Foo - Thank God for my driving skills.

Shorty + Hemi + MDS + FlowMaster + SuperChips + curve + bump + wall = A very dangerous and scary situation.

I highly advise one not to have this combination if you can help it.

I'm very thankful for my SCCA training, my pursuit driving course and Hotchkiss suspension.

I think I'm gonna go put Shorty's keys away for a long while.

You almost hit a wall?

What happened? I can't imagine a light in back, heavy in front, powerful truck would step out on you or anything.

well, it sounds like you are ok--
so I am glad.

BTW I don't know what the heck you are talking about other
than that it involved a car or truck or something.

PPS glad you are ok

She never could handle her trucks. ;)

On a curved two lane hill (known as "the hill") divided by a wall with a steep ravine on one side, the MDS and the chip decided to kick in at the same time as I hit a very large bump in the road. This caused Shorty to have a huge surge in power, and at the same time the tires were not touching the ground as I was turning. The result when the tires contacted asphalt was a dance with a second chance for me.

I swear I was going to slam into that wall and bounce into the ravine.

The upgraded suspension helped keep me from crashing Shorty because he did not lose it.

In all my years of driving autocross and racing, I have never been this scared. Maybe because it was not in a protected environment such as a track and starting to become dark. And it was while I was driving normally, not mashing on the accelerator. It came to me totally unexpectedly.

I'm still quite shaken up.

I'm gonna go get my little 6 cyl S10 truck out of storage.

Hows about a pic of "Shorty" :)

I'm glad you're okay Siu. The thing to remember is that your instincts kicked in and you were able to handle the situation without panicking.

Those close calls are really scary. Glad you pulled yourself out of it. :)


Thank God for my driving skills.
I'm very thankful for my SCCA trainingWell, which is it? :P


I think I'm gonna go put Shorty's keys away for a long while.You can store them in my pocket, if you wish. Especially if you have keys to all your cars on the same keyring.

I'm glad you're okay Siu. The thing to remember is that your instincts kicked in and you were able to handle the situation without panicking.

Thanks Cbad. When I hit the bump I heard the engine roar and heard the MDS kick in. Shorty ended up "hopping" sideways toward the wall once he got contact with the asphalt. I thought either I was going to hit the wall and flip over toward oncoming traffic or bounce off and go down the side of the hill. :(

With my steering the Hotchkiss kept him from tipping. :o

Glad you kept it upright, Siu.
Glad Shorty is ok too.

On a curved two lane hill (known as "the hill") divided by a wall with a steep ravine on one side, the MDS and the chip decided to kick in at the same time as I hit a very large bump in the road. This caused Shorty to have a huge surge in power... I was driving normally, not mashing on the accelerator. It came to me totally unexpectedly.

So is this a bug in the system? I don't know what MDS is.

Or you could let me put Shorty to some real work, hauling lumber, sacks of cement, gravel, etc...:D

I don't know what MDS is.Multi-displacement system, I think. Like Cadillac's 8-6-4 system. :P

Shorty has MDS. Which means he is a 4 cyl full size truck. When I am either towing, step hard on the gas or go beyond 60 mph, it kicks into 8 cyls. Shorty got a SuperChip power programmer installed for Christmas and that changes the shift points, the revs, yada yada. Both kicked in at the same time when the tires were not in contact with the ground.

Or you could let me put Shorty to some real work, hauling lumber, sacks of cement, gravel, etc...:D

Shorty is not a TRUCK truck he's a one passenger, two bike truck. :notamused:

Shorty is not a TRUCK truck he's a one passenger, two bike truck. :notamused:

Not once he has a few dents and scratches in the bed.

The first load will be babyhead rocks...dropped from a ladder. :innocent:

so it's like turbo kick, worst thing to kick in during a turn.

and at the same time the tires were not touching the ground as I was turning

Um, if multiple tires were no longer in contact with the ground, snap oversteer (And arguably, improper vehicle prep) was not the only think you did wrong.

Not once he has a few dents and scratches in the bed.

The first load will be babyhead rocks...dropped from a ladder. :innocent:

He has spray on kevlar liner. And he did have quite a few cases of bananas in him one time.


so it's like turbo kick, worst thing to kick in during a turn.

and with no ground contact.

Seriously though. I'm gonna take a break from driving him. Or maybe tone down the settings because they are all at the highest right now.

Or maybe I should just HTFU.

Um, if multiple tires were no longer in contact with the ground, snap oversteer (And arguably, improper vehicle prep) was not the only think you did wrong.

What else? Please teach me in case this should happen again. The bump (or sudden rise) in the asphalt was about the width of a small car, and a few inches rise. Like a ramp jump thing..

Do you think that is why he started to hop sideways upon landing? I still can't figure out why I didn't slide.

What do you mean improper vehicle prep? :o

And he did have quite a few cases of bananas in him one time.That's what she said!

Or something.

:rolleyes:

That's what she said!

Or something.

Sigged. :D

:rolleyes:Ah, good times, good times... So yeah, seriously, let me borrow a car. You know, so you're not tempted. Yeah, that's it.

*puts on a lead right boot*

;)

Sigged. :D

Somehow this always happens to me. :notamused:

Somehow this always happens to me. :notamused:Welcome to the club. The club of "whenever a thread loads, I think I see someone replying to me, but it's a signature".

So because of your poor driving you were put into a situation which luck had kept you from crashing?

Hows about a pic of "Shorty" :)

Yeah, how about a pic.

how does hitting a bump alter a vehicle's power to the drive train? (unless i misunderstood the cause)

So because of your poor driving you were put into a situation which luck had kept you from crashing?

Yeah pretty much. Maybe I should take up some defensive driving courses and learn how to handle a vehicle. :p


how does hitting a bump alter a vehicle's power to the drive train? (unless i misunderstood the cause)

Hitting a bump didn't alter it. The tires not being on the ground when the power kicked in from the MDS and superchips did. When I hit the ground there was more power to the rear than there was before. I was steering to the left because of the curve in the road. And that put me in an awkward position.

So there's a wall between the two lanes, but no wall or guard rail on the side of the road with the ravine?

Correct. The steep ravine is on the right side, the wall is on the left. I was steering toward the left while going uphill. When talking to Mich about it, he pretty much described it as a power slide. With bouncing.

I'm glad you're all right Siu. That sounds really scary!

Dang Siu! Driving training is a very very good thing. I'm glad everything worked out ok.

So because of your poor driving you were put into a situation which luck had kept you from crashing?

:roflmao:

She hasn't raced for many years, but she is still a very good driver. If I'm not mistaken, I'm the only one here that got a ride in her Trans Am. I assure you, it was not bad driving that caused that to happen, nor was it luck that she corrected the problem safely. She is simply the best driver I've ever ridden with.

Yeah pretty much. Maybe I should take up some defensive driving courses and learn how to handle a vehicle. :p



Hitting a bump didn't alter it. The tires not being on the ground when the power kicked in from the MDS and superchips did. When I hit the ground there was more power to the rear than there was before. I was steering to the left because of the curve in the road. And that put me in an awkward position.

I understand the hopping sliding thing, that's normal.
I've done that deliberately many times. It's fun on a safe road without a cliff or a wall, etc. etc.

It's nothing to be surprised about, and I don't think you were, just the huge surge in power was at the wrong time.

But what caused the MDS and the chip to kick in?
throttle setting? load? speed? Were you thinking that the surge would be just right if the tires had traction, but the bump gave no traction? If so, you just need to read the bumps in the road better. Scary yes, on that road, but not something you can't learn to control. One can prepare for a landing like that with the correct technique. Or did the lack of traction cause the tires to spin and make the speed sensor think the speed went way up so everything kicked in, thinking you increased the speed? That seems possible. The load went down, and the throttle setting should have been decreased knowing that the bump was there.

Just don't do it on roads like that. :) Move to Rhode Island, there are no roads like that. :(

In all my years of driving autocross and racing,

Yep, that racing time does pay off. I do HPDE's with NASA, and there have been a number of times out on the real road where my training and experience has paid off (usually reacting to other drivers stupidity)

Correct. The steep ravine is on the right side, the wall is on the left. I was steering toward the left while going uphill. When talking to Mich about it, he pretty much described it as a power slide. With bouncing.

Siu,

Glad you're okay. Don't worry about it. Despite all your driving skills and training, often there's nothing you can do. Once tires start bouncing and you are in a slide, all you can do is hope the road is wide enough before you can gain control.

You want to talk about a bad idea, my first 4 wheeled vehicle is a retired police car, 5.7L v8 with aftermarket exhaust, headers, urethane bushings and new stiffer shocks (lowered 1 1/2") and no cruise control.

I could have gotten a couple bad tickets on my way from IL to NC, 80+ just feels like it's starting to move.

Your truck isn't really that bad of an idea. :D

I didn't think Asians could drive.


But seriously, you are beautiful and awesome and I am glad you're okay.

Geez, Siu! I'm glad your okay!

What else? Please teach me in case this should happen again. The bump (or sudden rise) in the asphalt was about the width of a small car, and a few inches rise. Like a ramp jump thing..

Well, you could always not overcook it into corners that you don't know well enough.... :innocent:

Or was this a bump that you knew, and were expecting to encounter, but the truck lost its mind in a way that you hadn't planned?

Yikes! Glad to hear you kept it under control, and hope Shorty will behave better after a little time-out.

Sounds like a shocking situation, and I am very glad you are OK!!!!

Mistake #1 is putting performance mods on a street machine that haven't been tested adequately for street safety.

Potential mistake #2 Either the road is at fault for having a rise significant enough for any pair of wheels to lose contact with the road, or you were going too fast for that particular "bump".

Now for pure conjecture...

As soon as the rear wheels left the ground they sped up due to the fact that the weight of the truck was removed from them while you were under mild acceleration... this was all that was needed for the computer (which I would assume controls or at least indirectly impacts the MDS as well) to kick in because it sensed you were suddenly driving fast or accelerating rapidly.

I would definitely not drive that thing on snow or ice with the current modifications.

I don't know much about cars and my driving skills suck but, for power slides with great degrees of bouncing, I can use my recently acquired knowledge to recommend some pretty good sport bras.

Shorty + Hemi + MDS + FlowMaster + SuperChips + curve + bump + wall = A very dangerous and scary situation.

I highly advise one not to have this combination if you can help it.

I'm very thankful for my SCCA training, my pursuit driving course and Hotchkiss suspension.

I think I'm gonna go put Shorty's keys away for a long while.

a girl driving a hemi with flowmaster exhaust and it's chipped?

:)

Glad you're okay, Siu.

I am totally hung up on the part about the tires leaving the ground in the first place.

Were you going super duper fast, or did some kids put a stunt ramp in the road which they were using to jump their bicycles and left it there?

stiff suspension will skip a bit over the bumps, but i'm not sure what you can do to avoid a sudden dropoff. Alter your driving line so you hit it more straight on? Not always easy on public roads, but I try to do that when its raining, and also back off to steady state throttle before the turn.

how much power are you putting down with that? I don't think i'd want the car to be making the decision on something as critical as power delivery in a RWD car.

+1 on the hotness of your autocross and SCCA driving :)