458 lost control

Too cold for the tyres perhaps

 

Diesel or similar on road?

 

I'm guessing cold tires and cold road surface. I took delivery of my 458 in November which is already 10c. Whenever I accelerate even after 10 minutes of driving, the rear end would kick around but in a controlled fashion. However when driving on track fully warmed up the car never exhibit the same behavior when accelerating hard, although I must say the stock suspension has a lot of initial oversteer followed by understeer.

 

If you were pushing hard on a bend I could see the back going out temporarily, but not when pushing in a straight line. No explanation for this, except that there might have been something slippery on he road.

 

I am guessing some oil or other slippery substance was spilt on that road

 

You obviously know best but most manufacturers suggest their summer tyres harden and give less grip below 7 deg c ambient so it is possible your stop plus a bit of welly and/or camber gave them just enough excuse to break traction

 

Could be a software temporary glitch causing failure of Stability Control.
It happens.

 

Input error would be my guess. Glad you are ok.

 

Probably something on the road. I've had cold tires on my 458 let go badly during hard acceleration, but the car stays fairly straight (unless I'm coming out of a corner).

 

Yikes, glad you're okay!

 

If it were a software malfunction I suspect there would be a warning.

Since you did not mention this, I suspect cold tires and/or something slick on the road.

My experience is that summer tires have to be warm to perform. 45F is not near warm enough. And if it is cold it takes a very long time to warm up the tires. The TPMS is very handy for that information. if the VDA (RACE mode) shows blue tires take it easy.

Best

 

The car did not lose control, the driver did. Driver aids are a help, but can't overcome physics and it sounds like you came across a slick surface (which could be something on the road or just lack of grip from cold tires; you did not mention what the tire temps were and I think the 458 can give you an indication).

For me, driver aids be damned. I never, ever give WOT unless the wheels are pointed straight, I am personally ready to make corrections, and traffic is clear enough to deal with the car stepping out.

 

When was this? I would say its most certainly a tire selection problem if it was in the last week. On the autobahn we get pretty good salt and spray down and get nice traction. However, there have been several very slick spots in the last week as we have gotten some rather cold nights with -1 and -3 temperatures.

If the trip was in the last few days and you were on summer tires that is most certainly the problem. Again if this were the case, I would not say the 458 lost control rather you did. I will drive right now with summer tires but that is only on sunny days that are 6-8 degrees or more. The tires get very hard when the road and air temperature drop. You need to keep in mind that the surface temperature does not always reflect the air temperature. Temperatures below 10 degrees (50) are not recommended for the stock tires and traction falls off considerably at that point.

If you were on winter tires I will again say that the current road conditions that we have been having are not quite suitable for the type of input you were giving.

It takes two things to make a car go sideways at 80 mph while traveling in a straight line.

1. A lot of horsepower (more than the 458 has)

2. A lack of traction (what I suspect you were facing)

There are no systems in the 458 that would have failed causing the car to react like that. Based on the driving style you described through Italy and German, my guess is that the car was in race mode as to hear the exhaust more and it allowed the car to get a little more loose in the low traction situation.

Just my opinion, in the end I am glad you made it out of there safe.

 

Probably hit black ice. I've recently seen black ice on the road even when the ambient temperature is in the 40s. The road can still be too cold especially in the shade or dark.

Glad to hear you recovered!

SV

 

Michelins or Pirellis?

 

Four things to consider and eliminate besides driver:
Car
Road
Tires
Temperature

It is anyone's guess. Best

 

this. 458 gives tire temp and pressure. i would monitor those. in cold temp, i would not use sport mode. you have nothing to gain in sport in cold temp and you lose much of the safety net.

 

This is kind of funny for a few reasons.

1. Most people may not swap to winter tires. That's because they park their car for the winter. Also most people don't cross the Alps in January on their summer tire equipped 458.


2. Your car was actually illegal in Germany. Had you been in an accident fault would have been placed on you regardless because your car was inadequately equipped by law. This is a law because of exactly what happened to you.


3. You're very lucky you got home in one piece. The milder winter was kind to you.



4. I think the driving was the problem as opposed being to the savior of the car.

5. I'm sure there wasn't a diesel slick........


Next year order the winter tires before winter and you'll be amazed at the performance increase (safety). When you make your Italy run. You still have to be careful because ice is still slippery but you'll know that you're at least not driving on a rolling hazard like currently.


Gesendet von meinem iPhone mit Tapatalk

 

My guess is tires and lack of grip. There's nothing in the Ediff that would making it suddenly pitch one way.

 

I'm glad it's "just a posting topic" to you now and not your death or destruction of your car.

Reminds me of the time on the freeyway I saw a guy in a BMW in my rear view mirror do a full 360
in the rain behind me - and not only recover still going the "correct direction" without
having hit anything or anyone, but sped on past me doing almost twice the limit.

His "cat lives" were challenged that day... as were yours. When it comes to "cat lives" it's always good to win.



Jedi

 

If you need an insurance beneficiary I'm available.

Keep it rubber side down and parallel to the fault line.