Tom S Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Excellent write up. I'm an advanced driver and your points are spot on. Let's hope some of the younger ones read it, because youth and enthusiasm often makes "sense" go right out the window(!) ...though most young Supra drivers seem to have much more respect for the roads than young $#@!s in Focus RS's/ST's!! I hope by younger ones you mean newer drivers. This is good information to all, but especially people new to the Supra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CoolsBlue Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Yep, sounds good, car does make you feel like a driving god, i remember the first time i ever drove a supra, i had no experience at all, drove a 1.3 accent about 3-4 times and went straight into the supra, it was actually ok, but it had a missfire in the engine so pulled like crap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henk Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Thanks Doug, good read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashhead Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Hmm i wish i read this before last week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisD89 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Good read! - very useful for a new Supra driver like myself, Cheers mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 A timely bump - there are already too many "I've just/nearly crashed" threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aweegin Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Good post!! Wet roads after a long dry spell are interesting, luckily my motorbike days (a long time ago now) had me aware.. as the rear end decided to make me smile when i pulled out of a junction last night!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Mods - please can we put this up as a sticky as its is very obviously coming to the dangerous time of year. Please drive carefully folks. Thanks jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Mods - please can we put this up as a sticky as its is very obviously coming to the dangerous time of year. Nice thought Jon, but it already is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Thats good Every year around this point I start counting. I get home from work, load up the forum and shout through to the mrs "another one bites the dust" Hopefully there wont be any serious ones this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian R Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Thats good Every year around this point I start counting. I get home from work, load up the forum and shout through to the mrs "another one bites the dust" Hopefully there wont be any serious ones this year. I know that feeling as well Jon Drive safely people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris H Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Excellent post good reading.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pricey NA Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 very helpful read that, exellent ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarky666 Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Just spent time reading this at work, a good read. I came from owning a few MR2's before this and as some others have mentioned even the most moderate of speeds and seemingly good driving conditions can see the back end go and give you a wee kick up the back side and bring you down a peg or two when you think you're the boss and know it all. Stay safe :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Duggie Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Couldn't agree more, being a biker I am well aware of road surface but the Supra still catches me out, even after owning a mkII! The torque slides the back end out of roundabouts when least expected and mine is an auto! Treat with respect and enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gothy Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 so its alot like riding a bike then, nice write up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Good advice there and I can vouch for the pendulum effect first hand, at very low speed. In 2000 I bounced my 'new' 1986 MKIII Supra 5spd manual off a central barrier on the M1 J8 dual carriage access road in Hemel Hempstead from the roundabout on Buncefield Way (right where the oil depot later blew up, remember?) as the indirect consequence (con-sequence, see?) of clocking cards and their dispicable evil and my General Manager at work and his dispicable evil. Clocking machines are more dangerous than icy roads any day as I've never had an accident on ice or on any other occasion and I intend to keep it that way. It was a combination of many seemingly insignificant factors, all of which together resulted in an accident that hadn't happened before and hasn't since, atleast not to me. I sometimes drive fast but I learn faster! A worn smooth, wet, greasy road populated by oil tankers every five minutes, a dangerously adverse camber coming off the roundabout (uniquely so in my experience), not braking enough due to being stopped dead by traffic and pulling away from standstill for literally months until that particular Sunday morning so I was unusually 'on a roll', running late again and the Manager insisting that if we didn't clock in at or before 7am, we wouldn't get paid the first hour and having just made it the day before at 7am on the dot, I was one minute later leaving the house on Sunday and had caned it the day before (where it was absolutely safe to do so, naturally). Starting to get the picture? Add to that the rear tyres were like slicks for financial reasons, hence Sunday overtime and needing every pound, with nothing but the ring grooves but were still MOT'd, just no cross grooves left, (from which most wet grip comes) and there you have it! An accident waiting to happen, as they say. The corner in question is seriously bad though and tightens suddenly while leaning over to the right. I'm amazed that more spins don't happen there. Looking at the barrier, I wasn't the first by a long way! I even knew before it happened that it was likely once I was committed, just thought I'd get away with it. What didn't help and could have prevented it was also the fact that being generally a safe and very defensive driver, I kept the car in lane making the steering much tighter than it needed to be and causing the back end to break away, to which I responded with braking while facing the left kerb, as you do, (BIG mistake of course!) and oversteering right, into the barrier. The initial point of release was very smooth and progressive, going as I was, quite slowly. Once I corrected it though, due to lightning fast reflexes that it swung round so fast that there was nothing I could do. It would have been better to just hit the left kerb and go off the road. Might not have even damaged it. The car simply did exactly what it was told to do; no more, no less. The front tyres never skidded once, except perhaps when it landed facing 180 on the verge! Speed was about 30 tops, I mean not even fast, just very slightly too fast for that corner in that car with those tyres in that weather on that day with a clock-in deadline to meet 26 miles away in North London and only 30 minutes to get there because this driver couldn't get up earlier to save his life! Fortunately there was nothing on the road at the time, being 6.30am on a Sunday but I even factored that into the equation as I realsed that I hadn't killed the car's momentum enough aproaching the bend and that I might have trouble staying in lane. That was my main concern, being the highly disciplined driver that I am, speed notwithstanding but more on that in a second....... So, Doug is absolutely right to emphasize doing all the braking before and driving through the bend on a balanced and controlled throttle. It's momentum that causes the penduluming rear end as a result of inadequate braking before the corner and too much braking during the corner making the back end very light. You only have to play Gran Turismo etc. to know this but just thought I'd let you know that the physics is real enough alright in practice! The car stores energy which has to be dissipated independently of speed. The two cross over but it's straight line momentum or weight that makes cornering hard, not speed per se which is why cars like my smart Fortwo can corner so fast while being way more rolly polly than my Supra 4, which obviously corners flatter but you don't feel like you'd recover it as easily if it broke loose, which I've not managed yet by the way. Essentially, Newton's first law of motion explains it all or was it the third? My brother teaches physics but I got the looks, so there! Note to self; Better to let it drift wide rather than keep it tight next time, if there's room That's how dangerous clocking cards are! BTW, I don't know about MKIV's but MKIII Supras are tough cars! The bumper cover has a yellow high density foam infill around the steel bumper box section. Very shock absorbing. Hardly felt it. Only bent the left bumper/chassis stay up and back a bit. Had it looking fine within a few months....... Nothing a sledgehammer and a grand cash couldn't mend anyway but I'd rather have spent it on new tyres in the first place, though it could still have happened, all else being equal. So great advice Doug and remember, keep danger off the roads; drive on the pavement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyT Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Couldn't agree more, being a biker I am well aware of road surface but the Supra still catches me out, even after owning a mkII! The torque slides the back end out of roundabouts when least expected and mine is an auto! Treat with respect and enjoy! Bit of drizzle after a hot day. Caught me a treat the other day. Nice tank slapper peeling onto a roundabout. That's with good wet tyres and not a lot of throttle ie didn't get to boost. First time in 2 years though. Unintentionally that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bennyvader Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 i thought i was a driving god turns out its the car. what a kick in the nuts! no man your right on the button . well said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Just bumping this thread after reading about THIS ACCIDENT. The established club members will know that around this time of year we start to hear a lot more stories of accidents and have sadly had a number of member fatalities over the years. For anyone who hasn't read it or is new to the Supra, have a read of the first post by Doug (qualified class one Police driver). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Good work Nic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Just to add in the 10 years I owned my Supra I was caught out 3 time, 2 of the times it was pure luck that I didn't total the car. 1. Oil cooler pipe burst - tyres were coated with oil and the engine seized, span 360° and ended up in opposite lane facing oncoming traffic. If anything had been coming the other way at the time it would have been carnage. 2. Bin juice on road from bin lorries near local tip - exited roundabout and didn't read the road surface, span 180° very fortunate not to hit the central barriers. 3. Burst water main flooding road - hit standing water and aquaplaned, had almost no steering control, thankfully managed to keep it pointing in the right direction and got through the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 2 rolled Supras in 2 weeks bumping this again for anyone who hasn't seen. The established club members will know that around this time of year we start to hear a lot more stories of accidents and have sadly had a number of member fatalities over the years. For anyone who hasn't read it or is new to the Supra, have a read of the first post by Doug (qualified class one Police driver). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Nice one Nic. Hopefully new members/owners will read this. I've read the tips a few times now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted November 30, 2010 Share Posted November 30, 2010 *WARNING* This link contains pics of lots of crashed Supras. Just something to think about. http://www.wreckedexotics.com/supra/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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