Hydroplaned in the 190D 5 speed.
Both Me and the car are unharmed.
It'd been drizzling all day, and I was going a tad fast... If any of you are familiar with Charlotte, NC, it was on the eastbound Independence Blvd. on ramp to north bound Eastway... For those NOT familiar with that stretch, it's an S curve outer ramp of a cloverleaf overpass onramp. Pretty steep rise, curves to the right, then sharply to the left, then sharply back to the right, all while climbing a fairly steep rise to the road... Anyway, I hit the first curve, then accelerated into the second, and I must have kept accelerating into the third, when the backend came out from under me, and I plowed into the curb at a 90degree angle... Both wheels cleared the curb, and I ended up in a rut from trucks turning too wide ... Anyway, it stalled and I restarted then powered it into reverse and backed out onto the ramp and drove away... Nothing bruised but my ego. I looked over the car, no evidence of the mishap... Lucky! I think hitting it dead on saved my oil pan... I may have to inspect my rear tires... They may be a tad worn... |
Time for new tires! Glad the ego is the only thing harmed.
Sent from an abacus |
When you spin, both feet in.
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I thought it was taking feet off gas and brake and steering into the skid. A friend of mine told me he had luck with tapping the brakes in an oversteer and it set him straight again. |
"I was going a tad fast..."
HAHAHAHA... a 'tad' ??? |
I remember one time last year, I was taking an onramp at moderate speed (~20-25 MPH) in the dark, when all of a sudden I hit a patch of black ice that I didn't know was there (somehow the salt missed it?). Suddenly, the whole car started sliding sideways, toward the edge of the onramp, beyond which there lay many trees. I was sitting there, thinking that I was about wreck my parents car, when the tires found clean pavement again and the car continued ahead along the onramp as if nothing had happened...
It was unnerving because we hadn't had any storms in a few weeks and I thought that it was above freezing to boot (apparently the outside temp gauge in the Corolla overestimates). |
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Wet surfaces OR wintry/icy surfaces == trouble. Even for those of us who consider ourselves expert drivers assessing road and speed conditions. I've hydro'ed @ 20 mph, losing all braking and steering ability on freshly poured, wet asphalt. Lesson learned!
Hydroplaning can happen at even 20 mph or less when braking (locking them up) believe it or not. It is many times dependent on so many things, it's impossible to speculate on any specific case without seeking the reasons at that specific time, place, and conditions - speed, water depth, road surface, oils, tire condition, braking, accelerating, the whole ball of wax. When I hydro'ed at 20 mph a lot of years ago in my Lincoln Town Car on fresh, wet blacktop in a junior college parking lot, I knew this was a totally unpredictable deal. I had hydro-ed when applying the braskes, and instead of stopping, the car seemed like the front tires were on glare ice going dead-straight ahead, and most terrifyingly, running a stop sign. Best safe than sorry to exercise a lower speed on public thoroughfares. Ask me how I know ! Try and let the crazies go by/ahead of you to save your own vehicles. Just as driving on wintry surfaces. Totally unpredictable. |
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If my rear starts coming around on the road I will turn into the skid and ease off the gas gradually. If you find yourself drifting all four wheels sideways its best to just again ease off the gas and wait hoping to find traction again. Tapping the brakes is not something I'd try in a spin situation but perhaps it might work if you have abs, but again, that would not work unless you hold them down. |
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I pulled up the Satelite image on Google maps... Heck of a ramp! |
I once spun my 190D with similar results. It was a sunny summer afternoon but had rained in the morning. I was going around a tight curve accelerating with full throttle (which isn't really much acceleration) and I hit a dip in the road with the passenger rear tire that had a puddle that hadn't dried yet, probably a total volume of a liter of water, and my tires were so bald that I lost traction and spun into an older couple's front yard. I went up the the door with the adrenaline still pumping, told the man what happened and offered to come out and work on his yard to fix the damage but he told me not to worry about it since I was "the 15th person in the past year to spin out into his yard". Told me to drive safely and I got back out to the car and couldn't to get it to move in the mud so a good Samaritan came by and helped me push it out, got covered in mud in the process then drove off.
Needless to say I went and bought new rear tires the next day. |
Not talking about how to handle a simple skid, which is usually controllable. When the car is beyond control, the safe bet is to step on the clutch and the brake, and minimize steering input. You want to decouple the engine, both to keep things from getting worse, and to prevent engine and drivetrain damage. If you try to work out of a spin, the odds are you will flip the car. You want to be on the brake hoping you stop before something stops you. I only had this happen once in the Benz, when my differential locked up and spun the car like a top. Did it once in my Jag at Limerock and once in a Porsche 928 at Bridgehampton. No body damage or bodily damage in all cases. If you're ever in a car that's spinning out of control, do it, don't think about it. Don't be like this guy:
BenzinKrieg - Minus one RS4 - |
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Watching that video, I was thinking, he's approaching the curve too sharp, then he corrects badly... Then it's just too bad... |
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Interesting. I had a feeling he was wrong about tapping the brakes, but he had a CDL so I reserved my protest. :) Maybe it works on a semi if you jackknife, I don't know.
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