C7 Corvette ZR1 Almost Wipes Out, Driver Regains Control: Video
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The C7-generation Corvette ZR1 is a very serious automobile. With more than 750 supercharged horsepower, it takes a steady hand and a talented right foot to unleash its full potential. By the looks of it, the individual behind the wheel of the ZR1 in the following video has neither, but luckily, they still managed to keep it shiny side up.
The video was posted to social media and is only a few seconds long. As the video gets underway, we see a yellow C7 Corvette ZR1 charging hard down a quiet two-lane road. Rolling hills are seen in the background, with dry tarmac under the tires and a blue sky above. Great weather for a spirited drive out in the country.
As the video continues, the driver upshifts, and as the power is reapplied, the rear end starts to step out. The driver makes a mistake by snapping off the throttle and jumping on the brakes, which makes the situation worse by transferring the vehicle weight over the front wheels, decreasing traction in the rear even further. What follows is a series of side-to-side tank-slappers as the driver tries to regain control.
Miraculously, the ZR1 doesn’t leave the pavement, sliding across both lanes but staying off the shoulder. It’s also lucky that there wasn’t another driver in the adjacent lane.
Check out the full video right here:
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This close call underscores the immense respect that high-performance cars like the Corvette ZR1 demand if you plan to climb behind the wheel. Output is rated at 755 horsepower and 715 pound-feet of torque courtesy of the supercharged 6.2L V8 LT5 gasoline engine. Indeed, if you’re not careful, you could very well end up like the ZR1 driver in this other video.
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And this is why you never, ever take off the “TC” (traction control) and stab the throttle in many late model rear wheel drive cars with lots of horsepower and gobs of torque nowadays unless you’re out someplace where if and when you “lose it” you won’t hurt anyone but yourself and your own vehicle. Modern high powered V8 rear wheel drive cars usually come with Traction Control and for a good reason…you get both rear tires spinning (easy to do) while gaining forward momentum and it’s a natural function for the vehicle to start to slide the rear end out especially with todays modern rubber that, while wide, has no forward grip once it starts to lose traction, and the natural thing to do is to turn into the direction of the spin, but you’re also inclined to either let off the gas or attempt to control the spinning action…TOO LATE…in most cases you’ll simply spin out and depending on where you are and what’s around you, you’ll invaribly hit something either to your right (usually) or in some cases, to your left. Either way, it’s a bad deal for you and your vehicle with the end result a lot of expensive damage, sometimes even a complete “Total” by your insurance company, and of course your insurance cost now goes right through the roof! Word to the wise…I can speak from experience, even with my late model Corvette, if you take off the “TC” and you are not pointed in the direction you need to go and you tip into the gas too deep, at certain speeds and on certain low traction street surfaces, you can “lose it”. I did that just once and I’v e never done that type of foolishness again, damn lucky I didn’t hit anything, but spinning out of control ain’t no fun, in fact it can be downright scary if you ain’t ready for it! So, leave the “TC” on unless you’ve got “Drag Radials” or some sort of high traction rear tires that’ll help you to keep going in a straight line direction, better to be safe than sorry.
Okay, ‘Nuff said…
It isn’t taking traction control off that gets you into trouble, it is taking stability control off (partially in ptm or completely off).
Sounds like the pace car at the Detroit Indy car race a few yrs ago.
May have put some pucker marks in the upholstery.
A man has got to know his limitations. Dirty Harry.
It wasn’t traction control or stability control being off that caused this problem – it was the driver applying the brakes when the car started sliding (in this case dude was on and off them like 10 times). When you get a car sideways you EASE out of the throttle and once you’ve got it straightened out THEN you hit the brakes. Hitting the brakes while the car is sideways causes something called ‘snap oversteer’ which is repeatedly demonstrated here.
Well, I think the driver did a great job of recovering. Many would have lost it on the second effort.
A High performance car and a low performance Driver.
The guy in the white Dodge pickup is like, “Damn, look at the size of that yellow snake slithering up the road!”