Mr. Toejam
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Spence
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2021
- Threads
- 13
- Messages
- 324
- Reaction score
- 465
- Location
- So. Cal.
- Vehicles
- 22 MME Premium AWD Ext, 21 Chevy Bolt, 16 Honda Minivan
- Occupation
- Retired - Dir of MFG Eng
- Thread starter
- #1
I was driving through Los Angeles on Feb 24 during one of our largest and longest rain storms in a long time. Before everyone that isn't from So Cal starts saying "stop crying about your little weather problems" or "LA people can't handle a little bad weather"...keep in mind, we average 2-3 inches of rain per month is our "wet" areas during Jan-March. Jan saw 8 inches and the last 3 days in Feb will probably come in around 9 inches. Our infrastructure to handle that much rain in such a short period just isn't there and the highways simply do not drain the water off fast enough. LA freeways are notorious for puddling and because we don't get much rain, we end up with dirty-oily roads. And....people in LA don't know how to slow down.
Anyway, I was on the freeway and there was enough rain that speeds were down to around 50-55 mph. Limit is 65 and that means the normal speed is around 75. I was in the carpool lane and I a pickup truck about 200 yards ahead of me spin out and hit the center divider and stop in the carpool lane. I lift off of the accelerator (1-pedal and Engaged mode). Doing so, the car starts to slow and immediately the car starts vibrating. The car is hydroplaning and since it did not slow down, the Anti-lock breaks kicked in. Fortunately, I was on a straight section and the car stayed straight. I applied a little throttle, the vibration stopped, and I was able to pull out of the lane and get around the truck by about 50-75 feet still doing around 40-50mph. I don't remember if the collision alert kick-in...it all happened pretty quick. Forturnately the lane next too me was open but unfortunately, I could not stop because there was enough traffic that me stopping would have been a disaster. I don't remember hearing or feeling like I just ran into puddling water. This one was a 2 out of 5 on the sphincter-pucker scale. (20+ years ago, I had a 5 out of 5 with one of my old Mustang GTs in the rain, but I earned that one...young and dumb.)
In our ICE vehicle, I would lift off the accelerator, let the car slowly decelerate and slowly pull the the right. Just like snow, the last thing you want to do is something sudden and upset the balance of the vehicle.
1) Maybe I hit the same puddle the truck hit, though it didn't feel like it. And I hit other puddles of standing water and did not lose control and the care never felt loose. The truck that spun out was probably doing 65-70 when he passed me. I remember thinking, "...you're going to lose it...." and then he did.
2) Maybe I hit a transition from asphalt to concrete and that upset the car. Our freeways are a mess.
3) Maybe I did hit the brake pedal. Just unlikely. Stabbing the brakes is not my method of driving. I consider myself pretty a smooth driver, especially when it comes to braking.
4) ...maybe 50-55PHM was still too fast. 2 inches of rain in an hour is a lot.
After that, I shut off 1-pedal. On the remainder of my drive, I hit large(r) and longer puddles of standing water and varying surface conditions and was still driving 50-55 mph. I never hydroplaned and when I lifted on the accelerator, no drama. A 5500 lbs car and the bicycle tires it comes with, you would think this thing would slice through puddles with ease, but that was not the case earlier in the day.
Has anyone else run into this and do people who normally get a lot of rain or snow turn off 1-pedal in bad weather?
Anyway, I was on the freeway and there was enough rain that speeds were down to around 50-55 mph. Limit is 65 and that means the normal speed is around 75. I was in the carpool lane and I a pickup truck about 200 yards ahead of me spin out and hit the center divider and stop in the carpool lane. I lift off of the accelerator (1-pedal and Engaged mode). Doing so, the car starts to slow and immediately the car starts vibrating. The car is hydroplaning and since it did not slow down, the Anti-lock breaks kicked in. Fortunately, I was on a straight section and the car stayed straight. I applied a little throttle, the vibration stopped, and I was able to pull out of the lane and get around the truck by about 50-75 feet still doing around 40-50mph. I don't remember if the collision alert kick-in...it all happened pretty quick. Forturnately the lane next too me was open but unfortunately, I could not stop because there was enough traffic that me stopping would have been a disaster. I don't remember hearing or feeling like I just ran into puddling water. This one was a 2 out of 5 on the sphincter-pucker scale. (20+ years ago, I had a 5 out of 5 with one of my old Mustang GTs in the rain, but I earned that one...young and dumb.)
In our ICE vehicle, I would lift off the accelerator, let the car slowly decelerate and slowly pull the the right. Just like snow, the last thing you want to do is something sudden and upset the balance of the vehicle.
1) Maybe I hit the same puddle the truck hit, though it didn't feel like it. And I hit other puddles of standing water and did not lose control and the care never felt loose. The truck that spun out was probably doing 65-70 when he passed me. I remember thinking, "...you're going to lose it...." and then he did.
2) Maybe I hit a transition from asphalt to concrete and that upset the car. Our freeways are a mess.
3) Maybe I did hit the brake pedal. Just unlikely. Stabbing the brakes is not my method of driving. I consider myself pretty a smooth driver, especially when it comes to braking.
4) ...maybe 50-55PHM was still too fast. 2 inches of rain in an hour is a lot.
After that, I shut off 1-pedal. On the remainder of my drive, I hit large(r) and longer puddles of standing water and varying surface conditions and was still driving 50-55 mph. I never hydroplaned and when I lifted on the accelerator, no drama. A 5500 lbs car and the bicycle tires it comes with, you would think this thing would slice through puddles with ease, but that was not the case earlier in the day.
Has anyone else run into this and do people who normally get a lot of rain or snow turn off 1-pedal in bad weather?
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