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The slushbox makes drifting and any other tire-smoking activities a bit difficult. In low gear, it doesn't have too much trouble getting the tires to spin, but as soon as they start turning, they spin way up and the transmission shifts to the next gear, which promptly reduces wheel spin. If you try to modulate the throttle, it shifts even sooner. I have all my shift solenoid control wires readily accessible, so I'm thinking about putting in a switch that locks it in first. I should be able to modulate the throttle, and at worst it could just bounce off the rev limiter. It would be much better with a manual transmission.
Also, the SVX is pretty chunky in the rear, and although it has a pretty respectable motor, it's not powerful enough to keep up with a typical American muscle car. It took me a while to get used to AWD drifts where very little if any steering input is required. I'm having to relearn countersteering, and the SVX seems to require more aggressive input than other RWD cars. It's hard to maintain a smooth and constant drift, partly due to the limited power and speed, but if you take your foot off the gas it hooks right back up again.
Last week I did some experimenting with the ABS. If the brake pedal is applied enough to turn on the brake lights, it'll trigger the ABS. I found a steep hill and tried to go up it with the tires smoking.
The first thing the ABS does is apply the rear brakes. This seems like a traction control characteristic. I'm not sure why it does it. It only takes about a second to apply the rear brakes, but it takes about five seconds before it applies them hard enough to stop the wheels from spinning. After about two seconds, it releases the front brakes. It's kinda scary to think that the automatic braking controls will allow a completely stopped car to start moving, but that's exactly what they do.
I unplugged the ABS fuse, and I've been loving it. The transmission still kills the joy of a really glorious extended burnout, but brake stands are possible without the ABS. Also, J-turns, spins, slides, etc., are now completely doable. I wish I'd disabled it long ago. It's gotten me in trouble several times, but it's yet to help me even once. (Sliding sideways down the center of the road with the brakes locked up is far preferable to rolling with the ABS right off the side and into a ditch.) Of course, I'm not your typical driver.
The rear differential appears to have no limited slip characteristics whatsoever. I'm disappointed with it. Heavier wheels would have some inertia to help prevent differential speeds and also to help make modulating wheel speed easier. Some of those hefty Mitsubishi would be nice, but I like my ride quality. I wonder if it's possible to tighten up the differential. Does anyone know?
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