Driving in the fall - wheel spin

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It's been about two months since I got my Vette. It is a bone stock, 2010, C6 and I love it. Like most here, it is not my daily driver but I managed to get about 1,000 km on the car thus far. We have had great weather in Toronto, but looks like winter is finally coming.

I have noticed that I can get the back wheels to break away and spin in first and second gear if I hammer it. I am running with relatively new all seasons. Is the wheel spin happening because the temperature has dropped and the tire compound is less sticky or is this what 430HP feels like? I have never had a car with this much power and torque.
 
Yes.... temperature has everything to do with it. Your tires are designed to work in temperatures of at least 15-20 degrees Celsius, and tarmac needs at least those kind of temperatures to provide any amount of stickiness.
 
Like J says...
It's mainly to do with tire temp vs HP vs right foot.
You do the math...
LOL
That's the main reason I park mine even though the weather is nice.
The cold temp combined with my Michelin PS2s is not fun, and probably not safe.

Graham
 
The original Goodyear F1's that came on my car, even though they are old, have more traction than my new Michelin Pilot Sports do when the temperature drops.

Light applications of throttle are advised this time of year, but if you must it will probably make you smile.:thumbs:
 
I find that city streets are always slick but especially in the cold. Tires get hard with age and with the cold and traction starts to go away. It's best to be aware of what your car will do when it breaks loose. People don't realize how quickly you can lose control. You won't have time to think about it. You have to be prepared. If our car breaks loose, it tends to want to go left. I had thought that I had suspension problems but apparently not. Do a little testing when no one is around so that you get the feel for the car without endangering someone else.
 
Right you are Murray. The F1 Eagles are like day and night difference than the Pilots. My C6 had the F1s and I never noticed any loss of traction the few times I drove it in the single digit temps.... definitely not the case with the SuperSports/
 
Keith Tedford said:
I find that city streets are always slick but especially in the cold. Tires get hard with age and with the cold and traction starts to go away. It's best to be aware of what your car will do when it breaks loose. People don't realize how quickly you can lose control. You won't have time to think about it. You have to be prepared. If our car breaks loose, it tends to want to go left. I had thought that I had suspension problems but apparently not. Do a little testing when no one is around so that you get the feel for the car without endangering someone else.
Click to expand...
Good advice Keith. Both my C6 and now my C7 also like to break left. And not just in cold weather... I wasn't sure if it was the car or something I was re-actively doing ... But it does pay to know before that first unexpected event....
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I had just got the car in late September and while we had several nice days of warm weather, being new to the car, I am cautiously exploring its capabilities. With more seat time I am getting more confident.

I first broke the wheels out while taking a right turn and misjudged the speed of the oncoming vehicles. Nothing dramatic, but had to clear the intersection faster than I would have liked. I was a little sloppy with the throttle and felt the wheels break out and spin. I agree that it is important to know and anticipate what the car will do in varied circumstances.

I was thinking to take the car to a big open parking lot and do some doughnuts and spins for academic reasons only :)

One day I would like build up enough skill to take the car to a track. If any one has any suggestions, please share.

Rick
 
RH...
Find yourself an Autocross/slalom club and join-up.
This will allow you to explore your vehicles capabilities in a controlled environment..
There are slalom events here every weekend from April thru October, and even a few in winter months.
I'm sure you can find some locally for you.
A ton of fun and very rewarding
You can certainly move on to full-out race track time as your skills progress.
Courses by trained instructors are available at that level as well.
Safe-Fun...!
Graham
 
Understanding the temperature rating of your tires is very important. Quite simply though, any car with a good amount of power is going to have much less traction when the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius.

Another very important thing to know about your tires that a lot of people don't think about though, is that your winter storage can destroy your tires simply from low temperatures. The first year that I had my Trans Am, I stored it for the winter in an unheated 10x20 storage locker. The temperature that winter easily got down to minus 35, and my Goodyear tires were toast just from the exposure to the low temperatures. The compound goes hard and never recovers properly. It was kinda fun in that the car could easily spin the tires right off at 60 km/h, but sure destroyed the traction off the line. When I replaced the tires with new Falkens, the car changed from spinning on command at up to 60 km/h to barely spinning off the line at all even at full throttle. The difference is quite amazing.
 
Jeremiad said:
Understanding the temperature rating of your tires is very important. Quite simply though, any car with a good amount of power is going to have much less traction when the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius.

Another very important thing to know about your tires that a lot of people don't think about though, is that your winter storage can destroy your tires simply from low temperatures. The first year that I had my Trans Am, I stored it for the winter in an unheated 10x20 storage locker. The temperature that winter easily got down to minus 35, and my Goodyear tires were toast just from the exposure to the low temperatures. The compound goes hard and never recovers properly. It was kinda fun in that the car could easily spin the tires right off at 60 km/h, but sure destroyed the traction off the line. When I replaced the tires with new Falkens, the car changed from spinning on command at up to 60 km/h to barely spinning off the line at all even at full throttle. The difference is quite amazing.
Click to expand...
:thumbs:Good info.
 
I store my Michelin Pilot Sports in the basement to keep them from freezing. Put them on a board so there is no direct contact with the concrete, something about concrete absorbing the oil in the tire. Not sure if I believe that or not but I have lots of scrap wood so why not. Goodyear F1's are the preferred "winter storage" tire!

Good advice Jeremaid.:thumbs:
 
Oh right, i'm in Vancouver where it doesn't get no where near close to how cold it gets over in the east :D. Another thing as well is most all season tires come with a higher treadwear rating than high performance summer tires and of course tire compond is different as well. There are high performance a/s tires available but still not as good as high performance summer tires.

My daily beater is a 08 Mazdaspeed 3. It is lightly modified @300hp and it has Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's on it. Treadwear on them are 500!. Launch hard i can light up the tires well into third gear :Biggrin:.
 
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Prime example of a Corvette owner who enjoys the colder tires and breaking free.... obviously a well controlled drift
drifter.gif
.. :thumbs:
 
Oh Jeez.... Eric, that drift-kid video is both cool and frightening at the same time. This summer my boy learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels, and spent a lot of time riding around on our street with the other kids, all of whom are older than my boy. We had a lot of struggles disciplining the boy and taking the bike away before he finally learned that he needs to stay on the sidewalk with it. It's very hard to get a child to learn when they see other kids who seem to be allowed to do whatever they want. One afternoon while I was outside working in the garage, I happened to look down the street to see where my kid was, and saw an older boy ride down a driveway on a scooter onto a ramp at the sidewalk that was pointed straight out onto the street, directly in front of a parked 3/4 ton Chevy truck. I immediately started to walk down there with images of horrible things in my head at what I saw. As the boy hit the ramp, I saw a Mazda 6 paralleling the truck and broke into a sprint waving my arms like a lunatic. The boy landed right in front of the car and wiped out, and I heard the squeal of tires as she locked the brakes. I saw that boy start to disappear under the front bumper and thought the worst. He was very fortunate that the girl was paying attention and driving slow enough that she was able to stop in time. That boy didn't learn a damn thing. He's right back out on the street doing the same things. I still shudder every time I see a kid enter a street like that whether they are under adult supervision or not.

Sorry for derailing the thread.
 
No Apologies required Jeremiad. I thought exactly the same thing when I saw that clip and debated even posting it. But I thought....hmmmmm .... how many toddler members do we have on the forum that will see this and try it...probably none........and more importantly, how many adult members do we have on the forum that won't also notice this faux pas, and like you, be pro-active with teaching their children to play safe....
Thank you for noticing and commenting. :thumbs:
 

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