Sorry Chickenmanq, but when you give it wad of throttle during understeer you move the weight to the back tires and plant them to the ground, the front tires go off the ground and the car will understeer even more!!!
During the understeer one has to slow down the car, and NOT press the throttle more.
God bleess that you were not driving this Viper - then the instructor could be dead already <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>
His mistake was he DID NOT use the brakes early enough and tried taking the corner at 125mph. People standing around that corner said the guy started braking at the 2nd marker before the turn! That movie label movie about brakes malfunctioning is bulshit - the car could brake.
And on the video, the instructor is not telling him to downshift or messing with his stick shift. If you are a novice driver the last thing you have to do is downshifting! Most of the instructors first teach you driving the course in just one high gear (3rd or 4th - depending on the track) because it is safer - you don't need to downshift (to accelerate fast) and upset tires. The instructor just shows him when start braking (the first time he shows his hand) and the second time - when to start turning in (the second time he shows his hand).
Chickenmanq, go buy a racing book and start learning <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>
One more link with the video:
http://porsche.pdxmax.com/misc/vipercrash.mpeg
Both guys survived it. The driver had a broken bone and the instructor broken ribs. Yeah, sometimes shit happens when a rookie driver starts learning track driving in a Hennesay Venom 650 Viper.
-Open Track Racer
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from chickenmanq on 10:59 am on Dec. 9, 2001
You serious? Check out the clip. You'll see him crank the wheels to the left, hear nothing but squealing. His tires are turned, but he's going straight. What's happening is he's got to much momentum to just steer out of it. When you give it a wad of throttle in that situation, it forces the front end down, and therefore gains traction allowing you take the corner. Try it where you live.
Find a nice deserted corner with even ground so it won't matter if you slide off the side. Try going to fast and turn the wheels hard. You should slide. Beware when you gas it and pull out, you may not completely make the corner. So make sure the corner is completely ok to slide off on.
In Flagstaff, there's dozens of places if I go to fast, I'll start sliding while cornering. Then again, I have truck suspension, so this predicament happens a lot easier. Just gotta realize it and give it gas. Not too much, of course, lest you want to send the car into a spin.
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(Edited by TrackRacer at 3:23 am on Dec. 30, 2001)