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Hydroplaned and crashed. Driving for 50 years. Never happened before.
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sleepydoc
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Couple practical applications about "lubrication theory"
Watch the Pro Bowlers on TV: the first 3/4 of the lane the ball went relatively straight (because of little CoF at higher speed) even though we know they put a lot of spin on the ball, then all of the sudden the last 1/4 lane the ball spins left or right into the target , this is mainly due to lower speed hence higher CoF and the spin now becomes much more effective
Some of us who got stuck in snow in the northeast, if we try to get out by accelerating fast then we could not due to almost zero CoF. If we try to SLOWLY rock back and forth then we have a much better chance of getting out due to higher CoF
Now U are all Pros at the "Lubrication Theory" hence hydroplaning at high speed
My Tesla model Y hydroplaned and crashed. I was not speeding, going at around 60-65 due to rain and traffic. All of sudden it spun off to the side and hit the middle divider. Never happened to me before in last 20+ years of driving. Feels like it just sped off on puddle. Only 30K miles, good tire depth.
My Tesla Model Y crashed after hydroplaning. Due to the rain and traffic, I was traveling at a speed of 60-65 mph. It suddenly spun off to the side and collided with the middle divider car facing towards incoming traffic. Luckily, I was managed to get out of the car and jumped on the other side of divider.
This has never happened to me in my 20+ years of driving. It appears to have sped off on a puddle. Only 30K miles, excellent tire depth.
I wish someone file a class action.
This has never happened to me in my 20+ years of driving. It appears to have sped off on a puddle. Only 30K miles, excellent tire depth.
I wish someone file a class action.
FastEddieB
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boulder.dude
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when heavy rain and snow, I take over the control of my car
I am chicken so I control my life when needed
After one month I am more comfortable with Autopilot BUT not trusting it 100%
Enjoy yours and read up on LUBRICATION theory
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howardnj
Member
It doesn't take much water on the roadway to cause a vehicle to lose traction. Driving 60-65 in heavy rain is just asking for trouble. Why didn't you just slow down.
A few years ago driving in a heavy snow storm, I was many car lengths behind the vehicle in front of me on the NJ Garden State Parkway. I observed that vehicles brake lights go on, and immediately that vehicle spun around a 360 and went off the side of the road. I immediately downshited my 6 speed manual transmission and safely continued on my way. I was no where near the posted speed limit but just used some common sense. I've been driving a lot longer than 20 years
Another troll. If you have 30k miles on your original tires, in all likelihood they are too worn to be driving on, especially in wet conditions.
howardnj
Member
No mention of what the tread depth was? Most likely not more than a couple of 32nds?
My assumption is original tires because if tires have been replaced, what's the point of mentioning 30k miles on the car? But again, it's a troll so....
thesmokingman
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dhanson865
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https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=3 gives you some visuals and further explanation about hydroplaning
So not a useful answer.
Were the OEM wheels and tires on a Model S, 3, X, Y? Where they 18", 19", 20", 21" wheels? were they summer, all season, winter tires? Were they Continental, Michelin, Goodyear, some other brand?
Lets just for a second assume all cars and all tires are the same. You know what the number one reason for hydroplaning is when it comes to tires after tread depth? Your tires were likely too low on air pressure, aka underinflated, aka the PSI was too low.
Every 10 degree drop is about 1 PSI. That sidewall max on your tire is COLD. As in if the car is going to be sitting in a parking lot for 8 hours at 20F you need your tires to be at the recommended pressure at 20F.
So if you check your tires in a warm garage or on a sunny day at 70F your tires are going to be low by 5 PSI or so by the time the 20F comes into play.
Then there's an old myth that gets told that lower tire pressure helps in the snow. Well that was true in the 1950s with those white wall bias ply tires that didn't have steel belts in them. Modern tires keep a flat tire contact at a much wider range of pressure. Higher PSI cuts through the snow better and puts your tread on the road. You need to keep your PSI up even in the snow if you have modern tires on a modern car.
So unless you are driving on antique style white wall bias ply tires you need to keep your pressure up to drive in the cold. That means any time it gets very cold you have to ADD air to your tires.
And back to this topic, that means if you don't add air you are more likely to hydroplane in the cold. Even if it's somewhat warm out most people don't run the tire pressure high enough because they don't adjust for temperature (fill hot and don't get the correct cold pressure set).
While hydroplaning has been an issue with automobiles forever, they used to come with taller (higher profile) tires. These relatively skinny tires were more resistant to hydroplaning than the more modern and stylish low profile tires.
Aware people will slow down when they feel the hydroplaning warning signs. If they still feel it, they should slow down even more.
It is up to the driver to be aware of the capability of their equipment.
EVs produce instantant torque, that can easily induce spins in wet weather. The more your tires are worn, the more susceptible they will be to hydroplaning. Water is often squeegied out of traffic lanes. When you change lanes, you are more likely to hydroplane.
Be careful out there.
Aware people will slow down when they feel the hydroplaning warning signs. If they still feel it, they should slow down even more.
It is up to the driver to be aware of the capability of their equipment.
EVs produce instantant torque, that can easily induce spins in wet weather. The more your tires are worn, the more susceptible they will be to hydroplaning. Water is often squeegied out of traffic lanes. When you change lanes, you are more likely to hydroplane.
Be careful out there.
laservet
Member
I've hydroplaned once in my Y. It was on a bridge on the interstate in heavy rain. The Y slipped a bit, then corrected itself. The car behind me wasn't so lucky, he hydroplaned, overcorrected, fishtailed, then hit the left Jersey wall, spun across three lanes of traffic, then hit the right Jersey wall.
Doesn't matter what kind of vehicle you are in. Hydroplaning is a simple function of tires that can not displace the amount of water at a given speed. As most here have said proper speed for conditions and good tires are key.
The same thing happened to us last night on 680N in Sunol. I was driving around 60. My car only had 21k miles on it. The car lost control and hit the barrier twice. We had a 5 year old with us.
This definitely calls for a lawsuit against Tesla. All other cars were driving fine in the rain.
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