Wet traction

[gerrys]

New here - sorry if this has been covered. I have a 2006 Limited, no ABS, original Eagle LS tires under 20K miles. Car skids straight line when it is even a little wet, even under light braking, scary!!! Any thoughts?

[CREWZIN]

Welcome to the forum.

At least it's skidding in a straight line. About the only thing you can do is buy better tires. Tires that are made for wet weather.

[Hooligan]

Without filling in your bio, we have to try and guess where you are located so we may be able to give you good suggestions.

I had a 2006, NA with the stock Eagle tires, drove here in Florida(the Lightning Capital with many summer thunderstorms) and didn't have any trouble with the skidding. Do you still have good tread? Have you rotated tires at least every 5000 miles? Are they worn unevenly? Good Luck???

[gerrys]

Car is in Columbia, SC - Limited with 205/55/R16 alloys - bought used with 5000 miles, tires maintained and rotated - Never had good wet traction - hydroplanes like crazy. Are the stock Eagles just lousy tires or am I missing something? I would appreciate any comments/suggestions on new rubber!

[ucantcme]

My car will hydroplane even in the smallest of puddles and my tires are rated really high for water.

Kinda scary, but I'm used to it.

[cleverklutz]

It would be a good idea to check to see if all four brakes are working right. My car tends to go sideways as all four tires lock at once. That might not sound desirable, but you just momentarily let off and then correct and it's all good. No ABS stops MUCH better when you've learned it.

I'd recommend driving on gravel or something that you can skid on easily and lock your wheels. You should see both the front and rears skidding. If only the fronts are stopping you won't have as much stopping power. I'm not sure how much the rear brakes, but probably about 30%.

If the front locks and the rear doesn't the car goes straight.
If the rears lock and the fronts don't the car will try to swing around.
If all four tires lock at the same time the car will go straight unless one wheel has traction, then it will swing in that direction.

If your brakes work fine then your tires suck. It could be that they've just gotten hard even if they still have good tread. I ran had new Uniroyal Tigerpaw tires on the car when I bought it. They had no traction in water and snow, lots of flats, and worn out at 17500 miles. I'm running Cooper Trendsetter SE's right now. They hydroplane a bit but have great traction in water or snow.

Ben

[PTmodrod]

Wow... I thought ABS was standard... Mine has it and I have to say that with the amount of tire I have and the new brakes, It is scary how fast it stops, even in the wet. Ben is right about non ABS cars stopping better IF you know how to do it. I was thinking about disabling mine, but I realized that in an emergency I would rather have it.

[quicksilverdon]

I think the stock Good-for-a-Years suck. I've lowered the car, put in rear sway bar, and best handling thing I did was the tires.
I got Michelin Hydroedge - much better in rain, handle, and are really wearing well.

In the meantime, check you tire pressure - go a couple psi above the # on the sticker inside the driver's door.

[ucantcme]

How would you not know how to stop a car with no ABS? Just pressing the brake enough right before it's at the lock up level? My car doesn't have ABS and I love it, lol.

[cleverklutz]

ABS is more drivable in a panic situation. It won't make the car go sideways due to wheel lock and it lets you steer when braking. In a panic situation that can be the difference between crashing and not crashing. However when you learn how to control the brakes you can use that to your advantage. One thing I often do in winter if I've come up to an icy intersection too fast is to lock the brakes, car goes in straight line, crank the wheel full lock, and when I'm up to the turn release the brake. This allows you to have the brakes applied longer and still be able to make the corner.

The main thing to keep in mind with no ABS is that if it's not doing what you want, let go of the brake for a split second.

There are people out there that don't know how to drive without ABS, that's why it was invented.

Ben