Gridlock Mikey

It's not hard, is it really?

Ok so you need to slow down a little but really is there any reason to suddenly loose all sense of road positioning and why oh why do people suddenly loose all ability to demonstrate decisive thought and action?

"You go"
"No after you"
"No you go I might change my mind and suddenly without provocation loose all control of my brain and drive into you! What with all this rain about"

Your car will work 95 odd % as efficiently in the poxy rain as it will in the dry. It's England FFS, not the Amazon. It's a bit of rain Not a monsoon. Don't be a tit with the throttle, brakes and steering and hey presto your BMW/Mondeo/A4/Merc/Cavalier/Fiasco/Punto/Mini etc etc etc will still accelerate, brake and guess what, it'll even go round corners without oversteering wildly across the other side of the road causing death to the 49 children stood at your local bus stop.

What will cause a problem is braking for no apparent reason mid corner whilst doing 20mph in a 40 and the car behind having to avoid you or suddenly stopping 35 meters short of the zebra crossing or T junction because you want to ALLOW for increased stopping distance. LEARN HOW TO DRIVE

You only really need to change your driving style in the rain IMHO at night because visability really is impared and also on a fast road, dual carriage way and Motorway because of visability and at those speeds YES Stopping distances DO increase in the rain. Still no need to do 45mph on the inside lane of the M1 though, forcing lorries and their spray into the middle lane so NO ONE can see bugger all

If it's raining during the day and you are pootling round town etc, just fecking drive the car normally, you'll live I promise!

RANT OVER

Minestrone

TaviaRS

LOL! The only reason you like driving in the rain is that it washes all the dirt of ya poncey white wheels

Agree with what you say though, it is rain pure and simple, anyone would thing the apocalypse had arrived the way some people drive

Granby

iTrader: (5)

PMSL, but soooooooooo true

Gridlock Mikey

*Puts left index finger on Nose and points at Tav with his right*

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

The above is Mikey at a set of traffic lights

If it snows Mikey stay indoors for your own sanity

VTEC to Turbo

LOL

Could'nt agree more! never a truer word spoken.

DBY

Because their all TOSSER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gridlock Mikey

Ahh see SNOW now that DOES command that you drive like a buffoon especially with wide tyres and loads of Torque. You still have to be firm with the car though and "GET ON WITH IT" ABS doesn't exactly encourage hooliganism either. However you look, next time it snows properly, the cars in the ditches, up kerbs etc are not the boy racers or company car drivers etc but indecisive wusses that freeze at the first sign of anything other than a straight line.
The mums who only drive to school and back, the old folk who are coming back from the Post Office, the scool teachers that are sooooo busy trying to be polite that they inexplicably just "forget" how to drive.

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

Actually...... understeer across the other side of the road <vbg>!!!

Gridlock Mikey

I don't matter really does it, either way the dizzy drivers are expecting their cars to skate across the wrong side of the road causing death and destruction if they do more than 20mph round a bend that angles more than 2 degrees!! "OOOOHHH Better slow down, better safe than sorry"

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

I DO get your point.

What they need is a powerful 4 wheel drive to get the hang of powerslides around roundabouts. Heh heh.

Valkeerie

But when things go pear-shaped, they really do go pear-shaped. And having spun a car like a top down the length of a major 3-lane roundabout, I speak from experience.

Greatly increased stopping distances show there is a -lot- less tyre adhesion, and one has to add in diesel spills etc. When things do let go, they can let go so fast that the majority of drivers would be helpless.

pugoetru

I think a session on the skid pan should be part of the driving test at least the tossers would have no excuse for landing in the ditch

All they say now is oh i just lost control

Tentenths

... and why is it that no matter how hard it's raining/how much spray there is some people refuse to switch on their lights?

OR forget where the Off switch is for their front/rear fogs long after visibility has improved (if they should have ever been on in the first place)?

pugoetru

what you can turn front fogs off ?????



better tell all the gramps round here then

Leslie

As soon as there is a bit of rain forecast they all start saying be careful how you drive and so everyone immediately assumes its dangerous and they will be risking their lives to go driving! When people say that its raining so they would rather not drive I ask them if their car leaks!

I prefer driving in the rain anyway because the tyres dont wear out so much

Les

Creepy

Same in Belgium, everytime it starts to rain there are massive traffic jams, accidents, unreliable manouvres of cars etc...

And what about some snow, then everybody starts to drive in the missle of the road as there are no lines or markers anywhere, they loose all sense of navigation then...
Last year we had (in Antwerp) 1, yes ONE day of snow :

I woke up at 6am and saw some 5 inches of snow, because I live at 1km from a highway, there were already queue's at 6.10 in the morning !!!
And when I wanted to leave my driveway at 6.30, the same cars were stillstanding there !!!, so it was a free day for me as I didn't had the intention to join them...

Later on TV I saw that almost the whole country was stuck in one GIANT TRAFFIC JAM, I had a walk with my dog at about 10 am the same day and had a look at the highway (E19 Antwerp-Brussels), one side was completely full of cars (like that particular scene in Armageddon...LOL) the other side was completely empty !!!

How hopeless is that !!!

Creepy

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

You should try driving over here then, they drive in snow like you lot drive in the summer, it is more than a little unnerving sometimes!!!!!!!!

Steaming Wizard

Blimey Mikey, you're speaking sense! Totally agree with what you're saying!

pugoetru

Nothing wrong with that wurzel at least they show confidence in their abillities rather that than fekin 5 mph

Steaming Wizard

Do corners count in here???

Iwan

Class

I used to take it a bit further with my first car and overinflate the tyres massively before going on a motorway trip. Makes the steering nice and light, and you use far less petrol.

Gridlock Mikey

fast bloke

SW - this isn't a thread to be muppeting about in - Its far too boring

billythekid

If it rains my lights go on, if on the motorway I increase the gap to the car in front by about 50%.

I think it should be law (like the US for example) that if you have to use your wipers you have to have your lights on.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I think that driving a scooby every day means it's possible to lose sight of just how much more capable it is than other vehicles on the road.

There's a corner on my way to work which I used to take at about 40mph in the scooby, which generated an amusing little bit of tyre squeal but which the car never failed to pull round tightly.

I then sold the car, ordered my new STI, and bought a 15 yr old van to tide me over in the meantime. Although the van has budget tyres they have good tread on them and the van has a valid MOT. It's not by any means an atypical vehicle to see on the roads, and it's fully road legal.

I can get round that same corner in the wet at just 15mph before the steering starts to go light and the nose begins to wash wide.

My point is that there are vehicles on the road with massively differing levels of grip and which inspire hugely differing levels of confidence. 70mph in the wet was a still bordering on being a joke in the scooby, but only a complete moron would try to drive that fast under those conditions in the van. Driving has to be adapted to the vehicle.

So, if you're stuck behind a red van doing 55mph on your way home this evening, it might just be me, trying to stay alive until I get my new scooby.

ps. and no, I'm not sorry in the least.

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

women can drive in the rain, its just you dopey men that cant

billythekid

[QUOTE=AndyC_772]...a complete moron would try to drive that fast under those conditions in the van. Driving has to be adapted to the vehicle.

...QUOTE]

This is why the govt wont up the m-way limit IMHO, they will use the "worst case" excuse that some vehicles are not safe at >70mph.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Too true. Compare and contrast the general dynamic capabilities of American cars (65mph speed limit) with German cars (no limit at all).

mart360

But its bloody good fun isnt it!!!!

went over to Saarlouis earlier this year, it was snowing when i arrived al Luxembourg.. light flurry my ars*

i had a golf gti with traction control, bloody hopless with it off.

mahhooosive larffff with it on!!!!!!!

no cars about!!!!!!!! one side of the bahn gridlocked with stuck hgv,s and me

giving it large welly you can do 80mph in the snow!!!!!

I did try the tc off. it was like having teflon coated wheels... i could only get to 40 before it came very hairy!!! 5 inches of fresh white stuff!!