seeking driving advice!!! asap

[jonkelly]

Hi - just in case anyone questions it, yes i have put the same post on vx220.org...

I bought my dream VX220 a matter of weeks ago, admittedly it was a jump from my previous car to the vx220. Due to the incredibly heavy weather a few weeks ago and no doubt lack of experience the car aquaplaned (whilst driving 20mpp below the speed limit..) It has been given a catD write off... i am desperate to get my dream car back! but i now have some fear around it..

since the crash i have taken my self down to a skid pan in Swindon where i learnt A LOT about controlling skids and breaking distances etc.. but unfortunately this was all done in a ford mondeo (so not a great comparison) I have learnt that there wasn't much i could have done to stop the accident, even the police at the time said i was just unlucky about the placement of the lamppost.

Hopefully ill get my claim money back soon and ill be able to replace my dream car! But i do now have a slight fear of driving in the wet and i know how twitchy the VX220 can be... so basically im looking for advice! i wont have access to any other cars the VX was/will be my day to day car, so it will need to go out in the rain sometimes...

Does anyone know of any where i can go to learn more about the car (that isnt a million miles from guilford..) i have considered lotus "experience days" but will i really get much out of 4 laps around a track?? i dont know.. please tell me!!

If you where looking for some great avdice and the possibility to leanr how to drive your vx better where would you go?? what would you do??

Any advice would be great because i really don't want to destroy my next one, i worked too hard to buy that one!!

[Fluffsri/cv8]

Prob a bit late now but ive gone from a 2.5V6 fwd Vectra to a 5.7V8 Monaro. Its a steep learning curve ill agree with you on that. I went on the track not long after i bought it to find(and pass) the limits of the car. Itll spin the rears pulling into 4th in the dry so you can imagine what its like in the wet. Anyway as far as driving techniques in the wet is everything smooth and a bit slower, dont back of the throttle near standing water (know this from experience) youll end up sideways or backwards. Dont throttle untill straight! Its dead easy for me to write it but hard for you to practice it. Enjoy the replacement bud!!!

[steveavxt]

When I first bought my VX Turbo I came from a 8.9 second to 60 Ford Focus. A massive jump but I found if you take it easy things will be fine. Don't heavily adjust inputs in corners and make sure you drive like an old man in the wet (always off boost) and it will be ok. I've had mine for 2 years and run semi slicks all year round, i've never had any moments even close to crashing yet (crosses fingers )

Just take things easy and build up slowly. At the end of the day it's a normal car but with a lot of low end torque.