Skid Pan

[Dogmatix]

Went out to the skid pan at Eastern Creek Friday night. Perfect venue for the ISF and a great way to learn more about car control.

Would anyone be interested in organizing a Lexus day at the skid pan with an instructor?

Also of interest of the 10 cars there the only ones that had no mechanical or heat issues were the Lexus, Porsches and McLaren. Actually the McLaren did have heat issues....... Blue flames shooting out the exhaust.

[RecursiveLoop]

Just a quick question about the IS-F on the skid pan, I've driven a few cars around a skid pan (Mt Cotton in Brisbane), but the IS-F will be the first I'll be trying without a handbrake.

How does the car handle? Does it have initial understeer which then quickly transitions to oversteer once more power is applied? How difficult is it to get the back out (and hold it there) given there's no handbrake to assist in the process?

Glad to know the Lexus is as reliable around the skid pan as it is on the road, would be a pain having to tow the car home.

[Dogmatix]

The car is pretty well balanced . Oversteer/understeer depends on application of power.

You will have no issue getting the back out on the skip pan with application of power. The LSD makes it quite controllable once you get the back out.

It is not as easy as it looks though but a lot of fun practicing !

[RecursiveLoop]

I'm going for a skid pan session this Sunday at Mt Cotton in Brisbane. Should be a lot of fun! First time taking the ISF out. I'll try to get some photos & videos up.

[RecursiveLoop]

Geez, it was tough to control the car with VDIM completely off on a wet diesel surface! The car just spinning out. I had to be very sensitive on the throttle and time the counter-steering exactly right or else I'd just spin out.

[Ezo]

I went this Sunday too but in Canberra!

It was great fun, definitely recommended. Thankfully the surface was slippery enough and the car has enough power for my pre-LSD model to act like it had one for most of the day.

I'll get some pics and a vid up eventually. As to be expected with Lexus the car didn't miss a beat all day :)

Looking forward to your pics and vid.

[@mans247]

I was actually just thinking about this today - I would be keen for a day at Eastern Creek's skid pan

[Ezo]

[RecursiveLoop]

Looks good mate! Did you do it with VDIM completely off? Yours looks a lot neater than mine, that's for sure!

I found that doing it with VDIM in sport mode gave me the best result, some degree of slip but not enough to spin. With VDIM completely off, a bit too much throttle and the back swings round. When I did get it right, the procedure was

- Turn into corner

- Step on gas and immediately start counter steering

- Car starts to oversteer

- Feather accelerator and steering to keep the drift going

It sounds easier than it looks!

[Ezo]

I did it with all systems completely off, I actually wish Sport gave more room than it does as I find it cuts in quite early (might be better in later cars).

I spun out a lot that day! But that's what it was for, to learn. By the end of the day I could easily drive the whole track completely sideways, easiest done with little flicks on the longer straights to keep inertia up. When I first started I was too heavy when feathering throttle and span out a bit and also my straightening up was a bit uglier.

[RecursiveLoop]

Since I got my car back on Friday, I decided to bring it to Brisbane Powercruise on Saturday. A mate of mine bet that I wouldn't dare "drift that boat". I decided to take him up on it and entered my car in the drift competition. It was quite intimidating because there was a massive crowd there and it was my first time drifting a car of any sort. I also did not have drift tyres on, but had the normal Bridgestones which are very grippy and I found it very hard to hold a slide properly.

However, it was so much fun and the ISF is indeed the luxury car that you can drive like a madman in. It was my first time drifting, but now that I did it, I find it so much fun and I hope to do it again soon. Here's a video of the day - any tips & pointers would be much appreciated!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFeaDBTeT4M

[Ezo]

Haha awesome, that would have taken some balls. You did really well for your first time! Great video.

[RecursiveLoop]

Some photos from the day

The back stepping out

This photo sums up people's feeling about the ISF. They have NO IDEA what it is, and are just wondering how a IS250/350 is sounding like a V8.

Ahh the ISF, the ultimate sleeper car. :-)

[RecursiveLoop]

Went back on the skid pan yesterday. Had a blast! I have newfound respect for the car. I now realise that my previous attempts ended up in multiple spins because I was way to aggressive with the accelerator, rather than feathering it, I just threw power down.

Once I got the hang of it, it was amazing. The chassis is incredibly balanced. Towards the end of the day, I was even able to chain 2 drifts together by using the snapping motion. It was an incredible feeling. Lexus has done an amazing job with this car, I think their suspension tweaks on the 2012 model has made it on par with the M3 for handling now!

[Ezo]

Sweet video, well done; you're getting really good. I subscribed to your channel you have some nice vids on there.