Discussion
Sorry to see the pic of your damaged car - awful. Gutting to see nice cars damaged.
I aquaplaned in a friend's XKR a couple of years ago... 50mph on the A3, it just suddenly went. I caught it - sheer luck, not skill. It really freaked me out.
There is not much you can do, although I was told once that letting go of the steering wheel lets centrifugal force correct the wheels. I was told this by a Le Mans driver... not sure I'd have either the nads or the presence of mind to try it.
It is the width of the tyre that is the issue in deep standing water the tread pattern does not have that much effect . Had a few big Aqua plane moments on full wets racing at areas of poor drainage , Spa has some notorious places and SS at the beginning of the Hanger straight .
So guess the only solution when driving in heavy rain with big standing water at speed is to be alert and oddly stay in the middle lane wherever possible as the standing water is often at the edge especially the overtaking lane which is less used .
So guess the only solution when driving in heavy rain with big standing water at speed is to be alert and oddly stay in the middle lane wherever possible as the standing water is often at the edge especially the overtaking lane which is less used .
k are you?colin_p said:
Glad you are ok, but....
Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
Why are we not discussing this? What makes you think this? I’m interested.Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
Thankfully I've never been caught out yet, had some scary moments in company cars where the car has went light but was over in a flash and back to full grip. I have driven the roadster in really heavy rain and although taking it fairly easy it managed fine.
I keep meaning to book some skid pan/advance lessons to try and be better equipped should anything happen but like everything it gets put to the side.
Scary to see how easy it is to loose control though!!
I keep meaning to book some skid pan/advance lessons to try and be better equipped should anything happen but like everything it gets put to the side.
Scary to see how easy it is to loose control though!!
nickpan said:
colin_p said:
Glad you are ok, but....
Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
Why are we not discussing this? What makes you think this? I’m interested.Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
hunter 66 said:
It is the width of the tyre that is the issue in deep standing water the tread pattern does not have that much effect . Had a few big Aqua plane moments on full wets racing at areas of poor drainage , Spa has some notorious places and SS at the beginning of the Hanger straight .
So guess the only solution when driving in heavy rain with big standing water at speed is to be alert and oddly stay in the middle lane wherever possible as the standing water is often at the edge especially the overtaking lane which is less used .
Tread depth makes a huge difference - I have ploughed at speed into standing water with my BFGKM2 mud terrains with tons of tread depth and never lost contact with the road. Granted, those tyres would look a bit silly on a Boxter. So guess the only solution when driving in heavy rain with big standing water at speed is to be alert and oddly stay in the middle lane wherever possible as the standing water is often at the edge especially the overtaking lane which is less used .
OP - we’ll done on missing that steel post and not getting hurt!
colin_p said:
Glad you are ok, but....
Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
The damage in the photo does not really match your description of what probably happened.Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
Driving through standing water is scary, but the front wheels tends to clear water for the rears, so you would need to be accelerating or braking quite hard to seriously defeat the stability system.
Aquaplaning normally causes front-wheel loss of grip. Loosing a rear wheel makes you a passenger.
Don’t think any of us are in a position to speculate. It’s totally possible that only the drivers or near side wheels lost grip because of depth of water etc which would cause the car to veer in one direction or another. Also the safety systems only do so much....as anyone knows that’s been to the PEC....they’ll help you but not do the job for you.
Most important thing is that the OP is fit and healthy.
Most important thing is that the OP is fit and healthy.
Twinfan said:
If your skills are rusty, or you've never done one, I'd recommend a session at PEC.
The 'Ice' hill @ the PEC is great, there is definitely a level of skill required to 'catch' the car once it loses grip, and it is interesting to see the impact of the different traction control settings. But that was @ low speed in a controlled environment, losing it at motorway speeds I'm sure would be something else..rdjohn said:
colin_p said:
Glad you are ok, but....
Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
The damage in the photo does not really match your description of what probably happened.Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
Driving through standing water is scary, but the front wheels tends to clear water for the rears, so you would need to be accelerating or braking quite hard to seriously defeat the stability system.
Aquaplaning normally causes front-wheel loss of grip. Loosing a rear wheel makes you a passenger.
The OP in the OP didn't mention actually hitting anything other than doing a bit of off roading.
The impact marks / dent on the rear wing look like they were caused by the wheel swinging round and hitting it.
Quite what would would cause the whole rear suspension to be ripped off a car, without an impact is a bit baffling.
In my mind the damage does not match what is decribed as what happened but does look more like a falure (at just the wrong time) of a major suspension componet.
In that vein, I'd speculate by saying that I'd expect to see the CV joint ripped apart on the driveshaft and not what looks like the bare / splined end of the driveshaft. There is also not enough body damage to coincide with the forces needed to rip the wheel and complete suspension setup off of the car.
Again, all pure, total and utter speculation.
And again, OP I'm glad you are ok and that is all that really matters.
colin_p said:
rdjohn said:
colin_p said:
Glad you are ok, but....
Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
The damage in the photo does not really match your description of what probably happened.Looking at that damage, it just doesn't look quite right. Complete speculation but something major may have let go on the rear suspension and caused this rather than aquaplaning.
Again, complete total and utter speculation.
Driving through standing water is scary, but the front wheels tends to clear water for the rears, so you would need to be accelerating or braking quite hard to seriously defeat the stability system.
Aquaplaning normally causes front-wheel loss of grip. Loosing a rear wheel makes you a passenger.
The OP in the OP didn't mention actually hitting anything other than doing a bit of off roading.
The impact marks / dent on the rear wing look like they were caused by the wheel swinging round and hitting it.
Quite what would would cause the whole rear suspension to be ripped off a car, without an impact is a bit baffling.
In my mind the damage does not match what is decribed as what happened but does look more like a falure (at just the wrong time) of a major suspension componet.
In that vein, I'd speculate by saying that I'd expect to see the CV joint ripped apart on the driveshaft and not what looks like the bare / splined end of the driveshaft. There is also not enough body damage to coincide with the forces needed to rip the wheel and complete suspension setup off of the car.
Again, all pure, total and utter speculation.
And again, OP I'm glad you are ok and that is all that really matters.
I think the rear of the car clipped a sign post which is what ripped the wheel off. Possibly at a bit of an angle as the front of the car was fine.
Obviously when you don’t see the standing water it’s difficult to prepare yourself, but as long as you don’t brake and don’t steer you should be able to handle an aquaplaining experience without too much fuss.
Once you upset the car’s momentum one way or another, you’re heading for a world of pain!
Once you upset the car’s momentum one way or another, you’re heading for a world of pain!
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