Miata Mailing List: July 1999, Message #171

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On Fri, 02 Jul 1999 14:54:58 EDT, "Ony Anglade" wrote:
>
>I've been having discussions with my brother as to the possibility that the 
>driver was able (is it at all possible) to recover from THAT slide). I think
>it can't be done, but I've seen people bring it back from ALMOST as big
>an angle.

Given it's front-wheel-drive on dirt, it should be possible to hit the
gas, steer where you want to go, and use the e-brake to get the rear
back into line.  (But it does look like the driver is right on the edge
of spinning it tho'.)

This trick doesn't work on the SAABs that have the e-brake on the
front-wheels (safety in case both the independent diagonal system fail).

My SAAB's mechanic in Colorado used to race a 99 model in some SCCA
class.  His trick was to modulate the main brakes with his left foot,
floor the gas with the right, and steer where he wanted to go.  The
brakes are applied just hard enough to lock up the rear wheels and kick
the rear around, but the engine easily breaks the front brakes' hold and
pulls the car around the corner.  He went through a set of front-pads in
every race.


	-- Parag Patel