Having no car for almost a month now is very hard to cope with. I do get to share my mums Zafria, so I don’t have a problem when it comes to travelling, but its no fun now that I’m reduced to a bog standard vehicle. Its just standard commuting now with no thrills what so ever, theres no power, no handling, actually the car has not substantial credit worth mentioning what so ever other than its better than walking. As a driving and car enthusiast the only way to get my fix is to but the hours in on Forza 3 on the xbox. Its working for now, and I’m getting enjoyment out of the new cars and tracks which I hadn’tgotten use to up to press. Into the real world though I thought if I couldn’t drive, then I’ll go for the theory and principle side of things. I purchased a highly recommended book which explains and illustrates the “art of going faster”. Its full of technical drawing and details on how to drive fast. Although I’ve covered a fair bit in just 14 pages (basically the basics on straights and corners) I’ve not come across anything that a enthusiast wouldn’t know, at least in some form or another, but what is good, is how the even the basics are broken down and articulated so you can maybe make more sense or see extra detail in what you do know, and relate that to your own driving technique which may benefityou. After quick browsing the later chapters in the book it does look abit more daunting and alot more in-depth, but I’m egar to read through it and see what it beholds.

Just a quick note on the MR2. The insurance are waiting for the total loss department to get a engineers report sorted so they car get the details on there system, or at least something like that. After a month I’m not really getting any further than that. So I’m going to have to start swearing at them down the phone so they get a move on. I’m still debating on which car to get next, but the Type-R is winning at the moment. The RX-8 seems to have too many problems engine wise with other little niggles. The R26 just seems to be a speed machine with nothing else say for itself. I’m wanting abit more of a GT car this time around, and with a drive to Spain coming up in the near future, I want to be able to relax and enjoy been sat in the car, aswell as been able to speed around in the hills. So Its a close call for the ST and Type-R. Which is funny considering I’m both a ex Type-R and ST owner. What is the right decision.

Skidding across the road

The afternoon came and I was itching for a drive, I asked my dad if he would be up for a drive and agree. My younger brother offered to be a camera man which meant today would be the first external footage shot of my MR2. Chris would be meeting up later with us. The weather was chilly and sleety snow was trying to break through but nothing seriously bad. We set off and headed up to Buckstone Pass, its just too good up there, but what I never thought about was how the weather is always more fierce up there than it is at home. What I didn’t know at that time is just how drastic the footage was going to be.

Rear left wheel thuds into the Grate

Once up there, other than a dusting of light snow and wetter roads, nothing seemed too dangerous to proceed. Luke had been recording since we set off, and as the road hit national speed limits I increased speed from about 30mpg to 50mph. I did’nt want to push it too hard since the conditions was’nt ideal, so was heading along cautiously as the big brute D5 V70 followed. Previously up to this point I was keeping record of how much grip I could feel at the rear, naturally as I took  corners I was making sure the back-end wasn’t nervous, and to be honest everything was fine. The car was stable and had no problem I was aware of.

Then the unthinkable happened. Heading along a straight at approximately 50mph, with out warning the back tires lost grip, darting the back-end to the left meaning I was suddenly facing the curb on the right side of the road. The curb, the wall, the house neither of which looked fun to be heading towards at 50mph. Decisions had to be made instantaneously, obviously I tried to turn left which deemed impossible due to nearly zero grip, so I braked hard to transfer weight to the front right which gave the tire just enough grip to miss the curb by what seemed centimeters.

The car was facing forwards (for a moment, probably a 10th of a second but everything was in slow motion, so it seemed longer to

Only just missing the curb

 me than it does in the video) and missed the curb but there was too much weight transfer, which meant the engine and wanted to swing around via the momentum the braking had caused. The problem was I was now sliding on ice which meant nothing I could do was going to save the car, I could only influence it but inevitably the back end started to lead the way. I was now along for the ride, and just had to sit and wait for the violent and sudden stop.

Me looking abit cross

 

The grate I hitting causing the crash