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Sliding is scary. Change your tires before it's too late.

3132 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  the big e
Some info: My car has ~23,000 miles on what I'm assuming are the factory tires (I bought my car used). I drive pretty aggressively sometimes (mostly because I'm not very smart and because those roads are fun) and lately I realized my car started sliding on the sharper turns. Traction Control obviously kicked in and I assumed I was just going too fast (~50mph on sharp forest turns, I know, I'm dumb) so I just drove a bit slower the rest of the way. At my destination I checked the tires and the front looked fine, but the rear was getting close to the wear indicators. I read some posts on the forum about when everyone else changed their tires and realized I'm at about the average mileage. Next day I had to go back to the store which gave me the chance to go on the same roads and see if the sliding was just me or the car. I went ~40mph and it still slid a little even though I purposefully drove smoother and slower than before. Next day, I drove on that road just to see if the tires are gone. I went 30mph, and on the sharp turn the entire car slid to ~30 degree angle and slid all the way outside, almost hitting the guard rail. I drove back on the highway to avoid my stupid habit of speeding so much. Cut to last night, when my habit kicked in (I need to stop) and I nearly ended up rear-ending another car (wasn't paying attention and slammed on the brakes), the guard rail (same as last time), and coming back nearly got t-boned. It slid all the way into another lane and traction control kicked it back into the proper lane.

It seems ridiculous to me that the traction drop-off could be that severe, or maybe it's just me being a bad driver, but either way I am getting new tires soon. I have since stopped driving my car on any of the "fun" roads, at least until I get new tires. These experiences were eye-opening that I seriously need to change the way I drive before something bad happens. I will take this as a personal PSA and I seriously hope nobody else drives this dangerously on public roads.
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I agree.
Before I got my smart I had managed to get my rx8(in near showroom condition as it had been garage kept the majority of its life by the previous owner)
First rainy day scared the literal **** out of me in it, why you ask? OLD TIRES.(they was the oem tires that came on it when it rolled off the line)
Needless to say I’ve learned not to push my luck with worn or incorrect tires on a vehicle.
When I got my smart it had a tire of a kind on each wheel so before I drove it I put on new tires.
Tires are nothing to go cheap on and worn tires are a danger to you and others(to the op your lucky you didn’t have that guardrail go through the car doing that)
Tires and brakes are the too main things that can save your hide in a emergency maneuver(trust me I’ve had a few close calls and both are a must)
I’ve(like the others) only ever had the smart get unruly in high cross winds otherwise it’s been like it’s on rails and stays on the road(I live on a gravel road and have had the traction control kick on a few times and it’s always been faster then me and I’m pretty quick on my reaction time.)
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