Almost crashed my TR (true confessions of a near disaster)

OK. I finally got just a little TOO comfortable with my 86 TR.

One of the few places I can open it up is on the on-ramp to the interstate. Every once and a while I come to this one ramp that is about 1/2 mile of winding on-ramp into a 70mph interstate. Perfect for the 'on-ramp boogie'. I have done this on several occasions, when there is no traffic around. It is exhilarating.

This time, just as I am shifting from 1st to 2nd (at around 6k rpm) the rear end breaks loose! Now this ramp has those concrete walls that are used for temporary lane re-routing, and there isn't a lot of room for this kind of error. Everything is in slow motion... the back end slides towards the concrete on the left. I correct the slide (so I think) believing I was just too heavy on the accelerator shifting into 2nd, causing the break away. Wrong. As there were some cars way behind me, but within eyesight, I couldn’t just slow down, admitting defeat. I continue to accelerate, coming into the next curve a few yards ahead, when the rear end breaks free again, this time sliding right. I overcorrect and power slide back toward the concrete on the left side. Thoughts of ‘road rash’ from the headlight to the rear wheel well were dancing through my head just as I manage to recover stability and clear the concrete by at most 3 inches and merge into an empty 4 lane interstate with my heart pounding faster than the 12 cylinders behind me.

I went back to the on-ramp later that day to find that there was loose debris (sand and fine gravel) on the ramp that I just didn’t see. I guess an overfilled dump truck or something deposited that little surprise just to make my life more interesting.

Anyway, I guess if you haven’t lost traction at least once, you haven’t really pushed it enough to really get the thrill of the 12 cylinders. No animals were hurt in the making of this episode (and no other motorists were in any way put in jeopardy as the road was empty ahead of me). However, I now have a much healthier attitude when approaching a curving temptation of an on ramp for which I am not absolutely sure of the conditions. I think my on-ramp boogie days are going to be a little tamer from now on. I guess this is an argument for keeping the racing on the track where there is better control over conditions.

Lesson learned. Maybe...

 

In hindsight I do believe keeping my foot on the gas pedal saved me. Was able to power through it. Decel, or worse yet, brake and I was toast.