Below is a video. I'm not trying to go into the weeds (ugh - and with a pun) on the crowd's behavior; also not to pick on the driver or the Viper; but that without electronic safeties Vipers and lower weight, tend to provide purer examples of high-horsepower loss of control (this car model has side exhaust, it's got no electronics). The video shows a couple of times, zooming in a bit. Different commenters have said he did, and didn't, get off the gas, even in slow-mo I'm not sure; but I'm guessing once it came loose and went into a turn it stopped mattering.
My recent experience with power is with a 2010 SS M6 since it was first built. It's pretty powerful, I figure I learned its behavior. I now have a non-1LE ZL1 manual still ostensibly in breakin; but in certain lapses of judgement of varying degree I've felt it want to come loose at the back.
How can I understand the nature of this, and how it relates to the electronics? I'm guessing Stabilitrak is the defense from this, like with the Gen5s? Can it outright prevent this? Does stabilitrak protect from this even if traction control is turned off?
- I get *generally* the physics of all of it and generally what these safety tools do; but would love to hear from someone with a better mental model for it.
- I would like to know if a stock ZL1's 'safeties' protect from going into a spin
pedal down driving in a straight line, or if nothing being absolute, somehow quantify the protection or recovery afforded a driver who gets off the gas once spin starts. Also, if the car would take the power off and protect a driver even who stays *on* the gas (presuming leaving stabilitrak nannies fully on).
- I would like to know how suspension modes impact this - Tour, Sport, Track - does the inability of the rear of the car to sink down a bit on acceleration in stiffer modes make this worse?
- At higher RPM when getting off the gas is basically braking the car, does getting completely off the gas in this situation make it *worse* just making the sideways-moving rears now float over the road? So should you dial back the gas and hold it at some midpoint?
- My questions pertain to safety during straight line acceleration - I figure they partially translate; but I respect that corners have so much more to it that I'm not asking that here now.
Anyhow, the Viper video:
Thanks,
Matt