Re: [DML] Re: DMC12 Handling on the limit

[fjk143@xxxx]

Unless you understand the physics of trailing throttle oversteer as most early 911 drivers do, it would be unwise to try and find the limit on your unbalanced, rear engine DMC-12. Find a book on how to drive a 911 and apply those technques to the DMC. The major difference is that you will lack the power to steer with the rear wheels as you can with the 911s by modulating the throttle. A 911 is the fastest car in a slalom if it has the right driver. If it has the wrong driver it doesn't make it past the second cone. The same would be true with the DMC as I have done it with mine intentionally and expected such behavior. To be caught off guard by it however, would be no fun I expect. Note that most 911s crash tail first through the guardrails, haybales, etc - (oversteer). The DMC does the same. That is the reason why you have two different size tires on your car - to try and minimize the trailing throttle overtseer by making the back tires larger, thus creating a larger!
contact patch and making the ba
ck "stickier" than the front. That is the same on 911s. Todays 996s have basically had that characteristic engineered out, not only by tire sizes but also by suspension geonetries that are much more sophisticated than the DMC. Remember the 911 has been in production since 1963 so their learning curve is a little longer the the two or so years of the DMC. 

Most front engine cars go through the fence nose first -(understeer) as they continue to plow forward, usually with locked brakes when the force on the front wheels exceed the coefficent of friction between rubber and tarand mac break traction.

As most of us grew up driving front engined American cars we are used to going into a turn too fast and then lifting the throttle and scrubbing the speed off and exiting safely. If you do that in a rear engine and even some mids and you'll spin it around a point near the center of the front axle. Good luck.

Fred
6894