Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login
A frozen lake and several Lamborghinis provide lessons on traction control (arstechnica.com)
25 points by LinuxBender 6 months ago | hide | past | favorite | 10 comments



For those in the Bay Area, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office puts on a similar event [1], albeit slightly less extreme, at their regional training facility. Part of the day is spent in a crown Vic with slicks on a skid-pan (smooth concrete with sprinklers) learning how to recover from oversteer, loss of control, etc. I took my kid after he got his license since snow filled empty parking lots are pretty hard to come by around here. I can’t recommend it enough for new-drivers, or those who didn’t learn to drive in snowy/rainy areas.

[1] https://www.sheriffacademy.com/class.php?id=34

> EVOC: Emergency Vehicle Operations Course is designed to instruct civilians in good defensive driving tactics. This course is also good pretraining for anyone who is going to be entering a police academy and wishes to learn some of the techniques which will be taught. Heavy emphasis is placed on skid recovery, loss of control recovery, control during a blowout, and operating on less than ideal surfaces. The students will demonstrate a working knowledge of driver skills by successfully driving such courses as the Skid Pan, the Hazard Avoidance Simulator, Threshold/ABS Braking Simulator, and other various skill and precision oriented activities.


> Part of the day is spent in a crown Vic with slicks on a skid-pan (smooth concrete with sprinklers) learning how to recover from oversteer, loss of control, etc

In Slovenia you have to do an EVOC course within 2 years of receiving your driving license or it gets revoked. I missed the requirement by a few years and never got to do this but my sister said she had an absolute blast.

I did the teenage-hooligan version – empty parking lot at night on first snow in winter. Lots of fun. Usually many people showed up and the parking lot turns into a mini low speed racetrack (30kph) with people doing handbrake turns one after another.


In Sweden, this is mandatory to get your driver's license. Lot's of fun!


Each Huracán uses four wheel-speed sensors, three accelerometers (for the X, Y, and Z axes), three gyroscopes (for yaw, pitch, and roll), and a steering angle sensor.

For folks ascustomed to seeing 6dof units like [0], seeing counts for separate units for each axis and movement is odd. Guess VW group is using something like these industrial Omega's [1].

0. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/21336

1. https://www.omega.com/en-us/control-monitoring/motion-and-po...


They're generally integrated units - see Bosch 420907637. They used to use discrete piezo / ceramic vibrator rate sensors in the "ESP sensor unit," but I think these days they use MEMS gyro/accelerometer combination packages like everyone else.


> 6dof units like [0], seeing counts for separate units for each axis and movement is odd

Yes, it's odd. But I guess technically speaking, a 6 DOF unit does contain 6 separate sensors once you dig deep enough?


In case you're curious what this costs: "In Canada, participants get invited through a local dealer and pay about half of the $20,000 cost to attend but the trip includes a plus one. Dealers often pick up the other half of the cost as a reward to a client for years of business or as a way to firm up future business. In the U.S., the cost is $14,500. It includes the full day of ice driving, two-night accommodations at Hotel Sacacomie, all airport transfers and meals. "

https://driving.ca/car-culture/speed-performance/lamborghini...


There are a variety of snow-driving schools throughout the world, most cheaper (although you're not driving a Lambo). The Bridgestone Winter Driving School in Steamboat (Toyota) is very fun and much more affordable.


That’s definitely something I would do if I had the money.


In CT for $350 you can take your car to Lime Rock Park to go snow racing in winter.

https://limerock.com/drive/driving-programs/winter-autocross...

“ Our six-hour program is managed by pro driving coaches who provide specialized instruction based on each participant’s experience level.”




Consider applying for YC's W25 batch! Applications are open till Nov 12.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: