Do you slow down when approaching large puddles of water?

[Failali]

I am always puzzled when cars slow down upon seeing large patches of water

 

 

My dad says its to prevent water from entering the engine.

 

But still, i have see people zooming into the puddle head on and sending water all over the place . They say its okay and doesnt affect thier engine

[Qr25vet]

thoe are ignorant fools...wait till one they they auqaplane over the puddle of water and lose control

[Safetyleo]

slowing down when approaching patches of water is to avoid skidding, lost steering control, not prevent water from entering the engine.

[macrosszero]

I tend to see it as a force of habit (though not a bad one). People tap on their brakes to get a bit of confidence before entering a puddle. If they are travelling at 90kph, they'd slow down 10-20kph. If they were travelling at 70kph, they'd still tap the brakes anyway.

 

While aquaplaning is a very risky situation, knowing how to deal with the momentary loss of grip is more important than just slamming on the brakes and having cars behind you pile up into your rear bumper.

 

I would hold the car's speed steady and point the car as straight as possible. If the puddle happens to be in a bend, I would make sure I've already aimed my car to take into account the curve of the bend, because when you aquaplane, the car will only want to go in a straight trajectory.

 

Either go straight into the puddle or try to avoid it totally. Having one side of your wheels aquaplane when the other side is still gripping can be unpredictable and dangerous.

 

Another important factor is having tires that have deep treads that are effective at clearing standing water. You would feel that the car is a whole lot more stable and controllable even in torrential rain, regardless of speed you're travelling at.

[Bankai87]

Time to go over to the side of symmetrical all wheel drive advantage like me. Rally born and bred, if it can perform on snow, gravel, tarmac, sand and whatnot, what's water?

[Thypig33]

agreed.

 

another reason is i don't want to dirty my undercarriage and wheel arch.

 

some place with big puddles of water have dirty ( yellow/brown) water in them... going over them at high speed will cause your under carriage to have stains, and wheel arch too.

[Sony]

eh.. how does the water enter the engine?

 

but anyway, it's good practise to maintain speed and grip when approaching a puddle of water.. at the same time, it can also minimise the splash..

 

at times, i have seen water being splash to the car behind or over the other side of the road

[macrosszero]

I don't buy that marketing garbage. All wheel drive only works when you're pressing the accelerator. When you're stomping on the middle pedal, it is no wheel drive and all wheel braking. Then it is up to your brakes and tires to stop you.

 

This so-called advantage led to one WRX crashing on the straight, wide and flat Lim Chu Kang emergency runway in good weather, and led to two fatalities in Geylang on another clear dry night. So much for Active Driving Active Safety. And I saw another black WRX in IDAC Ubi last week that had managed to both hug a tree as well as roll over completely.

Edited November 14, 2008 by Macrosszero

[Solar]

any car with what nots of technology cannot escape from the law of physics... even rally cars turn turtle, u say leh.. its the driver, not the car

[Axela525]

I am always puzzled when cars slow down upon seeing large patches of water

 

 

My dad says its to prevent water from entering the engine.

 

But still, i have see people zooming into the puddle head on and sending water all over the place . They say its okay and doesnt affect thier engine

I will lane change coz it will dirty my car...

[Nhrisuzu]

ur dad try to smoke u la..

 

if u do get to drive.. just try driving over a large puddle of water..

 

if u enter with one wheel, u will feel a sudden drag (depend of speed) to the wheel that is in water..

 

go in both front wheel.. the drag will do to front and u lose abit of traction..

[Russ]

slowing down when approaching patches of water is to avoid skidding, lost steering control, not prevent water from entering the engine.

 

EXACTLY!

[Boyboy]

I tend to see it as a force of habit (though not a bad one). People tap on their brakes to get a bit of confidence before entering a puddle. If they are travelling at 90kph, they'd slow down 10-20kph. If they were travelling at 70kph, they'd still tap the brakes anyway.

 

While aquaplaning is a very risky situation, knowing how to deal with the momentary loss of grip is more important than just slamming on the brakes and having cars behind you pile up into your rear bumper.

 

I would hold the car's speed steady and point the car as straight as possible. If the puddle happens to be in a bend, I would make sure I've already aimed my car to take into account the curve of the bend, because when you aquaplane, the car will only want to go in a straight trajectory.

 

Either go straight into the puddle or try to avoid it totally. Having one side of your wheels aquaplane when the other side is still gripping can be unpredictable and dangerous.

 

Another important factor is having tires that have deep treads that are effective at clearing standing water. You would feel that the car is a whole lot more stable and controllable even in torrential rain, regardless of speed you're travelling at.

 

good info

 

i might brake a bit before the puddle. WELL BEFORE. then apply light acceleration as i approach it.

 

never brake and CONTINUE to brake as one hits the puddle

 

sometimes, hitting the puddle on one side is unavoidable. i'd advise a firm grip on the steering wheel but elbows not locked straight to prepare for corrective steering

 

i kena one before and my tyre was unevenly worn. skidded abit but thank God did not lose control

 

unevenly worn meaning the inside was worn. maybe due to the camber settings. i had the tyres changed out soon after. normally when i check, i only check the wear at the outside. now i learnt my lesson.

 

was travelling about 80+, 90km/h along the PIE when it happened. now i slow down whenever i pass that area and it's raining cos the ponding is consistently bad. it's lane 1 after corporation road flyover, before exit to KJE, west bound

[Boyboy]

Time to go over to the side of symmetrical all wheel drive advantage like me. Rally born and bred, if it can perform on snow, gravel, tarmac, sand and whatnot, what's water?

 

very good IF you know how to exploit it, and drive within its limits

 

still need to maintain the car and tyres well too

 

what's ur ride?

[Boyboy]

actually ah, i kena so much water splash into engine that some of my belts started slipping . it was a huge a$$ puddle. in singapore of course.

 

and no, it's not my belt condition cos it only slipped for a few seconds (with the loud screeechy sound) and stopped after tt. never happened before, never happened after tt.

 

so i feel that trying to avoid too much water in the engine does have some basis. but that shd not be the main concern. the main concern shd still be aquaplaning

[Sir8]

I am puzzled you are puzzled.

[Picanto]

I don't buy that marketing garbage. All wheel drive only works when you're pressing the accelerator. When you're stomping on the middle pedal, it is no wheel drive and all wheel braking. Then it is up to your brakes and tires to stop you.

 

This so-called advantage led to one WRX crashing on the straight, wide and flat Lim Chu Kang emergency runway in good weather, and led to two fatalities in Geylang on another clear dry night. So much for Active Driving Active Safety. And I saw another black WRX in IDAC Ubi last week that had managed to both hug a tree as well as roll over completely.

 

i agree its marketing garbage as well. AWD will work in rally races, but not in everyday driving conditions.

[Throttle2]

I am always puzzled when cars slow down upon seeing large patches of water

 

 

My dad says its to prevent water from entering the engine.

 

But still, i have see people zooming into the puddle head on and sending water all over the place . They say its okay and doesnt affect thier engine

 

with all due respect to your dad

 

but......

 

kiang ok

mai kaykiang ...