How safe is a M4 for someone who never owned RWD?

[lowlow123]

Never drove a high HP RWD car before, have had many 400-600HP AWD cars.

How safe is this car? I see all the horror stories/vids of people crashing leaving meets, and crashing will racing?

How are people crashing from both roll and stop driving? I see two most common examples

1. Going from 0-60 and go off sideways?
2. Doing a rolling pull and car suddenly goes to the side?

Obviously, I don't plan on doing racing ANY time soon until I 100% understand the car.


Anyone have any tips to share other than keep traction on?

Thanks!


PS: CAR IS a F82 M4 COMP MANUAL

[greysea]

For me it was simple… respect the car and know where you stand skill wise. I have owned mine since aug 23 and still have yet to really mash the throttle. Still learning. Still taking it easy. And not trying to show off.

A lot of people recommend hitting a track session like I have seen some people gather to where you can have open asphalt to learn the limitations and such. I really want to do this so I can be even more comfortable with what happens if I do lose traction and how to correct and such. Also learn how good my car corners and such.

But I first left traction control on for a good bit just to learn the basics of this amazing power.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by lowlow123

Never drove a high HP RWD car before, have had many 400-600HP AWD cars.

How safe is this car? I see all the horror stories/vids of people crashing leaving meets, and crashing will racing?

How are people crashing from both roll and stop driving? I see two most common examples

1. Going from 0-60 and go off sideways?
2. Doing a rolling pull and car suddenly goes to the side?

Obviously, I don't plan on doing racing ANY time soon until I 100% understand the car.


Anyone have any tips to share other than keep traction on?

Thanks!


PS: CAR IS a F82 M4 COMP MANUAL

Don’t mash the gas, the car wheel spins very easily on stock size 255/275 if you have stock 19s, so you need to roll on the gas. Avoid Sport+ until you’re comfortable with Sport. You should go at least 265/285 and run summer only tires like Continental ECS/ECS02 Or MPS4S. 200TW tires will give you the best performance. Don’t turn off traction and stability control (this will keep you safe).

For alignment specs I would run zero toe front and slight toe in rear. Only the rear has adjustment for camber and I would just max it out to like -2 or whatever the car is supposed to be at from the factory. I run -1.4 degrees in the rear and like -1.5 degrees in the front (this is like max negative degree from factory) and it has a more balanced feel and allows me to have better rotation of the car. Having more negative camber in the rear causes more understeer which is what I dialed out.

[M3SQRD]

If you respect the throttle, you can DD the f8x in all seasons, including winter and snow with appropriate tires. You won’t be able to mash the throttle like you’re probably used to but you can put all the power to the ground with a different driving style. I have a ‘16 with peak torque < 2k rpm and I have no trouble but my suspension is not stock and I’m running 19x11et42 with 305/30 rear tires which definitely helps. A custom alignment can help but a factory alignment right in the middle is fine and not needed right after purchasing the car. The only thing I like about the g8x is the AWD Comp option. My wife’s f22 m240ix does a phenomenal job of putting the 369 lbf-ft of torque down aggressively so I can see the advantage of AWD! Nothing beats the driving experience of a powerful RWD car on street and track!

[00SH4WN]

Like all great things in life, driving these cars at their limit requires practice.

[noemon]

The car truly suffers from bad suspension, so if the car is stock, then you ought to respect its limits which are not very big.

The car is unhappy stock and it will skid and go sideways with very little effort any time you push the throttle just a little bit hard.

Once you put a good suspension in the car, like Intrax 1k2, MCS, Ohlins R&T, Tractive, etcetera, the car becomes a lot happier, a true weapon and signiificantly safer to drive soft and hard with a lot of confidence.

When I drive my car stock, I barely exceed 70-80mph on the motorway and barely 15mph on the roundabouts. When I drive it with Tractive or Intrax, I sit comfortably and confidently at 130mph on the motorway and at 40mph on the roundabouts.

It's an entire galaxy apart.

[M4theWIN1]

^ the stock suspension is terrible?? Whatever you say man. Sounds like you need to learn how to drive.

[noemon]

Sounds like you need to drive a car with good suspension.

The stock suspension on the F80 is probably the worst suspension for the car I have ever driven on any car I've owned including the crappy ones.

Sounds like you 've never tried a good suspension to be able to compare it with stock.

[DocL]

The F8x is very easy to drive. Just don't do stupid shit and you'll be okay. You don't need track time to learn the car, basic physics are the same no matter what.

[VECTORGRAPHICS]

super safe dude. if you keep traction on u can mash it all day mdm is perfect for wanting to let it slip out but not completely lose it. I drive in mdm everytime i’m in sport plus cause why do i neee full traction off unless im trying to get the back to slide out. the small jump in power with full off just not worth it and im not trying to try my luck.

Best thing you can do is put great tires make sure they’re warm with a good alignment and spacers/ wider set up. Aswell as coilovers which really stiffened the ride and helped at higher speeds since the car felt like i wanted to take off and fly away in stock form.

[Brandoch]

Originally Posted by noemon

Sounds like you need to drive a car with good suspension.

The stock suspension on the F80 is probably the worst suspension for the car I have ever driven on any car I've owned including the crappy ones.

Sounds like you 've never tried a good suspension to be able to compare it with stock.

The WORST, dog shit, garbage. Every F80 owner should be ashamed of thier suspension.

[bagekko]

If the OP is talking about previous FWD sporty cars and not AWD, I don't think its a big issue. Going the other way is maybe more of a challenge. I threw a FWD hot hatch around the ring for 4 laps and it was pretty scary/thrilling considering my long RWD history.

[SteveYem]

I just picked up my 2018 M3 ZCP 6MT this week. I've had a RWD car before, a 2006 350z, which taught me the dynamics of using RWD but with a lot less power than the M3 produces. For years in the interim I've been in an Audi S4 and I will say that the AWD system allowed me to pay a lot less attention and be a lot less respectful of the vehicle than I have to be with the M3. That said, it comes down to not messing around, and driving appropriately for the road conditions. Be more cautious in slippery conditions. Be mindful of that rate at which you apply throttle (roll on) and get off the throttle (lift). Maybe go to an abandoned parking lot at some point where there are no obstacles / cars / pedestrians and see if you can break the rear end loose to get a feel for where the limit is. Taking a competitive driving course would be helpful as well.

[dallastide]

Just don't be a jackass and you will be fine.

[boogiePls]

Originally Posted by noemon

The car truly suffers from bad suspension, so if the car is stock, then you ought to respect its limits which are not very big.

The car is unhappy stock and it will skid and go sideways with very little effort any time you push the throttle just a little bit hard.

Once you put a good suspension in the car, like Intrax 1k2, MCS, Ohlins R&T, Tractive, etcetera, the car becomes a lot happier, a true weapon and signiificantly safer to drive soft and hard with a lot of confidence.

When I drive my car stock, I barely exceed 70-80mph on the motorway and barely 15mph on the roundabouts. When I drive it with Tractive or Intrax, I sit comfortably and confidently at 130mph on the motorway and at 40mph on the roundabouts.

It's an entire galaxy apart.

Ain’t no way you doing 15 mph on roundabouts on stock platform lol. I can do about 40 mph on roundabouts no problem with 50f degree weather on summer tires lmao.

Trolling or something is very wrong with your car lol.

[CRae15]

I went from a golf gti to an f80 and I think I’m relatively confident in the car, as long as you know your limits you’ll be fine

[noemon]

Originally Posted by boogiePls

Ain’t no way you doing 15 mph on roundabouts on stock platform lol. I can do about 40 mph on roundabouts no problem with 50f degree weather on summer tires lmao.

Trolling or something is very wrong with your car lol.

Or you 're just a dangerous driver on the streets.

There is a world of difference between what you can do safely, easily and comfortably and what one can do when one is being silly.

I am talking about the former while you are talking about the latter.

And a FIAT Punto from 1998 can do 60mph on the roundabout, but whether that is "comfortably and confidently" is another matter.