I can’t lie…I’ve done more dumb things after midnight that even those who really understand me would be capable of understanding. Name it…short of jumping a car, I’ve done it. Burnouts at every intersection? Top speed attempts? Yep…guilty. There’s something about being out after midnight that just begs the basest mindset of a wheelman to try their luck. That dusty intersection is just pleading for a powerslide. Nobody will ever hear you light up the tires out here, you are ten miles out of city limits! It’s the kind of thinking that gets you into serious trouble, for sure, but when you get away with it…the high is like none other.
Now, to be fair about what you will see the Scania driver do here, there’s snow and enough glare on the road to suggest black ice. Outside of maybe Mike Ryan and his race-only Freightliners, seeing a big rig with the back end stepping out sideways like this needs a bit of help…loose gravel works, wet roads maybe, but an icy roundabout is perfect. These Scanias are relatively stubby and potent, so it is a simple matter of having the right gear at the ready and the right amount of stones necessary to pretend that a lorry is the Toyota AE86 from Initial D at some unholy hour of the morning on a winter’s night. For the few cars that were nearby, they got a show, and for the driver, he got the rush of a week…plus video proving that it actually happened. Check it out!
Mr McTaggart: You fully are aware that low power vehicles can spin the tires, assuming the correct conditions. You have no doubt owned things that can do just that.
Without a wall of tire smoke billowing from the drive tires, the control is impressive, but…er…. I do so verily wish I could have you ride along in my DD from years ago, a 1988 Ford Festiva. Yes, it made nearly 60fwhp, and had a 1.3L motor, pulling a horrible hatchback body as made by KIA in an unholy homologation with Ford and Mazda’s engine division.
That said, it established that sliding around, static burnouts, and other “typical” expressions of power are mostly crap.
You want to impress folks in the know? Show something getting up to say, 50mph, shifting into second, and destroying the tires to the tune of 300 yard lines on the pavement. Mind you I won’t argue that controlling a delicate and slow drift is a matter of skill, but impressive it is not.
Yesterday in Northern IL it was lovely and warm. I took the bike out and nearly accidentally rolled through the rear tire spinning madly away, from a rolling 115mph start. Big clouds, hard to film, but at least it wasn’t something a competent driver could do in an entry level hatchback with some carefully prepared surface (ie., bleach, water on the ground) from a standing start.
If you have not been exposed to such stuff that can easily torch the tires from more than a stop and retain control, I hereby invite you do Byron Dragway for this summer. Let me know and I’ll gladly show you that wheelpin causes smoke — and that’s great — but it’s underwhelming if you can’t put power down and properly make an impressive display of speed.
It’s still cool. Harder to control than some may think. No weight on the driving axle makes it want to spin out.