Lost the tail end twice .. scared ****************less

[denverpete]

Sorry, but something's a bit "fishy" about this whole thing. The keys are the fact that you state it happened AFTER you completed the turn and that it fishtailed left on a left. If you took the turn too quickly you would naturally expect the vehicle to break loose during the turn and fishtail right. If the vehicle truly fishtailed AFTER you completely finished your turn then you have a serious suspension problem (which I doubt) because then it could happen at any moment. That being said, I have to vote for driver error. BTW, I've done this as well so it's not an indictment on your driving abilities. Well, maybe it is - but then it'll be true for both of us....

So, here's my hypothesis on what happened. In all likelihood the left turn was fairly long and required you to turn in a bit at the end to stay in your lane/avoid cars in the other left turn lane. You were probably first in line so right near the end you gunned it a bit - not floored it - but added some throttle. After the "turn in" there's always a bit of overcorrection (front wheels swing right slightly) - combine that with a bit of throttle and the rear of the vehicle breaks loose giving you a left fishtail on a left hand turn.

My advice? Be very careful about adding heavy throttle when making sharp turns particularly with water or sand on the road. When a Boxster breaks the rear end it seems like there is no warning - at least compared to most cars. With a bit of time and practice, however, you can actually feel when it wants to break loose.

[z12358]

vijen6, you got a lot of good suggestions in the thread.
This is what I would do:
1. Since the incidents happened at relatively low speed, find an empty parking lot somewhere and try to replicate the behavior by changing the radius and the speed of the turns. Or if the road where it first happened is deserted (say, at an early Sunday morning) and there's plenty of safe space for a run-off, go there and try to take that same turn again few more times, each time with increased speed.
2. If fishtailing still occurs where it shouldn't, take the car to a good alignment shop and check the alignment.
3. If the alignment checks OK, and it still happens, take it to a good mechanic to check everything, starting with the suspension.
4. If everything checks OK with the car, the culprit may be your driving. Go to a DE event organized by the local PCA chapter and see if there's anything you can learn. I learned quite a bit, and I considered myself to be a pretty good driver.

This is the best I could come up with.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

[vijen6]

Pete, thanks for the analysis. That might VERY much be what happened. Both of the time, I was first in line, long left turn, added a bit of throttle at the end, but far from 'gunning' it.

It could very well be driver skill. No doubt, and I take absolutely no offense from that as I know my skill could be improved 1000% with some driving classes / training. I have been looking at Skip Barber classes for quite a while but without the budget to really take one.

I really appreciate everyone's advice and will try all your advices and update where I can. Thanks again guys, this is a great forum.