Whenever I'm driving in the rain and I go over standing water at any great speed the cars' front wheels kind of hydroplane for a moment. Its startling. I don't know if this is true for all CLs or just the ones without traction control. I know our sleds are way front heavy but has anyone else experienced this? It's not my tires or anything.

 

wider tires = more surface area.. probably wider tires than your used to, if i understand your question right

 

If you hit standing water at highway speeds the car will hydroplane for a moment unless you have some sort of really, really great tire - and even then it can only handle so much.

My TL does this, and it is startling. I just have to slow down.

 

Treadwear effects this greatly.

 

Yeah, I get the all the time when it's raining hard out going to work... There's a lot of construction going on in Providence, so the drainage on the highway kinda sucks now...

Makes for an interesting experience, don't it

"Hands on the wheel, mind on the moment"...

 

I've got the old yoko V4 (45K wear, not the higher mileage rated V4S - 60K) on the front of my CL, and they haven't been rotated like they should (dealer forgot last time), so my fronts are about 1/2 way used (or so)... They tend to hydro a bit more then they used to...

Gotta rotate the OEM's on the back up to the front (45K service coming up) so I can wear those out a bit more before I get new tires all the way around... Since the OEM's have a bit more thread, I should hydro less...

I didn't realize how tough I am on front tires with a FWD 6spd...

 

almost any tire on any car will do this. although my pilot sports do it alot less than my sumitomo's or yoko yk420's did

 

what color is your CL and is it a 6 speed? because in two days i saw two 6 speeds, one on RT2 in RI hualing ass from 113 and i caught up to him in my QX4, and another one which was anthrocite on 195 at about 5:30 heading east was somewhat on me and then flew past me a bit later.

 

Red 6spd... I was on post road and 95 in warwick/cranston at about 4:30-4:45 taking a co-worker to gaet their car from a mechanic...

I was on 195E at around the same time after work (probably hit the washington bridge construction around 5:15), but I don't remember seeing the anthracite cl there...

I'm suprised you saw 2 2nd Gen CL's in one day... I usually can go almost all week w/o seeing one...

Did see a black 01 or 02 a couple weeks back on 95N near the 195E exit...

 

I swapped out the OEMs for Continental Extreme Contact tires, which are awesome in the rain. But you hit those puddles, the wheel shakes, the car does a dance, I freak for a second, then its over. This problem seems worse in the CL. Maybe because the heavy front weight bias.

 

If your tread is good than there's not much else you can do except slow down or move over before coming to the water. Once you've hit it it's just like a patch of ice. Keep your wheels pointed straight down the road and stay off the brake pedal.

 

What speed are you normally travelling? I remember reading that at 45 mph and up is where tires begin to hydroplane. I dont think is has so much to do with the type or size. Yes I could see wider tires doing it at lower speeds but I cant say too much about that. And of course tires with their aim towards wet weather driving may fair a bit better. Dont know where but its one of those things that has stuck in my head for years.


randall

 

45 mph and up. On the highway, where ever. Just got to pay attention. But I think not having VSA makes it worse... LSD and all.

 

I don't understand Acura's logic of not putting VSA in the CL-S6. It couldn't have taken much work, it's now on 6MT Acura cars.

 

Yeah I was kind of pissed that my car wasn't going to have VSA on it. It's almost more important than airbags for safety. Guess you need to be a better driver.

 

every single car hydroplanes at some point or another...

 

A car can be maneuvered faster with VSA turned off. Professional drivers tell you to turn it off before doing time trials. I always suspected that it was a nod to serious drivers that Acura left VSA off of the CLS 6-MTs.

In any event, I've driven my CLS 6 through high-speed, wet and dry maneuvers many times and never missed VSA. I've never had problems with handling without it--even in heavy rain.

 

i figured the vsa delete was a cost cutting measure to make up for the extra cost of limited slip.

 

Every car I had did this to some degree.

 

If you plan on driving fast in the rain and speeding through puddles, get use to it.

 

slow down in the rain...my car moves like a bitch in the rain, my tires are not that new either

 

speeding in the rain < letting your tires have time to do their work

 

Like others have said, SLOW DOWN when it's raining. But, may I recommend some excellent tires for the rain which happen to be very sticky in the dry too.

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s. Got a set of 235/40/18s on my CLS 6MT.
Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Got a set on my X.

Both tires are very sticky for the street and are also great in the wet.

 

Obviously hydroplaning is a worse problem the faster you drive. My question was whether this problem was worse in the CL, which I think it might be.

I thought the VSA wasn't put it because of the increased cost to develop.

 

That takes all the fun out of it

 

I've driven ALOT worse cars. Tires have alot to do with it though.