Hydroplaned and ditched :(
 

Driving home from work today, I ended up hydroplaning less then a mile away from my home.
Luckily we got the Z out in 15 minutes from a passing tow truck before police had a chance to show up.
All damage is on the driver side



http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_1535.jpg




http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_1533.jpg


http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMG_1537.jpg

Ouch. Those airbags are going to rape your wallet.

Good to see that you and your passenger seem just fine. Cars are replaceable.

Hopefully, things will turn out well.

Sucks to see any Z go this but a 40th hits close to home for me. Keep us informed how the repairs go. Especially the wheels as matching the 40th wheel paint might be a challenge and many people have been looking for examples of them being repaired.

Glad you are OK

best of luck to u wit repairs! let us know how u fix the wheel!

Wow that's hard to take in. Glad your ok. Car should be back to 100% soon enough. How badly was the roads wet and was it pouring hard? I'm curious because the Z doesn't feel all that stable driving in the rain.

i saw a few air bags for sale on the forum..... a few from cars made into race cars....no idea if you need new air bag modules as well or will they reset?

Ouch...Glad to know you're ok. Good luck with the fix.

Sorry to see that, but glad that you and the passenger didn't get hurt.

Hope you can get everything fixed ASAP and have it back onto the road.

Just curious, how old are the tires and how fast you were going??

WOW! Sorry to hear about that...I hydroplaned a bit last week in a huge downpour, scared the crap out of me...glad you guys are ok.

Hope ur okay. How fast were you going?

:iagree:

Ouch

Ouch. I recall 30 years ago going sideways all of a sudden on a rain-slick interstate in Colorado in my 280Z. Fortunately, I was able to get it going the same way it was pointed. Unfortunately, it was pointed at the grassy median. Didn't roll, didn't hit anything, but it sure stopped suddenly in the big puddle in the median. Fortunately, that car had no air bags, so it was just winched out and I could drive it away.

It was a simpler time.

Why didnt you call the police? The insurance company is going to want their report to file a claim.. Glad you are safe though bud.

You would think these pictures are good enough to make a claim.

I agree, the Z doesn't feel stable while driving in the rain.

ouch. get better tires next time around, keep VDC turned on, go easy.

GL on the repairs.

i found S04's to be VERY GOOD in the rain.

:icon18:

VDC has saved my butt so many times in the rain. Our cars seem to hydroplane a LOT.
Glad you are ok!

Airbags are definitely gonna cost several thousand to replace :(

I am glad that you are OK.

Glad you are good, I have driven kinda hard in the rain a few times, never had hydroplaning issues, but I am running all seasons making a significant difference. Either way you gotta slow down in the rain. :tiphat:

Wow sorry to hear and glad your okay, today was the first day in the rain with my new Z and it was hard to keep it from slipping on every start.

Glad to see you are ok, its true a car can always be replaced. But damn, look at how well the water is still beading on the paint!

my Z was horrible in the rain with the OEM tires

WOW....... That sucks man. I am sorry to hear & see what has happened. I hope you are doing all right. How fast were you going when you hydroplane? I saw several people say "our cars seem to hydroplane a LOT." This I didn't really know. Hope you feel better.

I totaled my 350 when I hydroplaned into rush hour traffic and got hit by an eighteen wheeler :icon14:

I've had some close calls in my Z as well in the rain. VDC needs to stay on when it is wet outside. Even just alittle. Bottom line. Having good tires also is a must, and not letting them get bald. Damn I was really scared the last time I hydroplaned.

Experienced the same thing in the Rocky mountains a couple of years ago. The tires had 80% + tread left too, but the stock tires are NOT safe in heavy rain. I switched to Hankook Ventus V12's this year and feel a little safer. Hydroplaning is a very helpless feeling :icon14:

Well, in the first place he would got a reckless driving ticket which it will show up on his insurance.

However if he goes thru his insurance they are going to ask him for one and his rates will go up.

Unless he has the cash to fix it without getting the insurance company involved, but it looks like it going to be expensive with those airbags deploying.

Airbags deploying equals big problems! GL OP and glad you are OK.

That's crazy that the bags went off without impact. Also he might have skated without a ticket since there was no other cars involved or property damage. Also no witnesses.

After a rainy session in auto-x, OEM tires completely confirm they are not suited for any rain driving. You're better off with all-season tires if you can't afford it, otherwise for better dry grip but good rain, you need to rain your cash on Potenza S-03. Even the Nitto NT05 made me feel uneasy about driving in the rain if it pours more than 1 inch.

I doubt he would have gotten a reckless driving ticket. I would file with insurance if it cost more that $1500 to repair. That's what it's for. There's a chance your rate could go up, but that really depends on your history. I think a lot people just underestimate the amount of traction they really have. That, coupled with a pretty powerful engine and rwd is a recipe for disaster without VDC. Just need to really slow down and give the tires a chance to push the water out. There's always a trade-off when it comes to max dry traction vs wet traction performace.

He never said the VDC was off. Just throwing that out there.

You hydroplaned because you drove too fast for your tires. If you havr bad tires, drive slow. If you have good tires, still be careful. The whole non sense with the vdc is a joke, just drive slower!

Lol, I kind of laughed/caught that too. :tup:

Glad you are ok, sucks about the damage to the 40th

Driving the Z in the rain is definitely not as fun for me..always feel like i have to be much more cautious...so rainy days are a blah driving day for me

Don't think we were implying that he (said he) had it off, I was just saying that you need to have it ON in the rain. Bottom line. You are taking a huge risk if you don't. Just sayin.

Well, happy to see that your alive and even able to report this. Cars are cars....we drive'em, we build them, and sometimes we wear them out over time...Sorry about your ride. I'm unclear on this. I've driven my new 370z 2012 in some very heavy rain in VA. The kind where you can't even see the end of the car and I had no problems with the traction. I wasn't playing around but I still had the car around 70 mph. Sometimes, spins happen. Sometimes its the driver overdriving the limits of the car (tires etc). Have you spent anytime on a wet track learning to drift and control and moderate spins? Just asking. I had my Z out a few weeks back and found it very easy to control the throttle and gearing on the MT around the wet track. I could drift it all day long with the traction control off....Either way, happy to know you're alive to deal with it. :tiphat: Either way, it sucks when it happens to us. I feel your pain.

Insurance will label it your fault for driving too fast in the weather conditions. You could be going 5mph and they'll still blame you. Not getting a police report is a bit shady so you'll get asked about that. Not sure what the law is in your state but a lot of places make you report it to DMV if over a certain $ amount.

Good luck but if they ask you to file a police report for the claim the police may have some questions as to why you didn't wait for an officer to show up. I hope alcohol wasn't involved and if it was, learn from it.

I wouldn't file with insurance. It will usually show on car fax if airbags were deployed. The loss in value from that would be enough for me to fix it myself.