Had a scary moment this morning whilst taking my wife to work. Just coming into the car park going round a bend and the back wheels decided they preferred to go sideways than forwards. Nothing drastic, rather gentle in fact but took the back out of its lane and pointed me in the wrong direction.

Luckily, due to it being a wide road, very quiet and low speed I came to a rest without any incident but it certainly raised my heart rate.

Now, why did it happen? I don't want to write it off as "one of those things" if there could be something wrong with the car.

The road was wet but no standing water and I checked for oil and couldn't see anything there. Also when I've hit oil before the front end lost grip too.

The rear tyres are definitely legal, had about 3mm when serviced a couple of months ago. And I've done much more enthusiastic driving lately without any concern

The car seems to be acting normal otherwise but I'm not sure what to look for that could cause the back end to lose grip like that.

Edited 11 October, 200916 yr by daiking

Okay I here you and can relate to it.

About 2 years ago I was coming round a bend on the way to work - it was the same bend I always go round and was doing about 15 - 20 as its about 70 degres.

Same as you the back end just let go and I ended up snaking over to the other side of the road - luckily nothing coming which was a miracle. I wondered what had happened....

Turns out the road was covered in diesel from a lorry that was leaking....I wonder if that is what it was?

Also you might want to check your inside and outer edge tread on the rears... if you havent already...

I would say that if you weren't going to quick then it will prob be something on the road.

When the roads are wet and it's not rained heavily a lot of oil and cr@p comes to the surface until it gets washed away by prolonged rain. So it could just be the fine film of oil etc that has risen to the surface and, in conjunction with only 3mm of tread, it's made the back end step out a bit.

Quite un-nerving when it happens unexpectedly like that.

I know the legal limit is 1.6mm but i never let my tread get below 3mm. There was a test done by (i think) autocar recently on tyres with between 1.6 & 3mm of tread and the results were shocking. Remember they start out with about 8mm so thats more than half the tread gone

Glad your both ok though

Carl:thumbup:

Probably diesel, just be glad you weren't on a motorbike.

Well, I'm going back in a bit, I'll crawl round that bit of the car park.

Quite a scary thing to go through and as you say, lucky no-one was about

A few thoughts on what may have contributed...

Road

- What type of tarmac was it and were all the tyres on the tarmac, or could some of them have been on painted markings, etc)?

- Condition of tarmac - it was wet but presumably it felt grippy enough when you turned in?

- Contaminants - a possibility. Did you see anyone else having issues driving/walking across it? Did you drive it again and were the results the same?

Car

- Tyres - condition and inflation. 3mm is plenty of tread imho and I don't chuck mine away until they're down to the legal limit How much tread is on the front tyres?

- Alignment/tracking - may be worth getting the car checked out to make sure all the wheels are pointing in the right direction and within spec

- Suspension - leaking dampers might cause a sudden unexpected shift in the car's weight

Driver

- What speed did you turn in at and did it feel a good speed?

- Were you on the throttle, off the throttle or on the brakes in the lead up to when the skid started?

- Did you attempt to correct the skid before it turned into a spin?

Chris

Sounds like derv on the road.

Had a scary moment this morning whilst taking my wife to work. Just coming into the car park going round a bend and the back wheels decided they preferred to go sideways than forwards..

Banana skin?

IME when a skid is caused by diesel on the road, if you stop immediately you'll can smell it.

I suspect whatever the smell was it wasn't diesel

Seems to me the only issue here is that you applied less than the required amount of opposite lock...

:sofahide:

Seems to me the only issue here is that you applied less than the required amount of opposite lock...

:sofahide:

Pah - I thought Don would have instilled in you that less is more Less steering, more power

Chris

Pah - I thought Don would have instilled in you that less is more Less steering, more power

Chris

Don't think letting the wheel self-align with SWMBO on board is advisable unless your SWMBO happens to be:

,

or possibly:

Otherwise, "COOLER - SREE VEEKS!!!"

Quite a scary thing to go through and as you say, lucky no-one was about

A few thoughts on what may have contributed...

There have been no significant changes to the car – front tyres have more tread but have done for a year, no recent wheel bumps/knocks, serviced/MOT in July and has driven ok since, tyres off and wheels replaced 2 weeks ago and I was driving as I had done very often. But I couldn’t spot anything on the road, no sheen, no smell, nothing and later on when it had dried up, no marks or residues in the areas not driven on. Deffo no banana skins either, I would have seen them

Currently driving ok but taking it very easy. Nothing loose or obviously wrong to my untrained eye but I’m getting the dealer to check it over this week. After 3 years of speed bumps, potholes and train tracks, maybe a full geometry check/set-up would be worthwhile too. Tyres, I wouldn’t normally change yet but even if I change them now, I probably wouldn’t have to do them again so I might do them sooner rather than later.

Seems to me the only issue here is that you applied less than the required amount of opposite lock...

:sofahide:

I think not I’ve seen the results of a bad driver doing that near the quarry entrance in Grizebeck/Beanthwaite - dry stone wall 1 Renault Megane 0. I probably would have only bounced off the kerb but then I would have definite alignment/steering issues, not possible ones.

Got a RARB?

First outing in the wet and leafy roads perhaps?

Don't think letting the wheel self-align with SWMBO on board is advisable unless your SWMBO happens to be:

Letting the wheel self align is a last ditch attempt to salvage things but once the slide was detected, applying a smidge of power and pointing the front wheels (which have the grip) where you want to go should negate it. Probably undetectable to SWMBO too and fairly undramatic

The normal reaction is to panic and wind on arm fulls of lock and/or lift off which then leads to the spin....

Chris

Ah, see what you mean!

Still, any excuse for some pictures of motorsport-related laydeez!

I can seriously relate to what you've experienced here. Something very, very similar happened to me last August, except it didn't end well...the car belonged to my boss (he ran a car hire company).

No serious harm done to myself. The police reckoned, from what I had experienced and told them, that it was a fuel/oil spill, but there was no smell, obvious residue, etc, etc.

My driving style, which was hardly erratic to begin with, fairly changed after that. I guess young drivers sometimes need a good 'scare'...

Glad you're both ok though and if there is an underlying issue, that you get it sorted soon.

Sorry about the volume of pictures, I think they're quite something

I would say that if you weren't going to quick then it will prob be something on the road.

When the roads are wet and it's not rained heavily a lot of oil and cr@p comes to the surface until it gets washed away by prolonged rain. So it could just be the fine film of oil etc that has risen to the surface and, in conjunction with only 3mm of tread, it's made the back end step out a bit.

Quite un-nerving when it happens unexpectedly like that.

I know the legal limit is 1.6mm but i never let my tread get below 3mm. There was a test done by (i think) autocar recently on tyres with between 1.6 & 3mm of tread and the results were shocking. Remember they start out with about 8mm so thats more than half the tread gone

Glad your both ok though

Carl:thumbup:

:iagree:. Maybe Diesel as well.

Edited 14 October, 200916 yr by cjb

What were you doing with the throttle / brakes?

What were you doing with the throttle / brakes?

I couldn't honestly tell you, nothing extreme though on a stretch of road I've often driven.

Well the dealer has checked the car over, no mechanical problems.

I've changed my rear tyres. They didn't need doing urgently but probably in a few months anyway so at least they're done now.

I'll look into getting the alignment done properly in the near future. Shouldn't be any problems there either but I've cracked a few potholes over the years so I don't expect it to be perfect either.

Not sure what else I can do. Will put it down to experience and to avoid it happening again.

Well the dealer has checked the car over, no mechanical problems.

You took it to the dealers specifically for this? :confused:

Diesel - most probs.

Took a bend off a roundabout very early one morning and the Jetta went sideways. I corrected it, pulled in and opposite was sat a PC .

"I've informed the bus garage ( 100 yds away) and they're sending someone out to deal with it.

Good, wasn't it ! I did just the same." he finished, with a big grin on his face.

Buses were filled up at the garage, came out with full tanks and within 100yds were onto this 90 degree bend. Used to happen at other bus route places in the town, particularly where there was adverse camber.

You took it to the dealers specifically for this? :confused:

Yes.

I've driven the car since it had 4 miles on the clock, over 3 yrs, nearly 41K miles with no hint of any strange behaviour in all sorts of conditions and driving styles. There was nothing obvious at the scene and I didn't think it was my driving, should I not have bothered?

90% of the time its just me in the car but the other 10% of the time its likely to be carrying my wife and son and I don't want to dealing in "What if..." So I dropped into my helpful dealer (Warrington Mazda) on a quiet Friday afternoon and waited half an hour whilst they gave it a once over, :thumbup:to Mike the service manager.

Doubt eliminated, confidence restored.

but the other 10% of the time its likely to be carrying my wife and son and I don't want to dealing in "What if..." .

Absolutely