice whatsoever and just Floors it as per normal.
And this kinda leads us back to where the thread started.
Yep, diesel on the road or slickers on the car.:)