We'll a fvcking big oops!, the inevitable happened tonight. Was driving back home and lost the zed on a very slippery right hand bend, back end just 'snapped' with no warning and it spun around head on into a brick wall at about 25-30mph ARGHHHHH!!!. I actually found that the car took it extremely well, seat belt kept me locked right in also.

 

Quite a bit of damage to the plastic bits up front, one smashed headlight and sidelight, both wings I think are crumpled. Just spent £200 on fixing the front bumper earlier this year, so one is not amused. Looks like I will be buying some second hand stuff off from here.

 

Thats really pi55ed me off now because I'll have to drive the wife's shopping trolley until its fixed up - UGH!.

 

Your very pi55ed off Rockstar.

 

Tone.

Shit mate, sorry to hear about that :(

But at least you werent hurt.

 

Is your Zed still driveable? Do you suspect any suspension damage? If not then as you said all you'll need is some second hand body bits.

Lifes a bitch!

At least you are on the best site for help,advice and AndyZ for any parts that you need.

The main thing is that nobody got hurt and anyway now's your chance to add a personal touch to your car when you get it repaired.

Best of luck,

F.T.

...the cars fixable with some ca$h, just spent shed loads already gettin' ready for christmas (moan;) ). Just means shed load more to get the zed shipshape again.

 

I've lost a bit of confidence at the mo' and have gained a lot more respect for the zeds brutal power. I think that I definately will take some skid pan lessons later so that I instinctively know what to do if this happens again.

 

Thing is, I'm sure that I could off corrected it but there were so many cars driving up behind me (rush hour traffic) that I was too scared to in case I hit another car or something.

 

Anyway I'm off to see my other ageing rock star friend to consul myself by overdosing on coffee and fags (thats the one you smoke for any americans reading!).

 

CYA

 

Tony

Bad news mate, sorry to hear about that.

Lost the back of mine on Sunday.

I was going in a straight line playing with a CD and before I knew it I was in a spin.

I was lucky but I know how you feel.

:(

I lost the back end of mine the other day,luckily enough not much traffic around so I didnt hit anything.

A little tip for anyone that feels their car going into a skid is to put your foot down on the clutch.I know that it seems weird but it stops the car going out of control and believe me it works.It takes away the engine driving the wheels,so the car 'freewheels' if you like,and before you know it the car goes in the direction you want it to.

This is a bit late for you now I know Tony,but will be useful for when you are back on the road.

Cheers and chin up,we've all been there(well I have!)

F.T.

Feel for you m8, just before Christmas too! Never mind at least you're okay, cars can always be fixed!

 

I would like to add something constructive to this thread, my Zed behaved like this several times on the country lanes I have to drive on to get to my house, and to be honest, it scared the crap out of me on more than one occasion.

 

Here's the constructive bit - Since fitting decent tyres (GY Eagle F1s) and Racelogic Traction Control, I can honestly say that the sting has been taken out of the tail of the 'beast'. That's not to say you can't get it sideways when you want to, but it does help keep it all facing forward for 95% of the time.

 

Worth considering m8 - I haven't heard a bad report from TC yet!

 

Tim

Tim,

 

Where did you get your TC from? And if it aint too rude then how much? Am considering having it put on when my car is in Jeffs soon. ANy thoughts and stuff gratefully received!

 

Nick

Originally posted by fat tony

....A little tip for anyone that feels their car going into a skid is to put your foot down on the clutch.I know that it seems weird but it stops the car going out of control and believe me it works...

 

Erm.... No it doesn't ;) Putting your foot on the clutch puts you in even less control of the situation. The rear of the car will suddenly grab and all that opposite lock you've wound on will swing your car right into the pavement - possibly pedestrians :(

 

The only way to get out of a slide is to keep your foot on the throttle, apply opposite lock and wait for it to come straight. The clutch is for use at traffic lights ;)

 

As Tim says, Racelogic Traction control is superb - if you haven't got it already, maybe now is the time. You can set it to on/off or varying degrees of 'slip' so it is fully tuneable to your needs... Why not try setting up a group buy - I'm sure there's lots of people on here now who don't have it but would want it...

 

Sh1t news about the car m8 :( Hope its not damaged the front cross member (radiator sits on it and the front tie bars are atached to it). This can be replaced, but (trust me I've done it!!!) its a real pita to do... Although if half the front end is off anyway I suppose it won't be that bad....

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

Sorry to hear about you accident mate.

 

Andy's right, the last thing you wanna do is stick the clutch down (if you get a chance on a skid pan try it and see how hard you bash your head against the side of the car as is grabs the road again). You also must resist the urge to lift off the throttle to much as this will spin you out further as it will effectively brake the rear wheels.

Thanks for the replies, trouble is my zed is an auto so have less control than a manual (obviously!), trouble is it happened so fast that I don't really know how & why etc it happened, although I'm sure i did keep the power on - but maybe too much?.

 

Anyway, TC is the way to go - but I may just do it up over christmas and sell it in the new year. Main reason is that I'm starting up a high end HI-Fi company and so need some capitol behind me.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

Seems like a few of you guys need to buy traction control.

 

I know of a place that is currently doing the racelogic TC for £500 rather than £645 if anyones interested.

You should go to a skidpan, your local police will organise one and its about £40 but for that you get 2-3 theory lessons and a go on the skid pan which is videotaped for you.

 

 

You have to counter steer into a skid but not to much as with rear wheel drive cars you end up having to correct again if you oversteer, I find in the zed that a quick snap of the wheel in one direction and then back to horizontal with a tap of the accelerator as you are straight generally gets me out of any sticky situations.

 

The problem with braking or accelerating is that you change the weight distribution of the car. If you hit the breaks you are going to move all the weight to the front of the car making the back end very light and have it switch ends very quickly, acclerate to hard and you end up loosing more traction.

 

I found myself sideways around an empty roundabout a few weeks back trying to get out of the way of an ambulance at 11pm a quick counter steer set me straight though, I think the zed corrects very well for its size and weight, I drive a rear wheel drive Midget as well and it responds just as well as that.

Originally posted by Rock Star

Thanks for the replies, trouble is my zed is an auto so have less control than a manual (obviously!)

 

Err, excuse me??

 

Not wanting to start and Auto Manual debate, but please justify that statement.

 

I drive an auto and can, with careful driving, keep it in whichever gear is appropriate - if that's whet you meant, or do you mean that the car kicked down and the turbos spooled up and that's what caused the accident? - If it is that's exactly what happened to me. :o

 

Oh and if you want even more control get Maciej's Shift-at -will!

 

Tim

Oh, and one other point.

 

When the Zed gets out of shape big time and you're trying to correct, the HICAS does you no favours at all, it simply magnifies the problem.

 

Don't get me wring IMHO, HICAS is excellent, I outcornered a 3 series the other day, the blokes face was a picture :D

 

Tim

Stu,

 

You got mail m8.

 

Nick

Glad you're OK. Kinda gets the heart pounding a bit when that happens eh? I lost the back end of mine on a patch of diesel last year and was just getting it under control when I hit a Mondeo coming in the opposite direction at about 70mph:eek: (I was doing about 40 at the time) Unfortunately the Mondeo impacted at the level of the drivers side door lock and just about chopped the Z in half! (it ripped off the drivers side rear wheel, wishbone, transmission shaft and suspension when I spun in the opposited direction and clipped the kerb)

 

HAD to get another one though!:D

Originally posted by zcar

Stu,

 

You got mail m8.

 

Nick

Right back at ya ! :D