Definitely good idea like most of the guys are saying here to find a track to do it on, the cops would be really excited to catch you doing this in their territory and not to mention the dump truck full of fines and charges you will rack up. Track is safest and best bet!

 

haha i saw that thread with the crashed s2k already.

Trust me, i didnt and won't go crazy and i dont planning on doing it for fun. I do plan on trying autocrossing for sure though. I just wanted to see how it felt and how easy it was. Definitely will try the track though.

 

Uh in a parking lot you are completely fine to experiment without receiving any moving violations. You might draw a noise ticket though.

I have done this plenty of times in the past, who of us hasn't ventured out to a snowy or rainy parking lot to find the limits of our cars? I think it's smart, and a good place to start before moving up to learning from a professional how to appropriately control the car, and recover from a potentially dangerous slide.

Keeping it off the public roads was a good first step, looking back I definitely appreciated having a little more confidence with my car and how it reacts in slides before taking it out to the track or driving school.

 

[QUOTE=MikeyCB,Jul 12 2007, 11:37 AM] Uh in a parking lot you are completely fine to experiment without receiving any moving violations.

 

I know two guys who both got wreckless driving charges in a empty parking lot for "drifting" and having fun. Oh and they both went to jail that night...

 

Have you buds check the local ordinances. Moving violations are usually based on the statutes legislated by that particular state. From my experience, they almost always pertain to alleged driving activity while on a public right of way. The grocery store could have provided the police with consent to cite them for trespass, but the requirements to lay a proper foundation during any prosecution for reckless driving are unlikely to be present in this case.

 

unless you own the lot or you have permission, you'll get a ticket for reckless endangerment.

that's how cops are.

 

you can get reckless driving in a parking lot... trust me.... and it varies state to state. California = bitch when it comes to driving regulations.

 

We have a small parking lot at the shop, and the last thing we usually do before replacing worn out tires on one of our cars is to cut a few donuts to finish off the old tires. http://www.redmx5.net

Public and non-gated parking lots may or may not get you in trouble with the law, depending on where you live, but there is always a risk involved when the lot isn't closed off, so be VERY careful.

Donuts won't teach you much about controlling the car, and you don't really want to learn to drift at track speeds, so the best (and cheapest) way to learn the car is through autocrossing and autocross schools like Evolution. From the tone of your post I think you'll end up getting addicted to autocrossing, but it's a good addiction.

 

Not around here, you don't. But obviously I'm wrong about your areas.

I did the same thing at the mall when I got my S late, snowy parking lot. There was a cop sitting there in his cruiser so I went to check with him first. Told him what I was doing, he said go for it. I was told by him that as long as I did it on my own there and the mall didn't complain about trespassing, that I was fine. Now if my messing around in the lot caused a collision with another car, all of a sudden recklessness would be applied. Upon further inquiry he also said that a ticket couldn't be issued for running a stop sign on the private property, however, if an accident results from running it, that I would be at fault.

I'm not willing to disregard traffic flow control things like stop signs regardless of where I am, but I'll take full advantage of a safe space off public thoroughfares.