My First Near-Horrible Accident – A Moment I’ll Never Forget

[Starship Enterprise]

So I select Drag mode and it doesn't show traction control as off. The switch is still unlit. Is there something else traction related that Drag mode turns off and isn't indicated on the gauges or switches?

Now roll into the throttle. Try your best not to spin as you go from sitting still to moving, and roll into the throttle with an attempt to be full throttle after you are moving and see what happens.

Good luck.

Oh, please do this where there are no other cars on the road, especially in the other lane coming toward you.

I looked back into the manual to refresh myself on the drive modes.

The way I understand it, Track Mode states that it greatly deactivates Traction and Stability control and doesn’t recommend for street.

Drag Mode is a little less specific what the modes get set to, but it does make sense that the traction control would be greatly disabled because who wants brakes applied when you are trying to launch off the line? Also really sketchy to apply to the street.

I grew up driving my first car, which was not a high performance sports car, but a big ole’ hunk of crap 74 Gran Torino. It DID have a 351 Cleveland, but I also would take it into abandoned empty parking lots after a snow and just drift it all over the place and learn at 17 how you can get out of a slide and practice things like countersteering.

Anyway. While we’re on the topic of what this car is capable of, what happens if I am stuck doing 45 and want to pass the car in front of me. Does this thread imply if I floor it and drop enough gears I’ll be in the weeds before I know it? In my 06 GT, I’d mash the pedal to pass with no problem, but that’s almost 200 hp less.

For the record I’m 61 and have plenty of experience driving fast cars, but I do know a Mustang can bite you in the ass before you realize it.

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[LouG]

Well, you were warned .
You did the wrong thing but it turned out OK.
If you can find a driver training outfit with a skid pad, book in and practice slide control.
And find good upholstery repairer.
As for the near death experience, getting spat off a bike after it goes into a 140 kmh death wobble on a busy motorway trumps that a bit. The only thing on my mind was rolling onto the grass median away from the lanes.
I literally had one scratch, despite wearing summer gear; helmet, gloves, shirt and fabric riding pants.
Alls well, that ends well.

 

[LouG]

Ok Dad jesus Christ.. I don't understand why that matters though? I'm not spitting out lies with AI I'm just using AI to make my thread replies sound better.

In this day and age, it probably would be better to use your own words and just check grammar with AI.

Also, I don't know how old most of you regulars are, but I remember when I started driving, cops were thin on the ground and we'd practice slide control in sh**ty old Pommie cars that didn't have enough power to lose traction. We had to use a wet road, speed and ignorance. Or find a dirt road. We were bloody stupid, but we learnt quickly. None of my mates, or I, got hurt. A few cars did though.
I'm not justifying Mr Rambos foolishness, but none of us were saints.

 

[somckinney]

I'm sorry but are all of you on some really, really good drugs. A 16 year old teenager with a 400+HP car was racing on the street and all you can comment on are his tires. You're all fucking nuts. What if there was an accident that resulted in the loss of your child, spouse, brother, sister, parents, etc. What if his father died.

That said @Rambo5.0h, I can't really blame you. Your father deserves to be in jail. Top allow a child to do this is a level of stupidity I've rarely encountered. There is no justification for street racing, none. I do not give a shit what people have done. As grownups we should know better. @Rambo5.0h you're a child, an immature one at that. So hopefully you have learned your lesson. You want to play, go to the god damn track.

I agree. Racing on the street kills people. Take it to the track.

 

[onaccountof]

One way the OP can set everyones minds at ease is to post a screenshot of the incident, since Bouncie records and saves all the driving data for you.

We had just installed a device in the car (Bouncie) that tracks speed, braking, and acceleration.

From Bouncie website:" Bouncie unlocks access to an unlimited trip history. Previous trip details are just a tap away! With notifications for speed, acceleration, hard braking, and more, peace of mind is always at hand."

 

[Sofa King]

I hope poo didn't come out ...

 

[MAT1955]

@Rambo5.0h ..... your forum name says it all to me. You need to do a lot of growing-up (include your Dad in that) and develop some proper driving skills (at a track for example - with an instructor) before you kill someone or end up in a Mustang fails video. What happened should have been obvious to you before you started your adventure - if you knew the first thing about the behavior of Mustangs under those conditions. This is a poster moment for juvenile behavior, zero skills and waaay too much power. My friend lost his son to just that kind of dumba$$ behavior.......upon reflection, the comments (original post) seem to so idiotic that the post is probably just an AI generated click-bait moment. The post is just too stupid to be real.

 

[zpduff]

@Rambo5.0h ..... your forum name says it all to me. You need to do a lot of growing-up (include your Dad in that) and develop some proper driving skills (at a track for example - with an instructor) before you kill someone or end up in a Mustang fails video. What happened should have been obvious to you before you started your adventure - if you knew the first thing about the behavior of Mustangs under those conditions. This is a poster moment for juvenile behavior, zero skills and waaay too much power. My friend lost his son to just that kind of dumba$$ behavior.......upon reflection, the comments (original post) seem to so idiotic that the post is probably just an AI generated click-bait moment. The post is just too stupid to be real.

I still don't believe anything OP writes. 15 year olds are on Reddit, not forums giving out "life" advice. On top of that he has chatGPT make his posts. Come on

 

[135Hoser]

I hear you—and I’m not going to argue. You’re right that it was reckless, and there’s no excuse for what could’ve happened. I’ve taken full responsibility and already reflected hard on it.


That said, my dad wasn’t encouraging me to race—he was sitting next to me thinking we were just testing the Bouncie device with a launch. The V6 pulling up escalated the moment, and I made the wrong call.


I’m not proud of it, but I’ve learned from it. This post wasn’t meant to brag—it was meant to share that wake-up moment so others my age don’t have to learn it the hard way.


Appreciate the honesty, even if it came in a little hot.

Anyone gonna mark this on the calendar for the next time he's talking about street racing? Maybe he'll just say he's in mexico next time.

The fact you don't recognize what an edge case you are, and how privileged you are is amusing.

You want to share your story go do a PSA tour at local high schools. Maybe you can do a book deal so you can afford to put a whipple on it. Then you'd have fresh material for your second book, that delves even further into your regrets and reflection on your actions in the heat of the moment.

 

[Sinthor 5.56]

I looked back into the manual to refresh myself on the drive modes.

The way I understand it, Track Mode states that it greatly deactivates Traction and Stability control and doesn’t recommend for street.

Drag Mode is a little less specific what the modes get set to, but it does make sense that the traction control would be greatly disabled because who wants brakes applied when you are trying to launch off the line? Also really sketchy to apply to the street.

I grew up driving my first car, which was not a high performance sports car, but a big ole’ hunk of crap 74 Gran Torino. It DID have a 351 Cleveland, but I also would take it into abandoned empty parking lots after a snow and just drift it all over the place and learn at 17 how you can get out of a slide and practice things like countersteering.

Anyway. While we’re on the topic of what this car is capable of, what happens if I am stuck doing 45 and want to pass the car in front of me. Does this thread imply if I floor it and drop enough gears I’ll be in the weeds before I know it? In my 06 GT, I’d mash the pedal to pass with no problem, but that’s almost 200 hp less.

For the record I’m 61 and have plenty of experience driving fast cars, but I do know a Mustang can bite you in the ass before you realize it.

I don't think it's a problem if you're on the freeway and doing 45 or so already. I haven't even felt a wobble when I've floored her on the freeway. Now, I didn't do it while going around a corner because I figured that would be bad juju. But other than that, It's fine. I think a lot of people get away from being on a straight line when they floor it and have problems. Or when they turn off all the traction control and floor it from a full stop. Takes some ability to handle the car in those situations.

 

[Yamazuki]

One way the OP can set everyones minds at ease is to post a screenshot of the incident, since Bouncie records and saves all the driving data for you.



From Bouncie website:" Bouncie unlocks access to an unlimited trip history. Previous trip details are just a tap away! With notifications for speed, acceleration, hard braking, and more, peace of mind is always at hand."

I'll be looking forward to seeing this post and, if it happens, who's eating crow and who's doubling down.

 

[roket]

OP, please be careful out there. i know you are still really young and want to have fun, but take this as a lesson. im not going to yell at or scold you, because i did some really stupid stuff with my first Mustang, too. and i learned a similar lesson about respecting the power. again, please be careful. dont hurt yourself or others in recklessness.

i dont know what the track and autocross situation is in Florida, but if you can, sign up for some autocross and/or open track days. the biggest hurdle, though, might be actually finding a track. sadly, a lot of tracks in recent years have fallen to the same thing - they are built in the middle of nowhere, houses eventually get built around them, idiotic homeowners complain about the noise, and the track gets shut down sooner or later. it is happening all over the world, and personally, i believe this is the main reason why street racing is still as big as it is, and apparently getting worse. less and less people are getting the ability to have fun in a reasonable and legal way. here in AZ we nearly lost the iconic Wild Horse Pass/Firebird Motorsports Park dragstrip to an Interstate 10 expansion, and Arizona Motorsports Park just got shut down due to complaints to Maricopa County.

First I thought this guy was legit, but looking at his text right now, I realize it is ChatGPT. Look at the - in his text.

This is just a bot or a troll.

sorry man, but this one is just a swing and a miss. sure, ChatGPT likes to use EM dashes a lot, but grammar does not indicate if someone is a bot or not. people can type with nearly perfect grammar, and bots can type with flaws. EM dashes are used in similar places to commas. i would use them too, but each one requires typing "0151" on the numpad while pressing alt

Nah, checks out.

unfortunately, those "AI text checking" tools are useless at best. im certain he is a real person, but these tools have no way of actually checking if someone is a person or AI.

 

[Zig]

Must have done something right, still here to write about it.

 

[rijndael]

I would note that at the Mustang Unleashed events, put on by Ford's instructors, they verify that you're in track mode before you roll out on to road and autox courses. They're pretty adamant about it, and I doubt it's for throttle response. That's probably a clue here.

 

[rijndael]

Page 228 of the manul:

TRACK​

​

For high-performance track driving. This mode increases throttle response and adjusts the transmissions shift schedule to both hold lower gears longer for faster acceleration and downshift more aggressively under braking. Traction and Stability Control intervention is reduced and tuned specifically for track usage.​

​

[snip]​

​

Use this mode for on-road courses, auto-cross style events, and on-road closed circuit track driving.​

​

Note: This mode is for track use only and is not intended for public roads. Automatic Emergency Braking and Brake Over Accelerator systems are disabled.​

On my car, putting it in Track mode indicates that traction control and stability control are off, at least according to the dash icons.

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