UKH

I'm 55 and still enjoy driving through puddles. My wife tells me that it damages the car, but is this true? Is it time to grow up?

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Presumably you live in Wales and therefore have no other option almost year round?

In reply to bleddynmawr:

1. You’re spraying the underside of the car with high pressure jets of water.  This is unlikely to have good effects, hopefully is damage neutral but may weaken seals or strip protective coatings - especially if there’s fine grit in the water.
2. Puddles don’t normally form on flat roads - they can hide potholes bad enough to warp a wheel letting all the air out...

In reply to bleddynmawr:

I thought my car which can apparently 'wade' through 4 feet of water would be fine but after enjoying a few tsunamis (country roads, no-one around) the computer says 'error - speed restricted' - seemed happy again once whatever it was had dried out though...

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Lifeboats, 😂  It's never time to grow up. 

As for damage, it depends on the car. You might want to check where your engine air intake is, as some are quite low on the front, which could result in a damaged engine. But other than that enjoy. 

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Especially good sport when overtaking columns of cyclists😉

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Not just me then?😄

59 and a half.

In reply to bleddynmawr:

The Queen enjoys jumping up and down in muddy puddles.

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Pot holes. As already mentioned.

I avoid puddles where safe/practicable. Our roads are a mess here.  You’re lucky if so far you’ve driven through puddles at speed and not caused wheel/alignment damage. 

In reply to artif:

A mate of mine wrote off a Peugeot 406 diesel estate doing this. The air intake is more or less at ground level, drove through a big puddle (or minor flood) > water into  engine > total loss 🙁

In reply to Andy Hardy:

Which is seems ever so wasteful, resources wise, that the system as it currently exists makes it cheaper to write a car off than to have it repaired.

In reply to Timmd:

Scrapyards are full of written off cars where an electronic widget has failed, but costs more than the car is worth. Cars are disposable now. I have two old cars pre 90's I can maintain indefinitely, but the Mrs previous car was a write off due to the ignition key barrel failing and the cost of the part was twice the value of the car. 

In reply to artif: Blimey. I guess value needs to be redefined, to do with the environmental footprint of resources. Maybe one day it'll happen.

In reply to bleddynmawr:

I'll always drive through puddles 'cos its fun.

Although corrosion could be a problem, there may be an anti-corrosive effect too  - in winter it will wash the salt from the road off.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Pedestrians appear to be even better targets (non-driver replying).

In reply to oldie:

I did once take out a whole column of ramblers on the Snake Pass (the sort with map cases dangling round their knees). Amy evasive action would have been dangerous with oncoming taffic. Lots of waving fists in my rear view mirror😊

In reply to Robert Durran:

Slowing down to avoid splashing the walkers wouldn't have had any impact on oncoming traffic.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/drivers-splashing-pedestrian...

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/driver-faces-prosecution-after-drench...

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/driver-gets-ticket-for-splashin...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10590181/Motorist-fac...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=218499

Rule #1 when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle: don't be an arse.

In reply to bleddynmawr:

You’re not alone. My party trick in the old works van was to drive at speed at a puddle then at the last minute press the passenger window button( the old van window only went down an inch)in order to get my heavily made up and gobby female passenger a little bit sprayed.

Roll on two years and I  did the same trick in the new van. It had steadily pissed down for days and the surface water and puddles were too much temptation. Being bored of her constant drivel I spotted a huge puddle on the left and accelerated. I hit the passenger window button expecting it to drop an inch then stop.

Did it feck!! All the way down it went.

The wall of water flew over the van and hit the passenger headrest like this Japanese typhoon.

Luckily the passengers muscle memory reacted to the danger and she had bent double at the waste so the majority missed her.

Eventually she saw the funny side.

I dont drive through puddles anymore. 

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Some years back I did destroy the engine of a police car that I was driving (mid Wales). Only driving slowly but it turned out to be rather a deep puddle! 

Water in through the air intake. Didn't go down very well with the police station mechanic, I even had to write a report out - thank god it wasn't my car.

In reply to Martin W:

Is spraying sheep allowed? 

In reply to Martin W:

I would have slowed down as much as I safely could, but heavy enough braking to have have made much difference to the walkers' soaking might have run the risk of skidding as I entered the puddle with possibly unthinkable consequences (it was on a RH bend). 

I did not go out of my way to soak them, but, given that I had no choice, it made sense to enjoy the comic side of the situation.

Good grief. How long did it take you to research that lot?

Indeed.

In reply to MG:

Now I have gone out of my way to get sheep.

It's particularly comical because they don't seem to care.

In reply to Martin W:

WAGS on Alderley Edge High Street are fair game though.

In reply to Robert Durran:

I (kinda) beg to differ. While on a very wet mountain biking holiday second day, we witnessed a sheep move away from the road edge after being splashed by a car, and vigorously shake itself, before going back to sheep business. 

In reply to Lusk:

A friend once pulled me up on my sexism/jumping to conclusions by talking about feeling like saying 'Go and read a book' on seeing teenage girls at a concert who had their images like Kim Kardishan(sp) and similar. She was quite right, of course.

In reply to artif:

In my wife’s experience the air filter gets waterlogged which instantly stalls the engine leaving the car and passengers stranded in the middle of a very deep puddle. 

Air filter squeezed out and left to dry in airing cupboard and all was good to go. 

In reply to Andy Hardy:

Double win: fun of driving through a puddle and no-longer has to drive a Peugeot. 

In reply to Robert Durran:

Another racist anti Welsh comment, our girlfriends do care actually .

In reply to bleddynmawr:

Puddles are fun. Your wife's right but wrong.

jk

In reply to bleddynmawr:

If you're going fast enough you risk an aquaplane causing a loss of control...

In reply to Dan Arkle:

...or force it further into places it can't escape from.

In reply to Timmd:

Maybe the sheep I got was just past caring then.

In reply to bleddynmawr:

You can have hours of fun watching idiots aquaplane.  Its especially good fun when they crash.

In reply to Billhook:

Yes, and then, when they crawl our from the wreck of their car, you can have a really good laugh by driving past and giving them a good soaking.

In reply to Martin W:

I think he could do with a rule #1 sticker is his car to remind him, judging by his comments. 

In reply to bleddynmawr:

I know someone who wrote his car off driving through a puddle that turned out to be deeper than expected. Flooded the engine. I've also driven through a couple hiding unexpectedly savage potholes.