Fighter pi

By Tom Hnatiw
Contributing Writer
SINGING in the rain is
optional.

But driving in the rain
seats its own special challenges

which we need to be aware of

each time we climb behind the

eel.

&@ Prepare your vehicle
Right off the bat tuiere are some
equipment issues. Your tres are

enitical for ovo reasons.
First of all vou need enough
tread depth to channel water out
fer the tire as you coll

over 2. rain soaked road.

Secondly the intlatien of

your tires should be checked
An under-inflated tire
not pump wa our fren
under as ctliciently as a properly
inilated one.
Visibility constitutes another
equipment issuc.
Naturally, vour windshield
wipers need to be in top condi-
don and so do all of the lights on

All wheel drive
ABS
Air Bags

the exteiior of your vehicle.

Your windsercen should) be
clean on the inside as evel, One
hundred per cent humatio. 4
common condition when it
tains, tends to feg up the glass

ky or sole
hard to sce
through when it begins te fog
up.

Driving in the rain can be
best considered by dividing tie
subject inte tour categories:
acceleration, braking, si
aad the other uy,

Adjust your speed
As motorists We can accomplish
much of what is required to
keep ourselves sate in the rain
simply by slowing down, What
we cannor control is what the
other guy may do.

From ‘perience, the

other guy is capable of some of

the most outlandish things you
ever saw. However, what the
other guy is mosdy guilty of is
traveling too quickly for his abil-
iry to handle the condition
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B Power windows & locks

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MARINE DRIVE

lots drive

qalceiy: tor the conditions.” A
trained and. skilied driver can
actually manage the conditions
well enough to sustain sermal
speeds for the most part

Without training, the vehicle
dynamics we've become used to
in dry weather are altered by the
raM eno
control To an extent then, we
might just be the other uy.

Tn the words of the immortal
Pogo of the comic sinps, “We
have mist the chemy and ne is

tn.

B Traction limited

Acceleration iy challenged
because of the drop ti avaiable
traction, We are net able to ger
Away Troma Mop as qu
especially when the tront wheels
are turned.

Knowing that, we would
make sure there Way eMina room
before we would pull into trafic
turning right or left trom a stop
light. But vou would never dis-
com that from the other guy's
behavior.

So when it’s the other guy

h to cause a toss of

pulling inte trafic, its incu
Vus to keep an eve on
him and make sure we've lett
room to stap without being
struck from: the rear or to steer
around him.

The best way to ascertain this
ofcourse is to slow down a fitde.

On the highway the lack of

tactOn comes into account
when we are acceleraung to
blend with traffic, pulling out ts
pass or planning to turn: feit
against tratt
When traveling at 10% under
peed fim ona pve dane
pased road and being presented
with the opportunity to pass the
vehicle ahead ef you, the temp
tation is to Hoor the accelerator
and scoot by,
By braking
pty with th

traction = too
dime wheels,

In a rear wheel d
rear end will reod te stide +
little in the dircetion 44
which we turn the whee
tront wheel drive vehicle
i tend to slide away

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Irs best to treat sranion
as ifthere were an egg under the
gas pedal and vou just had the
curpess cleaned.

@ Blending traffic

Now, the other guy may not
have read this coiurin, so veau'li
need to keep an eve on him
when he is attempting to blend
with traffic.

Slow down a litde to keep
hin in trent of vou rather than
being roughly parallel with him
ashe floors the gas pedal. Move
over one dang if you etn do so

and have an extra look at
all 360 surrounding degrees to
plan an escape should che other
guy pull a particularly bon.
headed move.

m Braking hampered

king in the rain is relatively

nple to cover. Unless vou"

s Stuck ithe sports car dri
renowned for his uncanny
driving abilities} vou need to ¢
keep nvo things at the front of
your mind, Slow down a little
and leave yourself plenty of extra
room.

Braking will almost certainly
cover more ground than it
would in the dry. Locking up
the brakes will have even more
dire consequences in the wert as
the vehicle will be more apt to
spin in the rai

And then there’s the other
guy, How are you supposed to
prevent him from striking you in
the rear you ask? Simple. By
leaving vourself room to escape.

Don’t pull up tight to the
vehicle in tront of you. Use the
extra space to move into the
other lane the other guy
appears unable to stop in time.

the rain too §

t possible, drive next to a
shouts ora curb so. thar vou
mY use it
should you need it.

@ Steer, don't slide

Steering in the rain is also sim-
ple. The front tires will slide in
the direction of the momestum
you and vour vehicle are earry-
ing. In other words, vou turn
and your vehicle behaves like it
wasn't listening. Racers call this
condition a “and “under:
steer.”

The problem presented by
undentesr isn’t so much the
condition nself but what
motorists tend to do when can-
fronted by it. Most tend to
freeze and do nothing. The
vehicle slides in the direction of
it} momentum and the driver
stares at the object he ap to
be about to hit until he hits it.

The problem is that the tires
have begun to slide and sliding
res don’t steer. The object is to
get the tire rolling again. Often
simply unwinding the steering
wheel to stop the tires from slid-
ing and yverting them rolling
again, then gently rurning again
is all it rakes.

However, over steering is
unlikely to help much, although
the increased skidding will tend
to slow the car down a little. lf
the speed is slower, chances are
the ares will scrub off sufficient
speed so as to regain traction
and the result is simply a wider
turn than we intended.

- Tom Huatiw is an
advanced driving conrse tnstruc-
tor who covers the auto industry
in all media. You can e-mail
veur questions to him at criti-
cal@er

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