Rising Damp - How To Cope With Downpours And Floods

Here in the UK, 52% of our days are overcast. Rain is a given and it is frequently very heavy. Consequently, we should be used to it and there is no excuse for ignoring it. It is also a fact that even car tyres in prime condition inflated to the recommended pressures can struggle to cope, especially in particularly heavy rain and floods.

In heavy rain, you need two things, grip and visibility. Good wiper blades and a full screenwash bottle are essential. Doubling the distance to the vehicle in front is equally necessary. When the rainfall approaches biblical proportions, you could encounter standing water. Car tyres are designed to offer a grip by clearing water from the area that contacts the road surface. In extreme conditions, they can no longer sweep water away quickly enough. This can lead to a phenomenon called aquaplaning, in which the tyres skim along the surface of the water. Should this happen, you may find out the hard way.

How? Try to brake and very little will happen because the tyres have no grip; the same goes for steering control. A sudden, suspiciously light feel to the steering is an excellent clue to aquaplaning and the ‘cure’ is to gently lift off the accelerator; you will feel the tyres regaining their grip. Nobody who’s experienced it would deny that aquaplaning is frightening. Should it happen, it will quickly educate you into matching your road speed to the prevailing conditions.

Sometimes, rainfall becomes so heavy that the roads’ and their drainage systems can’t cope with it. Here, flooding is not only a risk, it is practically a certainty. The secret of coping with significant flooding is to employ forethought. ‘Look before you leap’ is a long established proverb and in many respects, it applies to flood driving. You shouldn’t attempt to drive into floodwater without knowing how deep it is. Tall 4×4s apart, modern cars have an engine air intake positioned quite low down. The snag is that water, unlike air, is incompressible. Should water enter the engine, the pistons will be stopped dead in their tracks. This will completely wreck the engine.

So, what do you do when you see floods ahead? A simple rule of thumb is that being able to see the road surface means you can see how deep the floodwater is. Assuming you can see the depth of the water, flood driving goes like this.

Drive straddling the white line. Being on the crown of the road puts you where the water is shallowest.

Drive in a low gear, at a slow pace. Creating an impressive bow wave is a very good way to drown your engine but keeping the engine revving will prevent water’s entering the exhaust and causing a stall.

Should the engine come to a dead halt, it’s likely the worst has happened. Depress the clutch immediately and do not attempt to restart the engine. Damage may already have occurred; turning the engine will make it worse.

Should another vehicle be approaching from the opposite direction, make every effort to let it negotiate the floodwater first. This is for two reasons. One, if you both have to move across to let one another pass, you’ll both be in deeper water. Two, if the oncoming vehicle ingests water and dies mid-flood, you’ll be prompted to not try negotiating the flood yourself.

Finally, remember that brake pads can ‘aquaplane’ on wet discs, leaving you without brakes. On leaving the flooded area, apply the brake pedal for a short while, to dry the discs.

Merityre are a leading UK independent supplier of car tyres. Why not visit their website at www.merityre.co.uk and see where you can buy your next set of tyres.

Pre-Loved Pointers: Used Car Buying Tips

‘Caveat emptor’ is Latin. It means ‘Let the buyer beware’ and it makes the perfect maxim for anyone intending to buy a secondhand car. The rules for a successful purchase are simple enough and making a matchless deal is easy if you use these pointers.

1: Check the tyres. Car tyres save your life on a daily basis, simply by doing their job. Tyres with 3 millimetres or less of tread need replacing. Tyres can also be excellent tell tales. If they’re worn unevenly, the car’s suspension, steering or brakes could be at fault. Cracked tyres are generally pensionable and lumps or bulges in tyre carcasses suggest internal damage. Remember to check the spare tyre and bear in mind that tyre failure can be a killer.

2: Check the VIN. The car’s Vehicle Identification Number should match that in the logbook. If it doesn’t or is absent, the car could have been stolen, ‘rung’ or be two half cars welded together.

3: Check the history. This advice counts in two ways. Dealers must offer an HPI check by law. If buying privately, have one carried out yourself. An HPI check is to validate the car’s history and would reveal previous damage, theft, insurance claims, writings off and more.

Service history is equally important. If a main dealer or an approved concern has carried out servicing, the car’s automatically a better prospect.

4: Check the deal. Often, dealers can offer a warranty. The car may have some remaining manufacturer’s warranty and there may be ’sweeteners’, such as included accessories. Be very careful if buying from a private seller. Once the car is yours, you have very little comeback if it proves to be a bad buy.

5: Check the car. Unless professionally executed, accident repairs are easy to spot. Look for poor panel gaps, paint colour and texture mismatches, non-factory additions (e.g. lights) and damaged exterior trim. Take particular note of the car’s extremities: the nose and all four corners. Suspiciously thick, new-looking underseal can hide a lot, as can the boot carpet.

Look under the bonnet, for a clean engine bay with no rust or coolant stains. Dip the oil, which shouldn’t be like black treacle, and look underneath the car for spots of leaked fluid.

6: Check the mileage. The car’s MOT certificates should show a believable progression of mileage figures and the speedometer’s mileage reading should tally. Modern electronic mileometers can be easily tampered with so checking that the speedo screws aren’t butchered doesn’t always reveal a clocked car. That said, plastics and modern trim can wear. If the steering wheel rim and the pedal rubbers are shinier than the bodywork, chances are the car has an intergalactic mileage in reality. A worn, bursting drivers seat, is a dead giveaway, as are badly worn driver’s door mechanisms. Don’t forget that these parts could have been replaced, so if they look too new, be wary.

7: Check the performance. Have a realistically long test drive, using the vehicle as you expect to on a daily basis. Try the brakes, steering, transmission and electrical items. Should something be not as expected, be careful to not fall for the old ‘They all do that’ routine!

8: Remember these three golden rules. Unless the car you’re examining is so rare that there simply isn’t another, you can always find a rival example. Rule two: it’s a buyer’s market at the moment and you can always walk away. Rule three is simpler still: buy with your head, never your heart!

Merityre are a leading UK independent supplier of car tyres. Why not visit their website at www.merityre.co.uk and see where you can buy your next set of tyres.