Driving in the rain

[v8_steve]

I drove a couple of hundred miles this weekend on the motorway in the wind and rain. The Chimaera had trouble driving in a straight line even will a full tank of fuel. The car was tramlining, aquaplaning and being blown all over the road. An Austin Healay 3000 drove by me and seemed a lot more stable. Is this a common problem with the cars?

[richy759]

I've driven in bad conditions, where you can hardly see the car in front and the Chim has felt surprisingly stable, obviously not much throttle used.
Haven't got slicks have you?

Rich

[v8_steve]

I have 4 new tires.

[Cider Andy]

v8_steve said:

I have 4 new tires.

If the tyre pressures are too high it can have a dramatic effect on the car's handling, including it behaving as you've described.

[v8_steve]

Cider Andy said:

v8_steve said:

I have 4 new tires.

If the tyre pressures are too high it can have a dramatic effect on the car's handling, including it behaving as you've described.

Thanks, Cider Andy, I'll check that they are not too high.

[Blues]

As above, i've done lots of VERY bad weather driving, with no real problem. I have Nitrons fitted and use Dunlop SP 9000 tyres - don't know whether these help.

[Don]

Our Chim is fine in the wet.

The only problem is that the windscreen wipers are USELESS so you can't see where you are going...

[Blues]

Don said:

Our Chim is fine in the wet.

The only problem is that the windscreen wipers are USELESS so you can't see where you are going...

The Leven upgrade kit sorted that for me (oh, and wrapping the park switch and leads in waterproof self-amalgamating tape)

[stackmonkey]

Cider Andy said:

v8_steve said:

I have 4 new tires.

If the tyre pressures are too high it can have a dramatic effect on the car's handling, including it behaving as you've described.

When I had my last set of rears put on, the garage didn't check for the correct pressures and set them for 32psi 'as that's what most cars like these use'
like driving on skates

[350Matt]

If the tyre pressures are fine get it 4 wheel aligned, I would recommend finding a garage that knows what they are doing as well Kwik fit won't cut it

These cars are pretty sensitive to the set-up

Matt

[GreenV8S]

I expect the Chimaera looked calm and composed from the outside though, just like the Healey?

[laz11]

New tyres can be a nightmare to drive on for the first 100 miles or so until the initial coating comes off and if you hadnt done any dry road driving to take that coating off then not surprised rain driving was scary. but also pressures will have a big effect as said before

[Ace-T]

stackmonkey said:

Cider Andy said:

v8_steve said:

I have 4 new tires.

If the tyre pressures are too high it can have a dramatic effect on the car's handling, including it behaving as you've described.

When I had my last set of rears put on, the garage didn't check for the correct pressures and set them for 32psi 'as that's what most cars like these use'
like driving on skates

^^ Wot 'e said.

You have seen the Mr Soft softmint add with the guy bouncing around? Well thats what it feels like with rear Chim tyres inflated to 36psi. Haven't made that mistake again. Fronts 22, rears 24 IIRC.

Trace

Oh and in the rain the handling is 'entertaining' but having an analog right foot helps. Also because the car is so light it can be prone to aquaplaning if your speed is inappropriate for the conditions. The Chims are a bugger for tram lining anyway not just in the wet. M1 J27 going north has some awful ruts that throw you across 2 lanes if you are not careful

Edited by Ace-T on Monday 21st July 19:44

[snorky]

the problem I get driving in rain is that the engine coughs a bit when speeding up - I wondered whether this was water being forced into the air intake ? slow down a bit and it goes away....don't think it was electrical...

[TVR Pablo]

Check the suspension settings as well. Having left and right slightly out of kilter makes a big difference to wind stability

[900T-R]

Mine feels surprisingly stable even though it does need an alignment (steering wheel not centred & pulls slightly to the right when you let go of the steering wheel in a straight line - and yes it does this both on UK and continental roads)...

[Uncle Fester]

What tyres did you fit?

It's more important to properly cure the tyres than just get the release agent off.

[Konrod]

Drove to the classic Le Mans this year, going down to Rouen the weather was appalling but we were roof down and at 80 the car was rock solid and we were dry (except for the bit of water ruunning around the rear of the side windows).

Driving through Rouen the heavens opened, and the car was still rock solid even when driving through a river of water (roof was on by this time, we may be hard, but we're not stupid)

All the Griffs we overtook has their roofs on though............

editted for spllnig

Edited by Konrod on Wednesday 23 July 16:58

[stu 9thgate]

I did Le Mans last year. In the nasty weather on the way back we aqua-planned and shifted about on the wet surface.
I just drove more carfully but did notice many other cars over taking me without to much trouble.( until we see a damaged blue Cerb facing the wrong way on the hard shoulder. My tyers where fine, still dont now what the problem was though.

[Chimune]

Drove the Chim from Stranraer to Edin the torrential rain last summer. Took it nice an easy and although the flooded roads, lorries and the poor wipers all joined forces to make quite a stressful journey, the chim never felt odd, twitchy or unstable.