RCF on a skid pan
05-01-16, 03:42 PM
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RCF on a skid pan
Hi all
Brought the RCF to a skid pan on Saturday. It's a place where they put water and diesel on this figure 8, and you can test how your car reacts when it exceeds the limit of grip. Technically you're not supposed to drift the car but if you can, extra points!
I was able to fully test the various modes and safely see how the RCF reacts under a low/no grip situation. My observations:
1) The car has a lot of grip. I did the same thing with the ISF, running the same tyre setup. RCF took a lot more provocation to get the back to come out whereas the ISF went into oversteer almost immediately. Very different animals.
2) In expert mode, the car will still spin! Be careful. The only difference is you'll spin the car with a lot less speed as compared to the fully off mode (activated by pressing and holding town the VSC off button for 3 seconds). I was surprised at how liberal the expert mode was. There really wasn't that much difference between expert mode and fully-off in this setting, the traction control probably tried to cut a bit of power here and there but it didn't stop me from spinning the car. In sports S+ mode, you will do a little teeny slide before traction control comes in to shut down the party. In sports S mode, normal mode and eco (haha), you just get understeer, understeer and more Jeremy Clarkson understeer. Because we don't have a handbrake, we need that immediate surge of power to overwhelm the rear wheels to make them breakaway and start the slide. Traction control cuts in before that can even happen and the car just ploughs forward while you hear the tyres scrambling for grip.
3) Because the V8 is a high-revving one, it really needs to be kept on boil to keep the slide going otherwise there's not enough torque to keep the car sideways. If you snooze and the gear is too high, you'll just straighten out and the crowd will be most displeased.
4) Chassis is very stiff and balanced, handling is great considering the size of the car. Importantly, you can feel the feedback of the front wheels coming through the steering. It's not the best I've ever driven, my old Miata was better, but this is still good. Being able to feel what the tyres are doing through your fingertips is so important to being able to control the car well.
5) TVD settings mainly affect the aggressiveness of turn-in to combat understeer, slalom being the most aggressive for a tight track.
Highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn how their RCF reacts at the limit and beyond. With enough practice, anyone can make a nearly 2-tonne car dance like a ballerina.
Brought the RCF to a skid pan on Saturday. It's a place where they put water and diesel on this figure 8, and you can test how your car reacts when it exceeds the limit of grip. Technically you're not supposed to drift the car but if you can, extra points!
I was able to fully test the various modes and safely see how the RCF reacts under a low/no grip situation. My observations:
1) The car has a lot of grip. I did the same thing with the ISF, running the same tyre setup. RCF took a lot more provocation to get the back to come out whereas the ISF went into oversteer almost immediately. Very different animals.
2) In expert mode, the car will still spin! Be careful. The only difference is you'll spin the car with a lot less speed as compared to the fully off mode (activated by pressing and holding town the VSC off button for 3 seconds). I was surprised at how liberal the expert mode was. There really wasn't that much difference between expert mode and fully-off in this setting, the traction control probably tried to cut a bit of power here and there but it didn't stop me from spinning the car. In sports S+ mode, you will do a little teeny slide before traction control comes in to shut down the party. In sports S mode, normal mode and eco (haha), you just get understeer, understeer and more Jeremy Clarkson understeer. Because we don't have a handbrake, we need that immediate surge of power to overwhelm the rear wheels to make them breakaway and start the slide. Traction control cuts in before that can even happen and the car just ploughs forward while you hear the tyres scrambling for grip.
3) Because the V8 is a high-revving one, it really needs to be kept on boil to keep the slide going otherwise there's not enough torque to keep the car sideways. If you snooze and the gear is too high, you'll just straighten out and the crowd will be most displeased.
4) Chassis is very stiff and balanced, handling is great considering the size of the car. Importantly, you can feel the feedback of the front wheels coming through the steering. It's not the best I've ever driven, my old Miata was better, but this is still good. Being able to feel what the tyres are doing through your fingertips is so important to being able to control the car well.
5) TVD settings mainly affect the aggressiveness of turn-in to combat understeer, slalom being the most aggressive for a tight track.
Highly recommended for anyone who wants to learn how their RCF reacts at the limit and beyond. With enough practice, anyone can make a nearly 2-tonne car dance like a ballerina.
Last edited by AussieISF; 05-01-16 at 04:47 PM.
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