Alarming incident with my Lexus.

[Chris_H]

I had a bizarre yet alarming incident on the M23 on Sunday, and I am at a loss to explain it. I'm wondering if anyone here has a possible reason for the following.

The car is a Lexus IS-F. I was on my way back from Stansted Airport on Sunday afternoon. It is wet but no standing water. I am in the outside lane jogging along at about 80 when the rear suddenly and without warning swings out to the left and I am staring at the central reservation. I managed to correct it and we carried on our way.
I can think of no plausible explanation for this. I am wondering if one of the electronic 'safety' controls has had a funny turn? Bearing in mind the recent problems with Lexus / Toyota I'm a bit concerned!

Any idea what could have caused this as it's bothering me to the extent that I'm considering selling the car. However, I don't really want to pass a potential danger on to someone else.

[OMNIO]

crosswind? would have to be pretty strong to get you sideways though

[Stedman]

Where abouts are you on the S/C as i'd love to see your IS-F

[Chris_H]

OMNIO said:

crosswind? would have to be pretty strong to get you sideways though

No, it was wet, but not windy.

[Chris_H]

Stedman said:

Where abouts are you on the S/C as i'd love to see your IS-F

I'm in Telscombe Cliffs.

[Simbu]

Perhaps one of the driven wheels (RWD?) went over a very smooth piece of road (drain cover for example) and caused a loss of traction on one side? If you were going around a bend and accelerating at the time it might cause the conditions you describe?

By my own admission it's a bit of a long shot though.

[Emeye]

Take it to the dealer and see what they say. Surely they can connect it up to the diags and see if anything mental has happened to the electronics?

[Wollcage]

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

[Emeye]

Wollcage said:

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

I one saw Plato pull something similar off in a FWD touring car!

[SC7]

Wollcage said:

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

Who's "pinicchio"?

[Chris_H]

Wollcage said:

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

You don't have to be at 90 degrees to stare at the central reservation you know. I don't know about you, but my neck turns!

[eybic]

SC7 said:

Wollcage said:

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

Who's "pinicchio"?

I think it's pinnochio's rally driving cousin

[TonyHetherington]

Standing water? Can have a very big effect on a car

[Rollcage]

Hidden patch of water? Did have a similar incident once myself, put it down to aquaplaning. This was in a heavy, reasonably powerful RWD car, albeit with no driver aids.

[TheDetailDoctor]

Chris_H said:

Wollcage said:

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

You don't have to be at 90 degrees to stare at the central reservation you know. I don't know about you, but my neck turns!

I know exactly what this is.....you looked to your right, the car was still going dead ahead. The only correction required was to look straight ahead.

Problem solved.

Edited by TheDetailDoctor on Friday 8th October 11:57

[djohnson]

diesel on the road?

[nonuts]

I was about to post something about you being daft / powerful RWD car, but I doubt thats the case given your car history.

I would say you just hit a deeper patch of water but who knows, it's going to be guess work.

[Rude-boy]

Wollcage said:

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

The OP is not the only person to ever have corrected a near 90 degree sideways moment.

Humans, being predators rather than pray as a rule do have their eyes at the front of their heads so don't quite have the 300 or so degree vision a rabbit, say, has but even a 45 degree slip would be enough, at motorway speeds, for me to start thinking I was staring at the central reservation.

Therefore I'm not sure I understand your comment.

OP – No idea but if I was concerned, as you say you are, I would be careful and go to the dealer for a quick pug into the box of truth to make sure nothing is playing silly beggars. That said I’m fairly sure your dash would be doing a reasonable impression of a Christmas tree by now if there were.

[juliann]

Perhaps take it to the dealer and see if it logged a fault code ?

EDIT : Like the post above suggests !!!

Edited by juliann on Friday 8th October 12:02

[Wollcage]

Chris_H said:

Wollcage said:

"staring at the central reservation"

"but i 'corrected' it"

keep going pinicchio

You don't have to be at 90 degrees to stare at the central reservation you know. I don't know about you, but my neck turns!

i don't know about you, but if i was in that situation i'd be looking where i wanted to go, not the scene of any accident.