Aquaplaning..

[seatkid]

What is the best way to deal with aquaplaning?,,So am i supposed to just keep the wheels straight and pray? :unsure:

Grab a rosary, quick ten hail marys, sing 2 verses of "Whiteout", and then a visit to the local "Idontbelieveitsatyredepot" and fit some decent tyres (Conti sport contacts)..... :lol:

[tim-spam]

I would agree that the quality of the tyres, both in terms of design and manufacture, has a very large effect on the way they behave, particularly in adverse conditions. There will always be a trade-off between price and performance - I always research thoroughly before buying safety critical items such as tyres, and try to find the best performance at the best price.

It seems that, at the moment, the Vredestein Sportrak 3 is the tyre to beat for overall performance, as it consistently comes top in all of the recent comparative tyre tests, and has recently deposed the Goodyear Hydragrip and Nokian NRHi's. You do not always get what you pay for either - in all of these recent tests, the Michelin Pilot fares pretty poorly (it comes at or near the bottom), and is the most expensive tyre on test.

It is clear that spending more than around

[Jimbo73]

Aquaplaning is caused (as previously stated) by excessive water under the tyres of the car. Which basically means your car is floating. Its the same as ice.

 

You should take your foot off the accelarator and keep the steering wheel straight, then when the water under the car is dispersed and you regain control you will continue in the direction you were travelling.

 

If you start to drift in a particular direction whilst aquaplaning you still wait until control is regained then you turn into the spin and hope for the best..

 

Its easy in theory, but, I have spent many a time slipping and sliding cars about on purpose and I think if it happened to me while singing along on a road, I am not sure I could follow them rules in an instant second....

 

Best thing is slow right down

[lazyb5]

hi all and mo4

read all the thread and only thing to add is i have goodyear excellance which have done 11k and have about 2mm left on them and since the cold and wet i wheelspin everywhere if not careful and large puddles i need to avoid. so even though im not at the legal limit i will be changing them asap (well when i get paid) cya

[mumof4]

Thanks for all the replies and all the advice... :)

 

Must admit that i dont wheel spin very often..only if i tend to pull off a bit quick.... :D

[big_kev]

big_kev's Guide to Tyres......

 

Front ones.....correct size and type with plenty of tread, must be same make and model....undamaged.

 

Back ones ...black...similar....undamaged.

 

This is sufficient for nearly all situations.

 

 

 

Big_kev's guide to Aquaplaning.....

 

Drive too fast in the wet...even easier if you find a bend...braking through puddle guarentees satisfaction.

 

Works all the time....tyre tread contributes a little to this.....easily counteracted by a little bit more speed...

[Guest ForeverFord]

Some tryes performes best in the wet and some are just as bad, Bridgestones Potenza RE720 comes up tops for wet & dry braking and road use, but everybody have their own personal taste.

[tim-spam]

?

[Guest Cepheus]

Could have been down to your slipping clutch Maz .... :16: :16:

 

Well .... we haven't had a slipping clutch answer to anything for a while!! :16: :D

[mumof4]

Blimey..you're right.....will it account for the funny whooshing noise i have coming from under the glove box?or the very high pitched drone i have coming from the alternator?..right....tool box out time..in fact scrap that, its ruddy raining and ill get wet..can wait till tomoz.LMAO.

[tim-spam]

No, it was definitely down to slipping (or should I say floating) tyres....

[El Dingo]

Decent tyres with good tread depth will help.

I agree with Seat Kid, the Conti SportContacts I have on my Audi A4 are excellent at resisting aquaplaning. :huh:

[gregers]

the only answer to aquaplaning is.......STOP DRIVING IN BLOODY RIVERS :lol:

[mumof4]

Judging by the roads round here when it rains....think i will convert the Gal into a submarine...optional extra you understand..touch of a button..then poof!!..submarine mode. :lol:

 

Or maybe....i could just attach water wings to it and inflate them when needed.

 

Another possability.Jet skies!!...Now we talking...... :lol:

[Guest gooner52]

the only answer to aquaplaning is.......STOP DRIVING IN BLOODY RIVERS :(

 

 

u mean ford :lol: :lol: :wacko: wet wet wet :lol: :lol: :lol:

[tiny]

I was coming down a hill into a corner that went left......

 

Were you cornering at the time? If so are you sure it wasn't understeer rather than aquaplaning? As you say that you were coming down a hill (and water tends not to stand on slopes!) I'll assume you were in the corner.

 

Its just understeer is far more likely to happen on a corner in the wet than aquaplaning. Aquaplaning occurs during straight line driving when the load of the vehicle is even across the front tyres and more water builds up in front of the tyres than the tyre can displace, essentially floating the car. Traction is lost on both wheels and all steering is lost. Understeer occurs when traction is lost during cornering and is far more prevalant during wet or icy driving conditions especially on front wheel drive cars.

 

Because aquaplaning occurs when travelling in a straight line you should resist temptation to steer or brake hard, simply depress the clutch and keep the steering steady until traction returns (Do a google on aquaplaning) If you steer while aquaplaning the car could lurch violently when traction returns as the wheels may no longer be pointing in the direction of travel.

 

At times of exceptionally poor weather/driving conditions even the best tyres will fail to meet their usual standards so the only real solution is (as previously posted) to slow down or not drive at all!

[mumof4]

was def aquaplaning....felt like the car wasnt on the road?...

[Scorpiorefugee]

I think that for aquaplaning the two essentials are point the steering wheel in direction of travel as far as possible and either dip the clutch or, better, try to set the trottle to give an indicated speed close to what you are doing. The only other thing is, if you have the inclination and presence of mind, pray. :D

 

It has only happened to me once, 1967, doing about 110 in the pouring rain at about 4:00 am in an old Humber Super Snipe on the old A18 Doncaster/Scunthorpe road. The first thing I knew was that the speedo shot off the scale at 125+ and the steering went slack. Thankfully, it was on a straight stretch and I throttled back to the right speed (I knew it did 115 flat out) and after what seemed to be about 10 minutes there was a bit of a squeel and I free wheeled the rest of the way. My passenger's only comment was "Where do you keep the toilet paper?" :ph34r:

 

For anyone who doesn't know the road, there used to be 15 foot dykes full of water close in on either side of the road. :D