# Friend's M3 hydroplaned, spun out, hit center divider--Is it totaled?



## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

Kewl X5 said:


> Agreed on the driving school comment, but however, you were not here in Southern California last Saturday...


Luckily I was stuck underneath my car doing work, but you are right, driving on long stretches of freeway with good irrigation at 95mph is different from driving in the city with HORRIBLE storm drainage. I have a friend who also hydroplaned and crashed his Porkchop (totaled). I was out driving to dinner for a brief moment and the irrigation system in So Cal is so bad that on the 10 Westbound in the San Gabriel valley, long stretches were completely un-driveable with often times 2 lanes completely flooded.

As for the speed said poster was carrying, it CAN be 20mph and still cause that much damage, if you hit the curb right. My friend who crashed the Porkchop was not doing much more than that when he hit water and spun out and hit the curb...And the entire right side suspension buckled in, and the left side suspension bucked out as he rode up a curb. Not a pretty sight.

No, it wasn't butthead borrowing Stuka's yellow bird, this is another friend with a Boxster.


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## James (Jun 30, 2004)

I am sorry to see your friends car in such a condition . I have almost hydroplaned a few times and you really don't have to be going that fast at all. Especially if it is a deep puddle that sneaks up on you.

The worst part about these threads is everyone chiming in to say how bad a driver such and such a person is and how they would have handled it so much better.  Sh!t happens and sometimes it's bad sh!t; not everyone that has an accident was doing something silly.

Like Sonet said; I too hope it is a lease. It's just hardware which can be replaced, I am glad he is ok :thumbup:.

James.


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## Stuka (Jul 17, 2002)

James said:


> The worst part about these threads is everyone chiming in to say how bad a driver such and such a person is and how they would have handled it so much better.  Sh!t happens and sometimes it's bad sh!t; not everyone that has an accident was doing something silly.


Look, I like driving on the left lane, where in CA, the water accumulates on during a huge down pour. :yikes:

There were plenty of times when it would grab one or two wheels when I would hit standing water, but if you know how to deal with it, it really isn't a big deal. Heck, coming back on the Grapevine, I had four wheels on water moments, it's not a big deal if you know how to deal with it. I am sorry if I don't buy hydroplane as sh*t happens. Lack of skills happens, being ill prepared for a situation happens. 

The moral of the story is still that the said driving needs driving school, and if you have never been to one, then frankly, you don't know what you are talking about. :dunno:


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## dawgbone (Nov 19, 2004)

I've been driving in the rain all my life(being from the south) you hitting one hole with a puddle of water at 20mph and having your steering wheel ripped from your hands, is not hydroplaning...In fact..most people don't even realize that they are hydroplaning until the car starts sliding sideways, then they freak out, dump off the throttle and slam on the brakes...There's been many times that I was going straight(interstate) music blaring and never knew that I was hydroplaning until I notice my speedo saying 90mph when doing 55-60... I agree that the guy needs some driving lessons...But not to offend or criticize him...Normal weather in SoCal is that it only rains a couple days a year..so yeah..he probably could use a lesson or two in wet conditions..Even though they have hills and mountains, they have no idea what drainage is out there...From my experience of SoCal, it is the only place where you can actually drive faster in the right lane than the far left...It's like the left lane is the safe haven for them, and they feel more comfortable driving there, disregarding how slow they drive in it..I swear they enter the highway, weaving through six lanes, just to drive slower than everybody else...I'll admit, that I need driving lessons, if I were to drive in the snow..I've only done it once, and it happened to be in California...(Lake Cuyamaka)

Oh...snapping suspension off by hitting a curb is nothing on sport cars..Their suspension is primarily built with aluminum and other light materials...So no...it doesn't take much... :thumbup:


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Actually you can hydroplane at 20 MPH< but on true race SLICKS.  They hydroplane at around 14 MPH. 

But yeah, for treaded street tires, 20 MPH is below hydroplaning speed.

As for how fast this person was going, you don't have damage that has you wondering if the car is totaled from a 20 MPH crash.

And lastly, there is only one person that can tell if a car is totaled, and that is the insurance claims adjuster that examines the car. THEY decide whether to total or not based on the cost to fix versus the insurance comapnies guidelines. We can only guess. I have seen cars that were truely a ess be fixed by insurance companies, and ones that looked fine be totaled.

But figure, they are not going to total a car for less than half the value of the car worth of damage. Over half, thenyou get into an area where they may or may not. It is all about money.


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## Riuster (May 21, 2003)

Pinecone said:


> Actually you can hydroplane at 20 MPH< but on true race SLICKS.  They hydroplane at around 14 MPH.
> 
> But yeah, for treaded street tires, 20 MPH is below hydroplaning speed.


 :liar:


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## stylinexpat (May 23, 2004)

Best cars to drive in the Rain or snow are the EVOVIII or the WRX'S. M3's are more fun in the rain. In my old WRX , I had nearly 350 WHP and I could go into any turn full throttle in the rain coming into a turn or corner. I could not do that with my BMW in the rain without sitting on the other side of the road.


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Riuster said:


> :liar:


In what way?

Race slicks do hydroplane at very low speeds due to lack of tread and low tire pressure. Back in the 70s they red flagged Indy for rain, and at the time stated that 14 MPH was the speed for those itres. Which was confimed by one of the guys who had tried to earlier that day on slicks.

With a reasonable tread pattern the hydroplaning speed is based on tire pressure. The higher the pressure the higher the speed at which hydroplaning occurs. And that speed is well above 20 MPH for the tire pressure run on street tires.

As sonmeone else stated having the wheel wrenched in your grasp and having the car pull towards the water is NOT hydroplaning. When one side of the car hydroplanes, the car will turn away from the water due to the reduction in resistance.


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