Had a similar experience off of a round-a-bout, was pouring it down quite a bit so traction was a little crap, especially with standard VW Polo 6n tyres. So, came off the round-a-bout not doing an appropriate speed for the conditions and the curb suddenly seemed to attempt to draw my car in sideways on a left hand bend towards the right.

Somehow I subconsciously thought that the back end would be a lot heavier than usual so i gave the brakes a seeing to, not too sharp, and counter-steered to the left, bringing the back end round. Suddenly found grip on the road and steered to the right then straightened up with a touch on the accelerator.

Wasn't overly close, but if I didn't do what I did, the car would have flipped over the curb and with people in the back as well, I wouldn't have wanted to see the aftermath.

I too, drive with a lot more care and consideration for the conditions now.

haha. waaaaaaaay back when i had my first car, i was at college at silverstone circuit, an bthe main roundabout was ace in the wet, empty road, great place to learn what understeer and lift-off oversteer was...

some mad fun times in the wet, dangerous tho, lookin back...

take it easy in the crap waether peeps!

Some good points,here.

I've slid sideways on ice,on a country road,at walking pace. Take that at full face value because its not an exaggeration - walking pace,opposite lock,3-4mph. 20mph is enough to hit a tree in the current conditions.

There is a corner in northants,very remote,that i almost always deliberately slide around when its wet. This is because its got a great contour,smooth and usually muddy surface,and you can see a mile on approach. I sound stupid but I've been doing it like 17 years. Yet on a roundabout in MK at the same speed,it'll spin if i try the same thing. You might be able to master the skid pan,but no two corners are the same.

i dont go out in my car when the weather is a little bad.

i fear for my life

Oh dear

sambreadvan i like that reply. what do you fear for- your ability to drive- or all the dudes out there who consider themselves 'masters' of the skid pan?

haha. the guys who "know what they're doing" scare me

good post- to be fair i cant beleive you thought about that much while it happened.

I spun my fiat chiq sporting the weekend after i got it. It went a bit like this...

What happened:

Approached a bend too fast, bend drops on exit as heads down a hill. Half way around the turn the back went and car started to spin.

Action taken:

Crapped my pants and screamed like a girl

Result:

(I think) the car spun full circle 2, maybe 3 times, and ended face first in a hedge on the left hand side of the road.

What could have happened:

R.I.P

the action taken bit made me actually laugh out loud

Its impossible to look this deep into it surely. The fact is that whilst on ice the friction on the road is close to sod all. If you are doing more than 5mph then it dosent matter what you do, until you reach sound tarmac its going where it wants to.

not really...

with ice its about moving the weight about, and your starting momentum.

if you hit ice and you were travelling in a straight line, you *should* stay in a straight line if you change nothing, it you are on a perfect, flat icy surface.

however

if you hit ice mid corner, you'll get what feels like a crazy amout of understeer, and the car will behave like the kurb is a mega-powerful magnet, as you dont have the traction to decide the direction... so momentum and weight decide it for you... if the back end is REALLY light (maybe coz you've tried to slam the brakes on), it might try and say hi...

seen it done. it gets messy at speed.

thats what the guy said lol

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same sort of ice, There is a frozen road (which you have a chance on) and there is ice, ice being frozen water means that as soon as you hit it your car will continue in a linear fashion along a tangent to the bend you are traveling around. Wherever your wheels are pointing whether they are locked up, free or driven.

Personally, I have only ever encountered ice on a road in strips of a foot or two in lengh, usually from dodgey field drainage etc. Its not often easy to spot but luckily is easy enough to handle providing your not giving it death. Frozen roads tend to be a lot more consistant, and also a lot easyer to spot.

Ice, snow, whatever, I love it. As soon as any comes I've got a shovel and a sleeping bag in the back of me car and I'm off out. Never been stranded yet luckily. I'm always out until the early hours of the morning whenever we get any good weather.

As my first proper FWD car I've not tried my polo on the slippy stuff yet, but I suspect its not going to be as much fun lol, might have to buy some chains.

Personally,I'm really only talking about hard/thick frost and light snow - black ice is another thing,and its inconsistency cant really be played with - damp patches just before a freeze can be caused by all manner of things (including drainage,wind through trees/bushes,tyre tracks etc). Thick snow can be fun,but is both obvious and a rare treat. Its also so ridiculous,that if its against you,you have no chance.

Rear drive is easy,as you can enter the slippy corner at walking pace and give as much or as little as you want,for as long as you want,and control it between the two parameters. The corner is your oyster.

Front drive is very different - you have to commit and throw it in quicker before flicking it if you want to provoke a slide,because the car can only slow down once you're sliding. You're playing with the balance,with the aim of holding it until you eventually come down to full stability - unless you loose it on the way down. And everyone falls in practice,so you will loose it a few times practicing. The public roads are not a good place to do this.. Understeer,oversteer,if you're going off its gonna be messy.

Legendary '60s racing driver,John Rhodes,used to overtake the rear drive Anglias,MKII Jags etc on the last part of the straights,and throw his Morris Mini Cooper into corners at top speed - then drift it round diagonally,on three wheels,on a trailing throttle. Smoke bellowing from the outside front tyre was his signature. An offshoot of this technique,albeit on a far tamer level,also worked for Paddy Hopkirk in the snow. But its seriously dangerous,because you're committing to a slide at speed,and it takes serious skill to come out the other side at all - let alone at the right angle.

Oversteer,understeer,I've found that the MK2 Polo,on various set-ups,only really wants to do one or the other (great for using Scandanavian flicks to position the car for fast exits,but useless for drifting across a mild curve neutrally).

So if you wanna be a rally driver this winter,use a track,autotest,private road or similar. And enjoy!

Rear drive is easy

Can tell you've never driven a Robin on ice.

Sounds like fun. I recon a circular saw blade for a front wheel,plus welded-up diff,would give a nice Scalextrix car kinda pivot..

^bwahahaa.

do it.