slippy out there?

comanche_cor

Bought a renault megane estate a short while again and today I lost the back end of it twice in the wet. There's cheap rubber on it which I don't doubt was the reason for the back stepping out but am wondering if this was just down to the conditions today i.e. greasy roads or the fact that its an estate and is a bit light at the back?

bazz26

Could be any or all of the above.

_Kaiser_

It's pretty windy alright so at motorway speeds you should be ready for crosswinds, but aside from that it's not a bad day for a drive really.

Slippy roads today. The cousin was involved in an accident this morning. The car went on a greasy bend and spun 4 times into a ditch. Himself, wife and 2 kids in the car. A bit shook and sore but all ok thank god. Ironically, they were driving to the train station as he didn't want to drive all the way to Dublin because of the weather.

Renegade Mechanic

^^^^ glad they were ok mate.
Laguna was a pure pig in wet weather untill I changed the tyres. They were a good few years old despite having 4ml of thread left. Got 2nd hand tyres (shove it people, I was stuck at the time!:p) with even less meat on them but it totally eliminated the problem. Id change the tyres op.

Renegade Mechanic

Renegade Mechanic wrote: »

^^^^ glad they were ok mate.

Cheers buddy. Ya they were luck. When the car eventually stopped, it stopped a foot away from a concrete pillar. Could have been a different ending if they hit it. Be careful out there folks!

projectgtr

what tyres are you running and are your pressures ok? Roads are definitely greasy but to lose the rear twice im gonna put that down to tyres. Mine are doing fine out there.

wotzgoingon

I was involved in an accident due to the wet and also the tyres. I have summer tyres on the car. So I ordered winter tyres and I should have them Monday or Tuesday. They were more expensive but you need them in this country, don't ask me why they even sell summer tyres.

coolisin

I've being on a few differnt roads today on a 150mile trip and thought the roads where ok, few greasy spots but ok.

I would put it down to the tyres though, without a doubt what make are they?

Senecio

wotzgoingon wrote: »

They were more expensive but you need them in this country, don't ask me why they even sell summer tyres.

What a load of nonsense. Any quality brand name summer tyres are perfectly fine for the weather in this country (all year round). Winter tyres may be of benefit for 6-8 weeks of the year at best.

Why would you cripple your car for the rest of the year?

djimi

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I was involved in an accident due to the wet and also the tyres. I have summer tyres on the car. So I ordered winter tyres and I should have them Monday or Tuesday. They were more expensive but you need them in this country, don't ask me why they even sell summer tyres.

It would be very rare that we would get conditions extreme enough to genuinely warrant winter tires. A good set of summer tires will cope with almost anything this country will throw at them.

_Kaiser_

"Winter" tyres aren't just good in snow and ice though - they're effective in heavy rain, wet surfaces and low temperatures (all of which we DO get in ample supply in Ireland).

djimi

Im not saying that winter tires wouldnt help, but even in the heaviest downpours a decent set of summers tires would be more than adequate. Aside from the couple of really bad winters that we had (where little short of studded tires would have made much of a difference) I cant say that I have ever felt that I needed more than the tires that were on my car, and I have never bought winter tires. I certainly wouldnt agree that we absolutely need winter tires in this country.

Renegade Mechanic

Summer tyres are good for efficiency and are generally quite adept at dispelling water. Winter tyres would have been warranted during the winters of say '10 and '11. All season tyres are ideal for things like muddy/slushy/wet leaved roads which would be the ticket here from october to march. Dedicated "M+S" tyres sacrifice comfort and noise control for even better crap covered road handling but wear out much quicker than the all seasons on dry roads.

Main difference between Summer and All season tyres is that in cold weather the actual composition of the summer tyre suffers a little, reducing its dry road holding capacity. The composition of all season tyres trades a small amount of lastability for more consistent road holding across the temperature range and winter tyre take that to a more extreme level. Obviously the thread pattern reflects the conditions theyre designed for (eg, hundreds of sipes on the winters) but the rubber composition is what enables them to functional as effectively as possible. Winter tyres have a very dynamic surface ( why parts of the tyre wearing off of itself) and are extremely "soft" to stop hardening in cold weather so will wear out very quickly even in dry, cold road conditions.

comanche_cor

coolisin wrote: »

I would put it down to the tyres though, without a doubt what make are they?

landsails up from (what a name!)
wanli on the back :rolleyes:

Renegade Mechanic

comanche_cor wrote: »

landsails up from (what a name!)
wanli on the back :rolleyes:

Landsail always makes me smile:D
Tyres like that (Triangle too, from experience) Suffer a little in the wet alright.

JohnBoy26

comanche_cor wrote: »

landsails up from (what a name!)
wanli on the back :rolleyes:

Get a decent brand of tyre and your slipping and sliding will be gone.