Mates Car Write Off
- Thread starter D Walker
- Start date
I agree, but there are sometimes conditions you cannot account for. I was driving on the M4 a couple of Fridays ago when there was torrential rain. I was driving at about 45-50mph as the visibility was so poor. I was alongside an old style mini in the outside lane at this speed when he hit a huge river of water - the mini veered around and sent a massive bow wave up into my lane over my car. It was like a waterfall had suddenly engulfed my car and I couldn't see a thing. The lack of vision probably only lasted a second or two, but that's enough for something dangerous to happen even at that speed. Fortunately I kept control of my car and the mini stayed in his lane. I slowed down even more after that, but was passed a number of times by others racing along as if the conditions were perfect.
G
Guest 1678
Guest
Spot on Mark - lost my best mate 7 years ago to an aqua planing accident in his Spyder. He was doing 45-50 mph according to the accident report and the car left the road and hit a tree. Fiancé walked out without a scratch. He could pedal a bit as well - 3rd place in the historic GB rally championship the year before and had been rallying for 15 years. There was I believe a sheet of water caused by overloaded drains. Car stepped out - they were passengers with no control and in spite of his skills left the road.
Him and I had done the Nurburgring on bikes and in cars, he had over a 1000 laps on that alone and toured Europe every year in the Spyder. Probably the best driver I had ever been with - I absolutely loved his car control.
Sometimes, one is unlucky.
The ones I particularly remember that day were a few silver VW & Merc minibus things - all hurtling along at seemingly over 70, perhaps believing themselves to be invincible!
Sticks
Junior Member
Having gone from a 911 Turbo with the security of 4WD to a GT Sport, I have to say it does make me quite nervous in heavy rain. Driving on a rural A-road a couple of weeks ago, had an opprtunity to overtake a slow truck on an uphill section. In the Porsche it would just have flown past with no drama, but the Maser was definitelly getting very squirrelly at the rear. Need to treat 460bhp with a bit of caution/ respect I guess when through just 2 wheels. I wasn't in Sport setting, either.
I think as long as you keep revs low, gear high and speed moderate you will be fine in most conditions. I previously have driven my Exige in the worst torrential rain I have experienced on the motorway and through flooded roads with semi-slick tyres without breaking traction. However it was one of the most scariest journeys I have ever been on and I was crawling at 40-50mph while idiots were cruising by doing >70mph in their German boxes!
TridentTested
Member
I drove UK>France>Belgium>Holland, return, last week. In some heavy downpours. And you can really see the difference in investment. In France and Holland there was no road spray, they both use the super well draining, whisper quiet, tarmac; Belgium was just as bad as the UK, coarse and pot-holled, the moment we travelled over the border visibility just disappeared, downright scary it was. Belgian roads are also destroyed with truck ruts, so I wasn't quite sure whether the car was just adjusting to the ruts or if it was aquaplaning. At least no TC lights flashed at me.
c4sman
Member
Scary pics and brilliant if surprising that no one was hurt.
Aquaplaning isn't about car control skills as grip levels once you are up an floating are almost zero and mean that driver input has little effect (in fact, steering input can work against you when grip is restored suddenly). The key is paying attention to road conditions ahead of you and adjusting speed to those conditions (as well as having good quality tires with deep tread). The GTS seems to generate more rear slip than you would expect in wet conditions at the best of times and if you are in sport mode the MSP would not react quickly enough to keep you out of trouble.
Hard to judge but the tires in the pics do not look great and we all know that these cars eat Pirelli rears, so easy to be caught out with less tread than you expect in adverse conditions.
Aquaplaning isn't about car control skills as grip levels once you are up an floating are almost zero and mean that driver input has little effect (in fact, steering input can work against you when grip is restored suddenly). The key is paying attention to road conditions ahead of you and adjusting speed to those conditions (as well as having good quality tires with deep tread). The GTS seems to generate more rear slip than you would expect in wet conditions at the best of times and if you are in sport mode the MSP would not react quickly enough to keep you out of trouble.
Hard to judge but the tires in the pics do not look great and we all know that these cars eat Pirelli rears, so easy to be caught out with less tread than you expect in adverse conditions.
keith
Member
To me a minor incident is annoying for the inconvenience and aggravation in getting the car repaired. After a major crash like this a wrecked car becomes insignificant compared to the indescribable anguish you would feel if someone was seriously injured or even worse lost their lives. At least that's how I would reconcile it in my head, as has already been said you can replace a car...
jluis
Member
Probably because the cables slowed down the car first
Wack61
Member
I'm not sure whether those cables are a good thing or a bad thing, they're great when it comes to keeping trucks on their side of the road but look to have done a lot of damage to a car
I'd imagine at speed they'd slice straight through a door panel where you'd rub along a traditional barrier
They used to have them on the M62 between Huddersfield and Oldham but took them out as they look like instant death to bikers.
As said above , tough to lose the car but if you're walking away it's done it's job
I'd imagine at speed they'd slice straight through a door panel where you'd rub along a traditional barrier
They used to have them on the M62 between Huddersfield and Oldham but took them out as they look like instant death to bikers.
As said above , tough to lose the car but if you're walking away it's done it's job
jluis
Member
And less deaths by cable slicing
