NewMustang

Last tuesday I was driving on freeway at 60MPH in 70MPH zone. As you can see, I already slowed down, because of slippery road. I was going straight, then all of a sudden, the car spun, and hit the snow wall. When I got out of the car, the road was quite slippery indeed.

But everyone was going the same speed as I did, some even faster. My car has traction control. Why my car spun? Was that because I didn't have snow tires? Or would a LSD haveprevented it?


EDIT: Or would the "vehicle stability control" that's on more expensive cars have prevented it?

TPony

WoW...hard question to answer. It could have been many factors or a combination of factors such as:

- you hit a patch of black ice and lost your traction
- even by slowing down, you were going to fast for road condition
- your tires are worn out, if not, they were inappropiate for the road.

Just hard to tell.

hammeron

good luck and i hope you get your car fixed up and back on
the road.

added: also if you were using your cruise control, that could be
a problem as well.

GreyStang

Well you tell US what happened.. you were there

What exactly did you do just before the car spun out? Did you turn the wheel (change lanes or curve in road?) accelerate or press the brake? Surely you can't be saying you did nothing at all & the car just spun out?? Either the car is posessed or a MASSIVE gust of wind hit you from the side?

I've been driving LONG BEFORE any sort of fancy stability controls & ABS ever existed, and I drive in Canada where we get extreme winters, and so far so good. Yea I have had a car spin on me a couple times but I know exactly why, & you should too. If you tap your brakes while on black ice for example, that can do it

NewMustang

I did nothing. I set the cruise at 60MPH, was going straight, then the car started to slide, then spun. The car was brand new, so were the tires. I had about 1500 miles on the car. Everyone was going at that speed, no one spun, only me. Why? Because of the stock 17 Pirelli PZero tires?

Next time I won't be using cruise when I drive there, will drive a lot slower. I'malso thinking to get snow tires. But right now, I'm just puzzling why the accidenthappened. Was I driving too fast?

wythors

You just answered your own question. Never, EVER use cruise control in slippery conditions. You will find this same warning in your owner's manual, if you ever read it. Cruise will attempt to keep your vehicle speed at sixty, regardless of road conditions. Wheel slip will result in cruise attempting to drastically slow the car causing you to lose control in those conditions.

NewMustang

Wow! I never would have thought of that! Thank you.

NewMustang

So, in conclusion, the accident happened mainly because I used cruise control on slippery road, not the tires not being snow tires, right?

Chopper

YES and don't EVER use cruise control on a road in rain either, especially an automatic transmission car.The front tires hit the water puddle,the cruise detects a slowdown,the cruise feeds in more throttle,the tranny shifts down,the car breaks traction,you are now along for the ride.I had this happen once and totaled the Merc XR7 it happened in.

DesertMach

Hydroplaning?? I was driving my chevelle a while back (on wet raods just after a rain)and went through an intersection (Approx 40-50 mph) next thing I knew I was sideways, I didnt accelerate or hit the brakes to cuase this, It just happened out of nowhere. luckily I didnt crash.

Afterwards I went back to the intersection to observe a large pubble in the intersection, this puddle wasn't deep and wasnt visable while driving,but it was good size, well we determined that with the wide tires and the length of the puddle this caused me to hydroplane (sp).