damn rain, partly my fault cause i had bad tires too though ::writes book: how to smack ones self::, (bfgoodrich g force kdw's suck *** - in my opinion they dont last and for how short a time you have them i dont think they stick particularly good) doing 40 i went over a bridge with 4 inches of water, i guess it didnt have proper drainage or something but i couldnt even see it cause a car was passing me in the middle lane and sprayed my windshield with water, i lost traction turbo's spooled and i couldnt correct in time, just had to sit back and watch as i spun around bounced over the median into oncoming traffic and stopped in the middle lane on a bridge, thank god for the suspension otherwise i think if it was softer i mightve bounced over and maybe ended up going off the bridge (started in the right lane in the correct direction) no exterior body damage but idk wtf that curb did because i couldnt open my door so i think the unibody might be bent :: my car might be fucked guys, idk wtf to do

 

Wow sorry to hear that bud....

A friend of mine owns a body shop he could give you a professional opinion take it to him....

 

My dad had those tires on his miata and the same thing hapend to him. he droped me off at school on a rainy day and he puuled out of the parking lot and spun out. the tread on the tires was horrible. I would never recomend those tires to anybody and my dad would say the some thing.

 

I'm glad your ok, I hope the FD's ok soon, but PEOPLE, what's it take to get it through to ya that YOU SHOULDN'T DRIVE YOUR FD IN RAIN?! Sheesh.

~Ramy

 

Holly Crap Clint! I was wondering if you ever got your boost issues sorted out but nevermind. Sorry to hear about the accident, good luck with it. Take some pics..

Ramy,
I'll have to dissagree with u there!!! I can do 70mph through standing water during any kind of rain...no problem. Almost brand new tires though. I have driven on bald tires and that IS when you shouldnt! And i'll be taking my chances in the snow for yet another winter...

 

Ive driven in enough inclimate weather in my day to know that its worth the investment to get a beater FF car for rain/snow as they will always outdo a FR car.. especially in snow

but, if worse comes to worse find a cheap FD shell and do a full on swap.. could take a few months but you will have a car again...

 

dagg.. sorry to hear about ya troubles.. that turbo didnt have to spoil up like that... Everyone keep talkin about turbo problems make me want to not even add a turbo to my N/A..

 

I don't know, I used to have an BMW E36 318 and it was a blast to drive in the snow. I used to go out on purpose.

but in the rain it sucked.... I hate the rain.

 

I agree for the most part but sometimes it can't be avoided. I lived between Fort Lauderdale and Miami for a while and daily drove the FD. It STORMS down there for about 20 minutes everyday and sometimes you wont see it comming. You just have to respect the sudden onslaught of power once the turbo's spool and the power/weight ratio of the car (or any high performance FR for that matter). I've spun out once in the FD back in 2002 when I was new to it, haven't lost control in the rain since.

Stay off boost and drive SLOW (10 - 20 mph slower than the speed limit) and keep fresh tires. Yea I kno no one will listen but oh well. There's not really much wrong with drivin the FD in the rain.

 

sorry to hear man

you had just installed something right??

thats why i refuse to drive the FD in the rain, i dont care if other people have no problems and they say its fine etc etc..i would never, never had, still dont and will never do it in the future..

 

this is the best advice i've read in this thread, but you'd think that would just be common sense. Stay off the boost in the rain.

As to not driving in the rain period, man i actually laughed out loud when i read that.

 

Hey I bought/mounted a pair of BFGoodrich Gforce KDWS2, on the rear of my FD.
274/30/19's. And I love them.. I think they look great (unconventional unidirectional)
and work great. Were your Gforce KWS the old or new ones??
Nevertheless the KDWS2 were rated one of the better tires on the market.
Dry or Rain..

So you had some worn tires, boosting while going over 4'' of water over a bridge.
And you blame the tires??? How fast were you going?

 

Yeah I don't get it. It is ALOT easier to spool up the higher the gear that you're in but regardless, who actually mashes the pedal in the rain. Even with moderate pressure on the accelerator in 5th gear, you still won't be at enough boost to outright spin the tires.

I want to add a little to what I said earlier and I'm actually goin to repost this in its own thread in the 3rd gen section.

When driving a boosted car in the rain (in order of importance)...

1) Keep fresh RAIN CAPABLE tires. Everything below becomes exponentially more important the less capable your tires are in keeping grip in the rain. Whether on slicks, extreme performance summer tires, or simply worn tires in general you need to be even more cautious than even suggested here.

2) Drive SLOW(er than usual). About 10 to 20 mph under the speed limit should be safe for any person that isn't comfortable driving in the rain.

3) Try to handle ALL BRAKING duties while traveling in a STRAIGHT LINE. If it can be avoided, DO NOT apply brakes while turning. If you must use the brakes while turning such as to avoid an obstacle, EVEN WITH ABS, apply the brakes lightly. FIRST get your speed down, THEN maneuver to avoid the obstacle.

4) Stay off of boost. Alot of people would say this is more important than 4th but if you've ever tracked your car in the rain on good tires, you should know that you can hit a full 10lbs of boost in an FD (in a STRAIGHT line, on GOOD equally treaded tires) without loosing control. Regardless... while on public roads and without significant rain experience avoid boosting as much as possible. For those novice drivers who are unsure of what this means... it means apply VERY LIGHT and GRADUAL pressure on the accelerator pedal while trying to build speed. If you listen closely to your car while accelerating, you can hear the stock BOV venting into the stock air box when you aren't boosting. If you've vented the stock BOV instead of having the tubes run back to the air box then the venting will be even more audible.

5) If you are comfortable in your throttle control ability (meaning you should have no problem staying off boost), then apply SLIGHT throttle while turning and hold the steering wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock. This will help with road feedback and steering correction should you need it but if you're driving correctly you shouldn't.

Anyone else with something to add please post but no crying saying the car can't be driven in the rain because I do it all the time and I know several other people do too.

 

hey cmon now dont start baggin on my driving abilities i already admitted i had some really bad bald tires on it and it was my fault, i drive my fd all through the winter, ya know with snow and such ? even dare i say ice so its not like i was driving like some damn fool and decided punch the throttle as i dove into a lake of a puddle, just posted the story as a reminder i suppose to be careful and to get new tires even if they are still borderline, i kind of resent you guys just jumping to conclusions, well w/e, to anyone who is here for the reminder just be careful even lightly modified you still own a beast, laterz

 

Any pics of the damage yet?

 

Just now reading this after a few days since i forgot i posted here as well as in the 3rd gen section. Nemeii, wasn't tryin to attack you actually. I was really speaking in general about rain driving to whoever might read this thread which is why I also posted the same thing in the 3rd gen section. I can understand accidental boosting for someone new to the car but it is a little confusing to me how someone experienced with the car hasn't learned to lay off the turbos. That persons gas mileage has to be trash, what every bit of mayb 10 mpg?

sorry for coming off like that

 

dude,
its alright , i see what your saying abt rain, 2ndly no, with original O2 sensor and a full exhaust i got abt 19 mpg just so you know 2ndly like i told the lil ricer who was baggin on me in the other thread for all you and i know it wouldve spun me anyway just from hitting that that drainage river (3-4 inches deep) in my lane i didnt see coming, its not like i built boost and held it because i panicked, as soon as it started spinning i was off the throttle, and trying to correct but steering wasnt responding and off i went.what i think is:

if you remember anything about physics static friction is greater than kinetic, which is why i was driving ok but as soon as i lost traction there was very little friction = very low load on the engine, without load there isnt any reciprocating force to slow the engine so to speak and the revs jumped up which would in turn lead to building boost thats my postulate i guess you could say. im not in any way blaming the car, it was my fault for having crappy tires it just sux that narrowly the car missed any damage and now its probably going to be totalled because some jerk parked it in a field/lake.