blackstripes

i dont really know where else to ask this question and i've been wondering how low the center of gravity was..
-pat

FloridaRacer

If you get it sideways in some dirt/grass... anything will roll. It you were doing some high performance driving (autocross) and you had excessive body roll along with very very sticky tires, you might be able to roll one too. But the majority of the time on regular pavement it would be very hard to roll.

A saturn at the 2000 Solo2 nationals got it up on 2 wheels.

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FloridaRacer.com

ColinOpseth

i would say really hard, you will get into a serious oversteer condition (rear tires losing traction and starting to slide) long before you would roll..

you'd probably have to get into oversteer, overcorrect, overcorrect again and have the tires physically leave the road while the others stop skidding.. pretty hard..

then again, if you were going around a corner and hit say, a curb, it wouldn't be hard at all..

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

irocbsa

I agree with Colin. Your tires would loose traction long before you rolled. Unless you sent it off the shoulder of the highway. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
bsa

Xenodrgn

Hahah, so funny you mention this. I did just that on the 4th of July. It was raining where I was, and the road was wet. I got a little too mash happy going around a turn, the back end spun around (a very odd feeling to a new driver), I let off the gas, over corrected, and when the car caught up again, it snapped me back around and turned me right into a curb. I hit the curb almost square (front hit just before the back did) and the car popped up on the curb no problem... A quick steering decision on my part kept me outta the trees. Kept rolling and let the car fall off the curb back onto the road and I drove away. Needless to say it was scary as hell, I dented my rim a little, but other than that I don't think there was any other serious damage.

Seriously though, I agree with what someone said earlier, you can roll anything, thirdgens are tougher to roll than SUV's of course. I think you'd slide sideways before the car rolled.

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1985 Camaro SC - 2.8L, auto.

http://www.xenodrgn.f2s.com/Frontright.jpg

West Coast GTA Man

I notice one thing about these third gen. f-bodies, this is my third, and I baby her, but I had two a few yers ago, an 87, and an 88 and I know they are real stiff on the road. They are hard to break loose on dry road taking sharp turns, but when they break loose, watch out!! I remember it being very hard to regain control once they broke loose. I remember alot of my older cars Malibu's, Plymouths etc, were alot easier for me to keep control of. At least this goes for me.
Take care
MIke

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(Gran Turismo Americano) "The Ultimate Firebird"
Smokin 1989 GTA- Bone stock except for exhaust. (no catalytic-stainless pipe into Flowmaster 2 chamber).

88305tpiT/A

iTrader: (2)

I agree, handling threshold on most 3rd gens but especially Irocs and WS6's is very high but when you cross it you have almost no sliding control.
this is something I hate about alot of rice and german sport 2 doors. they seem to have excelent post skid maneuverability compared to a 3rd gen or even 4th for that matter. I think it all has to do with the live rear axle design and the size of the tires most of us like to put on these cars.

irocbsa

Porsches will turn the *** end around on you so fast once you've broken the threshold that you won't have time to say DEAR GOD SAVE MY $100,000 CAR!!!!!!!!!! Don't ask me how I know this.
bsa

[This message has been edited by irocbsa (edited July 11, 2001).]

ColinOpseth

holy smokes, lol.. you SERIOUSLY got off lucky, alot of guys will break balljoints in the front if they curb them lol..



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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

FloridaRacer

i said anything will roll in grass/dirt...dont think its true? look at this stang going side ways in grass. pay very close attention to photos 3-5. i believe the driver was doing around 65mph...

http://www.grand-am.com/grandamcup/n...nia_crash.html

in this particular situation it didnt catch the dirt..... the air caught the car and lifted it.... AIR lifted the car. imagine if a wheel actually dug in what would have happend. Ive seen all types of cars flip in grass, from luminas to civics.

ANYTHING will flip sideways in dirt and grass. and at a high speed where aerodynamics has a play.. it could flip on concrete too.

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FloridaRacer.com

[This message has been edited by FloridaRacer (edited July 11, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by FloridaRacer (edited July 11, 2001).]

OldBlue

dang that mustang looks funny flying through the air suddenly it doenst look like a mustang more like a cat in water.

ColinOpseth

that kinda sucks, the 'stang looked like it was in nice shape..

hey FloridaRacer, I wasn't saying you were wrong I just want to clear up that i never said it was impossible to roll a thirdgen, i said it would 'probably' go into an oversteer condition before it would roll..

of course anything will roll in dirt, look at trikes or quads, you're correct, though.. sliding sideways on grass that's not perfectly smooth definitely can allow air to get under and turn the car into a wing

i don't think an IROC was meant for powerslides on grass, then again what kinda car is

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Webmaster: www.IROC-Z.org

Rob P

iTrader: (1)

I would say the biggest threat would be running extremely low profile tires, sliding sideways and the rims digging into the pavement. Roof, say hello to the road!

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Rob P
89RSconvtZZ4TPI Edelbrock Intake
SLP Dual Cold Air Intake 1 5/8" Headers Semi-Siamesed Runners, IROC
suspension, alum shaft. Numerous mods.
92Z28convt5spd (stock)
71Impala convt 402BB
BETTER DRIVING THRU SUPERIOR HORSEPOWER!

ws6transam

Let me see if I can dig up that MPEG clip that Mr. Ken Dye made in 1997 at Road America. He road races a third-gen, and he had a brake failure that caused his rear tires to lock up at the end of a straightaway. He swung around sideways and hit the gravel, then flipped the Trans Am two or three times.

See Ken's bad time

Enjoy!


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Daniel Burk
View my third-gen hobbyist performance page!
View my reader's ride!
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Ported 305 heads w/1.94"intake valves, Comp Cams XE262H, Griffen alum. radiator,
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New!Full 1LE brake upgrade! Details at website above.

El Guapo

Our cars will definitely spin before they flip if curbs, grass, sand, etc arent a factor. I know on my 89 V6 as long as you knew it was coming it wasnt that big of a beast to tame. The car, at least to me, gives adequate warning before it lets go. The tires screech, then, at least in my case, it started to let go, you could feel it. Course, I used to practice it too. There's a nice curve that seems to be setup just for that purpose over in Greenville, SC. I also found that the car could get almost sideways in the road and still be recovered.

Although, as these guys said, once it hits that point of no return, it gets going pretty quick.

Clayton

blackstripes

whoa, i didn't expect to see so many responses to the post, the reason i brought it up was because a guy died not to long ago at our local race track in a camaro when it rolled going about 175 and i was curious how easily this could happen. i realize that at 175 anything can happen and i tend to agree with whoever brought up the point about a car would have to be overcorrected a few times in order to get the momentum to lift the car off the ground.

ColinOpseth

well..

if his run was taped you'd probably notice that something more than likely blew a tire or broke in the suspension...

then you would seen some corrections and alot of flipping..

that sux to hear, it's sad when anyone dies, even a *****

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