The weather here in the UK is not great at the moment and two days ago I was on my way out to a friends house and it was raining, not heavily, but the roads were wet. I was going round a round-about at about 15MPH and I lost grip from the front wheels!!!! Yes, the front went, not the back. Scared the hell out of me. The steering doesn't give you a good feel for what is going on and it just went without warning. Had I felt grip was bad I could have slowed or something. But no feeling at all, everything was fine one min and then the next I was sliding. I managed to control it and didn't hit anything or cause any damage. But jeez, I have lost confidence in this car in the wet big time now. I've not felt safe in it since as it is still raining here. Anyone else had problems in the wet?

 

If you could tell us please, was the Traction Control on or off?

 

You may already know this, but it is a good thing to hear for those who don't know:

Driving in the rain is most dangerous just after it has started to rain. This is when the oil and debris on the road first start to get wet and cause problems. After it has been raining for a while, this oily layer is washed away and no longer contributes to loss of grip.

Of course, hydroplaning can happen at any time when its wet, so it is still smart to adust your speed for the conditions.

 

I find with the Contis that the grip in the wet is amazing!

I have never had such confidence in any car in the wet.

 

I agree, I have never had so much confidence in a car driving in the wet. The car feels literally planted on the road and is ultra stable. I drive in the UK on Mich Sports.

 

Traction control ON. I have only ever once had it off once. It had already been raining for 2 days before this happened. I also have the Mich Sports tyres.

 

Hmm. Weird. Sounds like there was nothing that the car could warn you of in this situation.

Think about it, these tyres are so grippy, that by the time they lose grip you are talking some serious cornering forces - once there's nothing to keep you cornering, all that force is going to throw you somewhere in a hurry.

I'd expect that you may have hit oil/ice or other contaminant.

Having driven the car on the very same tyres around the Nurburgring as fast as possible in the wet with the traction control on and off, I am about 95% satisfied with the handling of the car.

I attribute the 'no warning of rear slide' (something that happened to me) to the fact that there is next to no body roll in the car, so you don't feel the lean before it goes. The traction control is more than adequately equipped to recovery the slide as my passengers noted on many occasions. ;-)

Michelin Pilot Sport 2's are the grippiest tyre I have ever driven in my life, and they get my vote of confidence.

 

Maybe I hit some oil or something I didn't see. Either way, I've now lost confidence and I feel uneasy driving it.

 

Sounds like you must have ran over an oil slick! I had a friend with a car who would lose almost 4L of oil on a quick dash down to the shops!!!

I don't think it is the car... just the conditions.

 

Are they the "All Season" tyres?

You don't have the high performance option tyres do you?

Otherwise:

You need to get back up on that horse and ride 'er again.

 

I think that all the UK tyres are the 'high performance' specification. I'd hardly call a Michelin Pilot Sport 2 an all-season.

:-)

 

That sounds like oil slick on the road,I suggest to get this off your mind go back to were it happened and look at the road,maybe it's still visable.

Oh I once was driving my 91 NSX in the rain on the ventura FWY. and the front tire started to feel like they had lifted off the road I quick slowed down to under 50 mph before it felt like I still had control ! I remember never driving that car again in the RAIN.

Oh last weekend was the first Rain we've had here in So.Calif, in almost a year ! I don't drive my Crossfire in the rain and probably never will,I drive my old rain car because I hate the way most people drive in the rain here and hate cleaning that oil film off for 1 day of rain. It may rain some more today so the Crossfire will stay in the garage !

 

I'm nearing new tyre stage i think as you get a little wobble from the rears when crossing a white line in the wet, same thing happened with my MR2. Not had any issues with the fronts.

LP
www.lordpercy.com

 

Saldous,

You will get your confidence back! If this is the first time you have had this problem, I would agree you might of hit some unseen oil or other slick substance.

Regards,

 

Well I've got the next 3 days away from home travelling with work so will be putting a good 600 ish miles on her this week. Hopefully things will be ok and I can feel comfortable again.

 

sounds like you just need to adjust the speed for the conditions. Be smart, live to play another day. This isn't a boat in the river.

I have every buit as much confidence in these machines as I do myself.

Don't try to outdrive mothrnature and the laws of physics.