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Hemmings Motor News Blog

Hemmings Motor News has been around since 1954. We're proud of our heritage, but we're also more than the Hemmings full of classifieds that your father subscribed to. Aside from new editorial content every month in Hemmings, we have three monthly magazines: Hemmings Muscle Machines, Hemmings Classic Car and Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car.

While our editors traverse the country to find the best content for those magazines, we find other oddities related to the old-car hobby that we really had no place for - until now. With this blog, we're giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what we see and what we do during the course of putting out some of the finest automotive magazines you'll ever read.

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Skills 101: Driving in the Rain

Posted June 04, 2013 8:00 AM by dstrohl
Pathfinder Tags: rain skills 101 technique

Driving on snow and ice is a fact of life for those living in northern climates, but driving in the rain is a fact of life for nearly all motorists. Even those with carefully maintained classic cars can find themselves miles from home in a sudden deluge, forcing them to press on regardless or seek shelter until the weather passes. While rain doesn't compromise grip nearly as much as frozen precipitation, driving in the rain is not without risk, and being safe in the rain requires both preparation and a change to normal driving practices. Aside from the obvious reduced visibility, wet roads can increase stopping distances significantly compared to dry roads. Wet brakes aren't nearly as effective as dry brakes, further compounding the problem, and hydroplaning (also known as aquaplaning) is a very real risk for those who drive at highway speeds in the wet.

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#1

Re: Skills 101: Driving in the Rain

06/04/2013 11:20 AM

Stan has the answer!

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#2

Re: Skills 101: Driving in the Rain

06/05/2013 8:06 AM

Having the correct tyres with good tread is of paramount importance at all times. We all know it. I also add that having the same tyres front and back are also helpful....

But an extra tip that I personally use each and every time is when it starts raining after a dry spell, even one as short as a week (some might even be correct when they say as short as a day or so, no argument from me!), is an indication to park up, drink a coffee, eat a meal or whatever, till all the other idiots have "cleaned" the roads of rubber/oil debris, by driving over it, mixing it with the rain and then letting the rain wash it away....

At least an hour.....

This debris can make a road as slippery as ice and due to the fact that the idiots also drive too close to the car in front, they are often unable to stop correctly.....

I have never caused an accident, always had good tyres, good brakes good lights all round, and mostly drive in the day with my lights on, but still I have been hit from behind about a dozen times.

I have been then shoved towards the vehicle in front of me, but due to always leaving a good gap (especially when an idiot is trying to crawl inside my exhaust pipe), I have still managed NOT to ram the guy in front.....though it has been close a couple of times....

The biggest drawback of seldom needing to step hard on the brakes, is what my daughter's car is suffering from right now, glassed over disks.....hardly worn, but needing to be changed out. The new ones are sitting on the stairs right now....she is a very good driver indeed.

I may skim the old ones on the lathe for the next time around.....

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#3

Re: Skills 101: Driving in the Rain

06/05/2013 10:44 PM

One other thing to consider. Mud is as bad as ice and maybe even worse. I was driving on a back country road on my way to work (years ago) and as I neared an intersection, the light had just turned green, so I let off the brake and soon my car lifted and spun. I hit a thick patch of mud, which had dropped off the trucks coming from the field. The reason I think it's worse than ice is due to the piles which cause the car to rotate. I was headed straight and when my front tires hit the piles of mud, it put an angular force on my car, which caused it tor spin.

So, when you're driving on the back roads where trucks have dumped piles of mud, be careful.

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