Should I take my car in the rain?

[nickruocco]

whole group of buddies and GIRLS are headed to the beach this weekend but its calling for rain both days.

is it worth it to give the car alot of exposure(lets not lie here, and myself! haha) and bear the rain for

two days or forget about it?

What damage might it do?

I have never really tested out my shiny red wingman.

[talon]

My V8 is a little delicate in the rain. Well, to be honest, it's a bit like an elephant on rollerskates.

I've been caught in the rain acouple times and , as long as you are careful, it does OK. I short shift and try to stay out of the boost.

[jfitz981]

I hate getting the car stuck in the rain (it has only happened a few times). It drives totally fine ...no problems there. But cleaning it afterwards is very time consuming...that just me as it needs to look "perfect."

I do know there are people here who drive theirs all the time so driving in the rain should be no problem...

Later...Jason

[nickruocco]

Yeah, im not really too worried about driving it in the rain, I got caught once. I just dont know if the risk of rust and allllll the time cleaning is going to be worth it. I'm prob not taking it, but damn this rain!!! would have been alot of fun.

[iainskea]

Nick, it has to be one of the hottest looks - a dripping wet Red Esprit. This is closly followed by a dripping wet black Esprit.

Must-take pics at the beach!

Iain

[s4simon]

Mine hasn't seen a wet road since '98...

That's 10 years of dry driving.

As Talon said - Short shift and definately no boost, otherwise hedge you will find.

[chandrab]

If it's raining really hard it can be quite miserable in the Esprit....the defogger sucks, your windows stuck, heater overworked and passing cars splashing water *over* the esprit covering the windshield for a split second.. But most of the time it's fine.

Just don't go over any deep puddles...the rumor is that it may contribute to the cracking exhaust manifolds.

-Chandra

91SE

Edited March 7, 2008 by chandrab

[Autocross7]

Just drive it! In mobile I have to drive in the rain as it rains every other day at least for a half hour. Don't drive it like you stole it and you will be fine. As for cleaning... I pretty much detail it every week. I wash it, spray wax/detailer, vacuum the inside, rub down the leather with the proper stuff, and wipe down everything in the motor bay.... but them I am a sick person that uses the time it takes to clean it as "down time" for the brain... and the car looks good when done!

Cameron

[Lowtus]

Just drive it! Cameron

Sense at last!

[sky_cz]

when u drive easy no quick acceleration, rain is no problem, when i took car to my home place, cca 700km was heavy rain, some fog, a deadly night.

u can only count that u drown fog lights.

[Kimbers]

I drive mine every weekend whether it's raining, snowing or just plain nasty.

Like Iain says take your camera cause nothing looks as sexy as a wet Esprit (unless it 2 wet Esprits with 2 wet t shirted sexy women draped on them).

The only csution is, try and keep it out of rocket mode. This isn't too much a problem for you, the S4 is quite controlable under 5k, even in icey conditions. Don't forget she was built to be a little loose at the back. It's all good!

Only floor it on a straight and listen to the rear wheels spin even in 3rd/4th....very cool and great fun! After a while you could even feel confident enough to do a little end out action on purpose! I regularly floor it in the wet on roundabouts...always fun occasionally a little brown trousers!

[lotus4s]

The Esprit is just like any other car, it's not going to melt in the rain. It's designed and built In Great Britain for gosh sakes.

Traction in the rain can be as good as any other car depending on the tires. I have the Goodyear F1 GS-D3's and they are great in the rain. You need to be careful of the HP and wet roads but it's not going to slide off in a ditch if you hit a cup of water.

Sure, you may have a little extra cleaning up to do but Girls and Beach, I don't see any other option....

[Bibs]

It was chucking it down this morning and I took the Esprit on a 40 mile motorway journey. It's filthy but still in one piece!

[rens914]

The F**king car was designd and built in the UK

come on

it rains there 300 days a year B)

give the girl what she deserves

rens

[MPx]

Check out my Avatar. That's taken at Castle Combe track in monsoon conditions. Was more prone to oversteer than normal (as aluded to above), but still fine and fun to drive as long as you concentrate. If you want to push it a little in the rain, let a few lbs pressure out of your tires so that they run hotter and grip stays OK. You've paid all that money to have the car so you may as well enjoy it whenever you can.

[Vulcan Grey]

Rain doesn't bother me. Make sure you have good tires though.

I've driven in huge rainfall, and through large deep water on a flooded road (6-8")

No problems with the Esprit.

Just don't give it so much power that you spin the wheels, and know what to do if you do (let off the throttle and it go straight again)

I did spin off the racetrack in the rain once with freezing sleet rain, standing water on every braking zone... But I had bald rear tires and good front tires... that cause a major imbalance.

[Jonathan]

Thats the issue - too much right foot and the tyres.

What you 4 bangers forget is the wheels on a V8 are MUCH wider than the standard skinny rears which means they have to move more water.

Even at low speeds my car can aquaplane - easing the throttle on a V8 is also a bit of a trick as it has so much more torque than a 4 pot.

When Alex lost his car on the way back from Hethel in the rain, my back end was sliding around all over the place at 50mph, granted that was bad rain but it was scarey as hell.

The result with the tyres lifing up and more torque = easier wheel spins.

Just be careful, be ultra careful in standing water EVEN when it's stopped raining. Just had too many PMs about "crickey I never knew a V8 would do that !!" under gentle acceleration in the wet. If in doubt fit a 3rd part traction control like some have done on here.

IMO the V8 and 4 cylinder cars are chalk and cheese in this situation.

[sky_cz]

The F**king car was designd and built in the UK

come on

it rains there 300 days a year B)

give the girl what she deserves

rens

[Mark Blanchard]

My only worry about the rain is the water spraying from the rear wheel on to the manifold. They don't like big changes in temerature.

Check out my Avatar. That's taken at Castle Combe track in monsoon conditions. Was more prone to oversteer than normal (as aluded to above), but still fine and fun to drive as long as you concentrate. If you want to push it a little in the rain, let a few lbs pressure out of your tires so that they run hotter and grip stays OK.

That drive at Castle Combe really was a monsoon! Took mine there too, but not around the track, not as good a driver as Mike.

[DBredS4]

I leave mine out in all weather now, its my only drive.

As for driving in the rain, its been said but:

ensure your tyres are healthy, no sudden steering/accelerating/braking inputs and watch coming off a roundabout in 2nd gear...

Also, when you change gear down ensure there isn't a large/sudden rev change as it can, and will, unsettle the back end resulting in a spin.

Drive like Miss Daisy and you'll be fine...

[Paul C]

The Esprit is just like any other car, it's not going to melt in the rain. It's designed and built In Great Britain for gosh sakes.

Bang on mate!

If it's got windscreen wipers and groves in the tyres then you can drive it

in the rain, as it's clearly been designed to be able to be driven in the rain.

The Esprit is fine in the rain and on wet roads, there are 2 reasons you

might not want to drive the esprit in the wet, and neither are any fault of the

car, they are human issues.

Reason 1:

You will lose the car, with emphasis on the word 'You'. The car is just fine

in the wet, if You choose to drop down a gear and meet the next one with

high revs and boost then thats no fault of the car. If You go into a corner

to fast then thats no fault of the car. If You get heavy on the loud pedal

when theres nothing for the tyres to grip on then that is, again, no fault of

the car.

Reason 2:

It will get water and dirt all over it. This will kill you if 'detailing' is your thing,

again it's now your choice as to whether driving in the rain is as important as

all the cleaning you will have to do after. The Esprit will not express an opinion

either way.

Of course there is corrosion, but how much can you limit yourself?

Over half my visits to castle combe for example have seen rain, but never on

the journey there. Likewise i've has it pissing down at Supercar sunday, there

were millions of pounds worth of italian exotics also getting wet, but i'm not going

to stop going to events in case i cannot get home in the dry, especially in the uk,

Might as well sell up than try that.

[lotus4s]

Thats the issue - too much right foot and the tyres.

What you 4 bangers forget is the wheels on a V8 are MUCH wider than the standard skinny rears which means they have to move more water.

IMO the V8 and 4 cylinder cars are chalk and cheese in this situation.

Jonathan,

I have V8 wheels/tires on my 4 and being as heavily modded as it is it will outrun most stock V8's. My buddies and I have done many road trips in driving rain (4 & 8 cyl) and none of us has ever had a problem.

Maybe it has to do with the road surfaces you guys have. Or maybe it's because of all the British cars dumping oil on the roads.

What tires do you run?

Edited March 8, 2008 by lotus4s

[islandbloke]

I'm on a rock in the middle of the Irish Sea, and neither rain, gale force winds, snow nor plagues of locusts will keep me and Lottie off the roads - but then I think she's for driving and not just for looking at.

Just drive according to the conditions, as others have already suggested. Snow and ice is good fun - at 10mph in a supermarket carpark you can learn how she'll handle in the dry at 100...

[Vulcan Grey]

I have V8 sizes too. Hydroplaning is a problem, but good tires make it less so.

[Jonathan]

LOTS of the probs over here are caused by the DIRE road surfaces.

The Govnt. spend about