my deepest sympathies for you and your wife especially. i hope her injuries aren't serious! did you remember if you hit a puddle? i found on that night when i almost slid out that the puddles were the culprits, the car holds up quite well on 'evenly wet' surfaces as long as the water layer isn't to thick..


[QUOTE]Originally posted by RoadSurfer1
My first two sets of tires on my 01 were the S02s.

 

Thanks, Alfredo. No, neither of us was injured whatsoever, except for some whiplash symptoms that disappeared within a week. Given what that transport truck did to the car, I'd say it's one tough little bugger.

Yeah, the hydroplaning was precipitated by a major batch of deep, standing water. We were told later that there had been a major downpour in that area just 10 minutes before we came through. That water was added to by the wash of the 18-wheeler I was running next to at the moment its driver decided to slow down suddenly to allow for an RV coming down an on-ramp to his right. Just an unlucky combination of factors, plus my being over-confident about the car's traction potential -- that's what started the whole thing. Then it was not helped by the fact that (blush) I was using the cruise control. Had I not been, who knows? Using my foot rather than the cruise wouldn't have prevented the hydroplaning from starting, but maybe it would have allowed me to recover control after it started. Like I said, we'll never know, but I don't intend to test it out at any time in the future. From now on, I either avoid autoroutes and interstates in the rain or just slow wayyyy down under those conditions.