MUD TRACTION---Pirelli just does not have the mud grip I am looking for.

Meeyatch1

Meeyatch1

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So there I was just minding my own business when a group of friends and I decided to go for a drive, and then back to one of their respective houses for some yard work. The yard work consisted of tearing up the yard to put down a new one, and also removing some bushes. Well, as often times happens, we got to talking and before I knew it the idea was hatched to see how many ultra-cool donuts an NSX could do in the grass without getting stuck in some of the soft dirt and mud. Some quick thought was given to the fact that it really would not cause any additional tire wear since there was not really any significant friction to speak of, and the yard was rather level so there was no chance of hitting any bumps.....the only real downside was having to wash the car. Plus it would give me a chance to practice my drifting technique anyway.... ;)


So I entered the yard while one of my friends tended to the video camera (yes, we taped this) and recorded the mayhem. With a quick blip of the gas (traction control off of course) I was off to the races!! Woo-hoo!!! All sorts of fun was had as the NSX made nice swinging drifts around the yard along with a few 'figure 8' moves thrown in for good measure. This all brought me to one chilling conclusion.....255/35-18 Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires just do not have the mud traction I was hoping for. The tread get bogged up pretty quickly and you really have to work the gas to throw the mud out of the tread blocks. Anyone have a quick fix for this? :D

Yeah...I know...about 99.9% of you reading this think that I might be a little 'off' for doing this, and you might be right. But I would rather have fun with my NSX and spend some time washing it afterwards as opposed to never driving it at all. It is all just state of mind.....have fun guys and gals. You know that I am. :)
 
Re: Re: MUD TRACTION---Pirelli just does not have the mud grip I am looking for.

Enzo said:
Where is the video ? :D
Click to expand...

I have it on my camcorder....no idea how to convert it so you all can see. Any ideas?
 
Meeyatch1,

I really do think you have the most fun with your NSXs. :D

That sounds like quite a big yard. And that sounds like it was a lot of fun. I want to see the video! :)
 
Autophile said:
Meeyatch1,

I really do think you have the most fun with your NSXs. :D

That sounds like quite a big yard. And that sounds like it was a lot of fun. I want to see the video! :)
Click to expand...


Yeah...I really enjoy my cars to the fullest. I am sure some of the garage queen owners are probably having convulsions right now. :D

As soon as I figure out how to convert the video I will let you know.
 
AaronR said:
where is the picture of that lifted 4x4 NSX when I need it:mad:
Click to expand...


LOL!! I have no idea...I think it is a Grand Prix White also. Ask Lud where it is....it used to be in the 'Gallery' section.
 
Meeyatch1 said:
Yeah...I know...about 99.9% of you reading this think that I might be a little 'off' for doing this, and you might be right. But I would rather have fun with my NSX and spend some time washing it afterwards as opposed to never driving it at all. It is all just state of mind.....have fun guys and gals. You know that I am. :)
Click to expand...

what I was thinking while reading this, was how much oil you starved your engine from by doing those doughnuts. As I was having the opportunity to visit FactorX earlier this month, I took a good look at the internals. One thing that stroke me was the stock oil pan, which lacks baffers whatsoever. Hence, in a long curve (or doing doughnuts for that matter) could starve an NSX engine from oil. I asked Mike about it and confirmed it that doing doughnuts is the best way to blow your engine up... :eek:
 
There is something so wrong with telling us you have video but not posting it. :D please find someone who can publish the video you took.
 
Re: Re: MUD TRACTION---Pirelli just does not have the mud grip I am looking for.

apapada said:
what I was thinking while reading this, was how much oil you starved your engine from by doing those doughnuts. As I was having the opportunity to visit FactorX earlier this month, I took a good look at the internals. One thing that stroke me was the stock oil pan, which lacks baffers whatsoever. Hence, in a long curve (or doing doughnuts for that matter) could starve an NSX engine from oil. I asked Mike about it and confirmed it that doing doughnuts is the best way to blow your engine up... :eek:
Click to expand...


Well...they were not really high speed donuts, so I am not worried. I am thinking that someone running high speed track events with several turns probably had more of a risk than I did. Fun, fun, fun.... :)
 
steveny said:
There is something so wrong with telling us you have video but not posting it. :D please find someone who can publish the video you took.
Click to expand...


I will see what I can do about finding a way to convert it. It was pretty sweet. :D
 
Meeyatch1 said:
I will see what I can do about finding a way to convert it. It was pretty sweet. :D
Click to expand...

If your video is in Digital8 or DV format, I can convert to MPEG for viewing online. PM me if you are really interested and I can arrange to have you mail the video to me for conversion.
 
Acura NsX Pilot said:
Im sure there are alot of people here that can convert it but for $43 bucks you can get a video card with a firewire input and softaware and convert it on your own computer.

http://www.neutronexpress.com/prod.cfm/32513/API-310

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=348884&prsrt=1
Click to expand...


Sweet!! I might just get that so that I can convert future video as well. Thank you very much. :)

G-Man....you may get a PM from me about doing the conversion for me if I cannot get my normal computer reformatted here in the near future (I am using a laptop as backup right now). That freaking computer virus a week or so ago took out the hard drive on my main computer. Argh!! :(
 
By the way, I showed my father the video this evening and he thought it was pretty funny. All he said was, 'Well....at least he has a big yard,' and just kind of laughed. :D
 
After dinner one night a bunch of the guys from tirerack were headed to my house. Meeeyatch had an M3 at the time. We were all in our cars just a few blocks from my house. He did the biggest, longest, smokiest, craziest burnout figure 8 I had ever seen in person. I bet it was 5 minutes long on pavement! It left marks that were there for half a year. Anyhow...the man can do a serious burnout! :)

Then there was the time he did a lawnjob in a 911 cab..:D :D :D
 
apapada said:
what I was thinking while reading this, was how much oil you starved your engine from by doing those doughnuts. As I was having the opportunity to visit FactorX earlier this month, I took a good look at the internals. One thing that stroke me was the stock oil pan, which lacks baffers whatsoever. Hence, in a long curve (or doing doughnuts for that matter) could starve an NSX engine from oil. I asked Mike about it and confirmed it that doing doughnuts is the best way to blow your engine up... :eek:
Click to expand...
That's ridiculous.

The lateral g forces generated from driving on mud are such a reduced level that it's impossible to blow up an engine that way. Remember, traction on mud is worse than on dry pavement.

And if a long curve could do it, we would be hearing dozens if not hundreds of reports of blown engines. Of course, we don't.

I have yet to hear of anyone blowing up an NSX engine from oil starvation from driving in circles on anything less than an extended duration on a high-banked oval (without an infield course).
 
AaronR said:
After dinner one night a bunch of the guys from tirerack were headed to my house. Meeeyatch had an M3 at the time. We were all in our cars just a few blocks from my house. He did the biggest, longest, smokiest, craziest burnout figure 8 I had ever seen in person. I bet it was 5 minutes long on pavement! It left marks that were there for half a year. Anyhow...the man can do a serious burnout! :)

Then there was the time he did a lawnjob in a 911 cab..:D :D :D
Click to expand...


LOL!!! Yeah, I remember that M3 one had a pretty significant amount of smoke. It sure looked cool though. That was right before I traded it in, so I think there was far less worry at the time. Funny thing was that the car was not really moving that fast, just nice smooth slow slides. Dylan thought I was going to take something out for a little while there. :D

As for the 911 Cab......well, it does have all-wheel drive you know... ;)
 
nsxtasy said:
That's ridiculous.
Click to expand...

ridiculous or not, I'm just relating was someone with lots of NSX engine building experience said to me. I do not know how low the oil pump is picking up the oil and how much oil is present in the oilpan. But two things I know for sure is that the stock NSX oil pan does not have any baffles (sp?) AND that I have seen the oil light come on a long curve when doing max handling testing with certain cars (not NSX though). When I asked the mechanic how come the oil light comes on, he showed me how some engines without oil pan baffles can be starved from oil. I personnally think this could be the case with a stock NSX too, given the wrong conditions...
 
Okay, no problem - I didn't mean to come down hard on you (especially for something that someone else said... especially since FactorX is generally pretty competent about their NSX knowledge). But to starve the NSX engine for oil, a long curve won't do it. You would have to be driving on a high banked oval or maybe a skidpad, driving in a curve/circle in the same direction for an extended period of time*, to produce the kind of forces needed for sufficient time to starve the engine of oil. Yes, it can be done - but not on a long curve, and not on a surface that gives relatively low levels of traction.

*Hey kids, don't try this at home. :D
 
JPS Europa said:
Mitch,
You are never driving my car...again!
Paul

#284 Brooklands Green
Click to expand...


LOL!! Yeah...it is too far away now anyhow. :D

I only do goofy stuff like this with my own cars anyway, so you have nothing to worry about. Although....grass is green like your car....maybe it would match. HAHAHA!! ;)
 
Re: Re: MUD TRACTION---Pirelli just does not have the mud grip I am looking for.

apapada said:
what I was thinking while reading this, was how much oil you starved your engine from by doing those doughnuts. As I was having the opportunity to visit FactorX earlier this month, I took a good look at the internals. One thing that stroke me was the stock oil pan, which lacks baffers whatsoever. Hence, in a long curve (or doing doughnuts for that matter) could starve an NSX engine from oil. I asked Mike about it and confirmed it that doing doughnuts is the best way to blow your engine up... :eek:
Click to expand...

I don't personally know of any production car (short of maybe an Enzo or Mclaren) that has baffles in the OEM unit.

An aftermarket baffled pan is one of the first things a road racer buys, along with a cooler. Some cars actually need a dry sump instead. The NSX does have a weakness (#2 main bearing I believe) in the oil starvation area, but should only show its head on regular track beatings, thus an Accusump is great for a race NSX.

And like Ken said ONLY if running slicks on good pavement, and on repetitive long sweepers say in an endurance race.

Mitch more power to ya!
 
Thanks T Bell....just the fact that we are having this conversation about off road driving with the NSX makes me smile. I love my car. :D
 

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