RE: Hydroplaning

["Fadeev, Alex" <Alex.Fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I have a '91 e30 with new Michelin MXV4's on the front, and 
> some slightly less new Goodyear Eagle HP's on the rear. Driving
> home on the Jersey Tpk in moderately heavy rain, felt slight
> loss of control once, and took it easy for the rest of the 
> trip. I was being passed by many other cars, with inferior 
> rubber and reputations. 

	You can largely answer that question yourself by analyzing _what_
the car was doing. 
	Was the car over/under steering? Where you turning/changing lanes?
To what side was the water draining(typically to the right off the
shoulder)? In what lane where you? In what lane was the passing traffic? How
well was the road draining? The last time I drove on NJ Tpk there was
standing water on the road in a moderate rain. Particularly in the right
lane.
	Regardless of "reputation", heavy cars on thin tires will always
have better traction in wet conditions.

>In dry conditions, I feel untouchable in the car.

That's a teenage thing. It will pass with age/first accident. 

> A few months ago, I was on the same road with much heavier 
> rain, and with the HP's up front, mounted incorrectly vis a 
> vis the direction of rotation, and some older HP's with about
> 3/32" tread on the rear.

OK, so you had 1). _bold_ rear tires; 2). _mismatched_ front/rear tires.
This gives you at least _two_ very good reasons to be extra careful in the
rain.

> At about 55 mph, felt a shudder, and I decelerated to about 45 
> mph. 20 seconds later I was spinning around in place and then
> vectored off the hwy onto the shoulder.

OK, so you were NOT extra careful in the rain...

> Busted tie rod and banged up lower skirt/fog lamps/oil cooler.  
> More importantly, lost confidence in the car in the rain.

it was obviously the car's fault...

> Where can I find out more about the situation? 

Autocrossing/driving schools.
Assuming you admit you have something to learn about driving. 

> I felt worried driving slower than the flow of traffic.
> From an earlier post, a respondent wrote that the problem was 
> solely the fault of the low tread in the rear, and that the 
> new tires should have been on the rear, not the front, and that
> the incorrect directionality was irrelevant.  What's the real 
> deal, scoop?

You were going too fast. On mismatched tires. At least twice. Wracked the
car the first time. 
Didn't draw any conclusion/learn any lessons.
Get my drift?

alex f

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