So my focus decided to do a nice little pirouette across the M5 connector yesterday, here are my thoughts. What do you think could contributed?
The weather: There was a pretty steady rain, with water standing on the road. Traffic was moving at about 70 mph.
The Road: The M5 connector is 4 lanes wide, sweeping right curve (Latitude:N 42° 28' 40.1057" Longitude:W 83° 26' 1.9194"), the road condition is good.
The Car: 2005 Focus zx3, eibach suspension, new Continental’s on the front and a pair of Bridgestone’s on the back that need replaced. The car recently suffered pot hole damage that bent the left strut, the spindle and the rim; car was repaired at qualified tire shop by a tech that is a focus driver.
After the damage to the front end, before it was repaired the car would tend to dart to the right on wet roads at >50mph. This would happen regardless if the car was under load or not, after the repair there have been no straight-line issues.
The Ride: Yesterday it was raining, I entered the curve doing about 70 – 75 mph. There was a gap in the traffic and I had no cars near me. Halfway through the curve the car did a little dart to the right, felt more like understeer that hydroplane, I backed of the throttle to let the car settle. There was a second little dart to the right a pause then a massive understeer feel and the nose of the car pulled right, the backend came around, now I’m looking at oncoming traffic. Both tugs and the pull seem to have occurred at equally spaced time intervals. I executed a counter steer, dumped the clutch hopped on the binders and let the let the ABS system do its job. The car completes the 360 and leaves the road sliding at about a 30 degree angle, left rear tire leading the way. The ground is soft so I’m plowing furrows in the shoulder. The car comes to a stop, I’m able to pull out of the ruts, check for damage and make my way home. No other vehicles where involved.
My thoughts: I don’t think it’s suspension as all the parts are new. The rear tires could be suspect but the first tug to the right occurred while I was pulling. The brakes, there does not seem to be any problems but this is my first suspect. What are your thoughts?
The weather: There was a pretty steady rain, with water standing on the road. Traffic was moving at about 70 mph.
The Road: The M5 connector is 4 lanes wide, sweeping right curve (Latitude:N 42° 28' 40.1057" Longitude:W 83° 26' 1.9194"), the road condition is good.
The Car: 2005 Focus zx3, eibach suspension, new Continental’s on the front and a pair of Bridgestone’s on the back that need replaced. The car recently suffered pot hole damage that bent the left strut, the spindle and the rim; car was repaired at qualified tire shop by a tech that is a focus driver.
After the damage to the front end, before it was repaired the car would tend to dart to the right on wet roads at >50mph. This would happen regardless if the car was under load or not, after the repair there have been no straight-line issues.
The Ride: Yesterday it was raining, I entered the curve doing about 70 – 75 mph. There was a gap in the traffic and I had no cars near me. Halfway through the curve the car did a little dart to the right, felt more like understeer that hydroplane, I backed of the throttle to let the car settle. There was a second little dart to the right a pause then a massive understeer feel and the nose of the car pulled right, the backend came around, now I’m looking at oncoming traffic. Both tugs and the pull seem to have occurred at equally spaced time intervals. I executed a counter steer, dumped the clutch hopped on the binders and let the let the ABS system do its job. The car completes the 360 and leaves the road sliding at about a 30 degree angle, left rear tire leading the way. The ground is soft so I’m plowing furrows in the shoulder. The car comes to a stop, I’m able to pull out of the ruts, check for damage and make my way home. No other vehicles where involved.
My thoughts: I don’t think it’s suspension as all the parts are new. The rear tires could be suspect but the first tug to the right occurred while I was pulling. The brakes, there does not seem to be any problems but this is my first suspect. What are your thoughts?
