[jeffy]

Thought I'd post this for the benefit of prospective owners, or anyone that hasn't gotten their car sideways yet.

I was traveling on one of the older parkways in Westchester: narrow, twisty, 50mph speed limit type road. I was passing a car in a gentle right turn, showing off a bit, and got it up over 4500 rpm in 3rd (75 mph) when I went to shift into 4th just as I was alongside the car I was passing.

Instead of 4th, I shoved it into 2nd and, when I let the clutch out, the rear wheels locked and I started spinning clockwise. I knew instantly what I'd done, and recovered, but not before envisioning the rear end hitting the guard rail and the front hitting the car I was passing. The driver of that car had his window down and I could hear him going "Whoa!!" as he, fortunately, pulled to the right and made some room.

It was over so soon and without incident that I didn't even get an adrenaline rush. Thinking it over afterwards, I'm pretty sure that the three Skip Barber schools I attended, where we spent an hour or so on the skidpad at each, surely helped avoid disaster. It was there that I learned about the danger of locking the wheels in a downshift (or a missed shift, in my case) and practicing, once in a skid, keeping my eyes fixed on WHERE I WANTED TO GO, and steering there.

Peter P. warned me early on that I'd "get that car sideways in an instant", which motivated me to go to the schools during the build. I'm glad I did.

Of course, only a lawless pariah goes 75 in a 50 zone, but that's a different issue...