Should we drive Aston Martins through water?

[Jon39]

With my car the answer is without even thinking, definitely no, however some Aston Martins are driven through fords.

First of all, use the wrong driving technique and it will be your last drive of that car.


DECISION TIME




THE SPEEDY TECHNIQUE




THE RESULT





DECISION TIME




THE SLOW TECHNIQUE




RESULT - success




There are a huge number of drivers who ruin their cars, vans and even lorries at this ford.
The road is straight, but some drivers become confused and turn slightly attempting to drive along the river !

After his engine injested water, one man climbed out through the window of his, by then floating car, and began pushing the scrap vehicle.

YouTube, search Rufford ford fails.

[Djtemeka]

BMW is a lot lower than the Aston.
Creating a “bow wave” isn’t good either.
BMWs are rather susceptible to a little flooding. (Are their air boxes lower?)

I wouldn’t get in water that’s deep enough to touch the side skirts. Also loads of electrics and sensors etc near wheels these days.

[Gary C]

depends on the car.

My Mk1 Astra could Ford rivers to the tops of the tyres, but the Mk2 was infamous for sucking from low down and destroying engines

[bogie]

Depends where the air intakes are, on a Vantage they are quite low down, the car is low too, so you dont have much height at all for going through fords etc.

A DBX yes, a DBS then nope

[TheRainMaker]

Not a chance, but then I wouldn't drive anything through it unless it was only a few cm deep.

[SHIFTY]

If you create a bow wave water normally gets sucked up into the air pickup pipe for the engine most Astons this is at front grill height level.

On my past TVR the air pickup pipe was 4" from the ground so was never a good idea even to go through a large puddle.

[Gary C]

I also recall a subaru STi I had, the inlet design had a water separator to prevent pickup.

[Jon39]

I suppose the only (slight) defence, for the many drivers who wreck their cars at this ford, is that on approach, you have few clues to indicate the depth of water.

Perhaps they think, it was no problem last week and the water surface looks similar, go for it.

The videos do show a yellow depth marker, so the most helpful aid is available.

When viewing a few of these videos, we see quite a number of sign written commercial vehicles, suffering ruined engines.
Wonder what the employers reaction is, following such negligent behaviour ?

[nathwraith1]

Technique was totally wrong for the BMW and other cars. The DBX was right to take it slow.

Wading height in the DBX is 500mm in terrain+ mode.

[Westlondondriver]

Having taken a DBX around the old Landrover Off-road Course near Guildford it is amazing what they can do. I was impressed when I did it in a Landrover about 5 years ago and we did exactly the same course in the DBX. We used the standard all season tyres as well. The guide said the car was very capable but that if you put that many dents and scratches on the underbody and wheel rims in your own car it would be unsaleable !

Agree with the others I would never have taken my DB9 or DB11 through more than a couple of inches. The A4 near here is very liable to flooding on the inside lane and it is always interesting to see who drives though and how quickly.

[Nigel_O]

I was watching some of the Rufford ford videos last week - there were people trying to go through with the water at close to the 3-foot mark - cars were floating away and even trucks were killing their engines (saw one 7.5 tonne truck try it with the bow wave at the top of its windscreen....)

As for the Aston, anything more than 3" deep and I'd bale out and go the long way round. I guess the bill for hydro-locking any Aston engine is going to be fair more painful than looking like a wuss in front of the Rufford spectators...

[pschlute]

That's nowt but a puddle !

My Range Rover Sport has an insane wading depth of around 85cm

[Simpo Two]

Rufford seems to be an internet hit! One of many at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUYfTrXHK4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmhQ9vuhrm8

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 22 September 18:56

[Evanivitch]

Simpo Two said:

Rufford seems to be an internet hit! One of many at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUYfTrXHK4U

There's loads of videos in the Walt thread of "4x4 response" and "security" vehicles making tits of themselves.

[Ninja59]

New vantage, dbs and db11 are nothing higher than the splitter from memory.

Having driven other low cars then I usually just turn around, where it is a partial lane then i know all the local ones, but will already be travelling slower and select a clear pathway through.

[Jon39]

Simpo Two said:

Rufford seems to be an internet hit! One of many at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUYfTrXHK4U

Not considered good form to laugh at other peoples misfortune however, having now watched a number of these entertaining videos, the question arises, how can there possibly be so many idiots about? Some drivers even see a stranded car, but then continue to drive into the water and probably wonder why their vehicle has also stopped.

Now a new angle to the topic subject.
What make of car is this ?



Yes, rather unfair, so does this photo make it easier ?



Serious question.
Obviously no risk of pistons trying to compress water, but are all the electrics in waterproof compartments, or is there a risk of electrocution, when the entire battery pack goes under water ?

[nathwraith1]

EVs can be quite good at wading, provided everything is sealed off. In some ways better than ICE cars. Which feels totally wrong with the whole water and electricity thing being very bad.

[Simpo Two]

See this one - you have to laugh when he opens the door... https://youtu.be/lUYfTrXHK4U?t=215

[Evanivitch]

Jon39 said:

Serious question.
Obviously no risk of pistons trying to compress water, but are all the electrics in waterproof compartments, or is there a risk of electrocution, when the entire battery pack goes under water ?

Batteries are fully sealed on all cars. There's no risk of electrocution.

The Lead and Tesla have surprisingly good wading depths for their type. Some other manufacturers don't recommend wading depth any better than generic ICE vehicles.

[PHZero]

Simpo Two said:

See this one - you have to laugh when he opens the door... https://youtu.be/lUYfTrXHK4U?t=215

Is this place some sort of idiot trap?

The mind boggles.