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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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…OK…you’re yet to find out what this car can do to you…or others…not the other way around…
…I’ll suggest you join your local SCCA for a day of Xcross and find out in a controlled environment…
…you knew your tires condition and still endanger yourself and others…
…not bright at all…

jetfuel….xcross is fun
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…wheel spacer are ok only if you get a alignment check done after the installation…
…moving the tire point of contact with the ground will change the geometry of the suspension….and will adversely affect camber….and changing the wheel offset outside of the zero scrub radius makes for a not fun ride…

Jetfuel…within limits with spacers…
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