Driving in wet on the road

[irvingd]

Hi,

So, I'm picking up the Superlight on Friday.... And currently the weather forecast is looking pretty bad...

I'm not massively experienced with driving this sort of car (only driven them twice before - both on track) - and I'm getting pretty scared of the drive back if it's raining.

Any tips on keeping it in a straight line if its hammerring it down with rain?

My guesses are simple things like 3rd out of rounderbouts, obviously not slamming the foot to the floor etc.

A bit nervous though!!

Cheers,

Dave

[normalbloke]

If you are asking questions like those, I too am now terrified...

[dickieandjulie]

normalbloke said:

If you are asking questions like those, I too am now terrified...

Dave - Delighted that you are picking up your new car but I have to agree with the above. Just drive it like a normal car and you will be fine.

I had the Tamora out in the rain yesterday, no problems.

Just relax and enjoy.

Richard

[irvingd]

The onlt thing that was worrying me is that the only time I've driven a caterham in the wet was an R300 at Rockingham.... And there were quite a few spins!!

[davidball]

Just drive slowly enough to be able to wave back at people who wave to you.

[GetCarter]

S M O O T H L Y does it, and you'll be fine.

[Chris71]

Get the heated screen and/or heater on the go if it has either, so you can see out! Driving style is all the usual stuff - basically do everything smoothly and progressively and never hoof the throttle. You can always light the tyres up in a straight line or away from a deserted T-junction and find where they start to break traction.

Setup-wise I personally found my car a lot easier in the wet with the anti-roll bars disconnected. If you're picking it up from a dealer you might be able to get them to stick it on the ramp and disconnect them before you set off if it's not already been done. I'd hazzard a guess that you might want them back on the track, but for winter road conditions on dry-biased tyres they make things a lot easier at the limit - I won't put mine back until the summer returns or a track day beckons.

The steering is quite quick with the quick rack which will make it more darty than most road cars, but other than that a well setup Seven should be pretty benign in a steady state. It's only really the issue of a light back end, decent power to weight ratio and a limited slip diff you need to contend with. That may sound menacing, but basically it means it's all down to your right foot. If it's a basic Superlight it should be fun rather than scary, even in the wet.

[ForzaGilles]

I'd echo what everyone else has said, and also add to keep an eye out for standing water, Caterham's don't tend to like it being such a light car. I'm sure you'll be fine

[pistolp]

Just be prepared with the opposite lock! If you anticipate it happening it won't be a problem. They are great fun in the wet but you don't need to be scared of it

[pistolp]

PS - you don't need to worry about the set up for road driving, especially as it will be wet and you are inexperienced. Unless you are trying to beat your record time for getting home, judging by your first post I don't think that is the case.

[ewenm]

Just take it easy - the car is pretty benign if you're not stupid with your inputs.

When I collected mine I drove it in the dark and heavy rain through London traffic, having never driven a Caterham before. It's easy as long as you're sensible.

[Chris71]

pistolp said:

PS - you don't need to worry about the set up for road driving, especially as it will be wet and you are inexperienced. Unless you are trying to beat your record time for getting home, judging by your first post I don't think that is the case.

Trust me, my car is a lot easier to drive with the ARBs disconnected. I wasn't after setting lap times. With them on a dry race setting I was getting wheel spin when I pulled out to overtake on a wet motorway in 6th! It's an absolute pussycat now - far, far more forgiving. I know which way I'd rather have it on a wet day if I'd never driven the car before.

(Admittedly it was too stiff for a road setup even in the dry, so the difference was obviously pretty extreme...)

[mcerbm]

I drove a superlight R back from london a few weeks ago (to aberdeen). There was quite a lot of moisture on the ground and at -4 a bit slippy, encountered full on snow when i reached aberdeen too! Just be smooth and you'll find you'll be ok. opposite lock seems to be instinctive in a caterham due to the quick steering. If you are that worried about losing traction have your left foot hovering over the clutch just in case as dipping it will return traction quicker than just getting off the throttle, make sure you take the steering lock off quick enough if you catch a slide though!!

[sjmmarsh]

Just remember that the traction control is connected to your right foot! It would also help us to know about your current car experience:

front, rear or 4 wheel drive?

Traction control?

Electronic throttle?

If you are in a front wheel drive car, wonder what that flashing yellow light means on the dash and have a car that 'interprets' your throttle input to avoid poor mpg, then the journey is going to be interesting.....

Steve

[CatMatt7]

You'll be absolutely fine. Just collect the car and drive it normally.

I had similar concerns when I picked up my first seven, but found the car to be very instinctive and didn't have any problems.

Feather the throttle, rather than slamming it down.

Do watch out for standing water on the motorway (if you go on any). Being a light car they can aquaplane on deep standing water, but just avoid the lorry ruts and you'll be fine.

And don't forget to enjoy every minute of it.

[Scotty996T]

Irving, I've had ours out in the snow. The cars are progressive, so as long as you don't over react I find it fine (that comment will no dount haunt me!) - it's like walking on ice - the more scared you are the worse it is. Helathy sense of self preservation is all that's required and just be smoothe. We run our on CR500's or soft Ao21R's and both are really capable. Enjoy

[huwp]

All of the above is very good advice. Sometimes, ironically, I think it is easier to drive in steady rain. It's obvious that you need to careful. More difficult is when the road surface changes between dry and damp. That's the only time I have had a mishap (read spin).

[Tango7]

Yep, just take it easy and keep the throttle, brake and steering inputs nice and smooth. If you drive it like you stole it, you will come a cropper even on dry roads let alone wet ones until you become more experienced. Relax and take it easy and leave plenty of room between you and the car in front to make it easier on yourself.

Have a good one

T

[Chris71]

huwp said:

All of the above is very good advice. Sometimes, ironically, I think it is easier to drive in steady rain. It's obvious that you need to careful. More difficult is when the road surface changes between dry and damp. That's the only time I have had a mishap (read spin).

If you could rely it to behave the same way as it did on the last corner every time you could learn a cars limits very quickly. It's surface changes, cambers, unexpectedly puddles and the like that throw you off. One of my favourite local roads has a sudden surface change over a crest mid-bend - you can barely make out any change until you drive over it. After the first unexpected shimmy in my previous car I always treat that with a degree of discretion!

Edited by Chris71 on Wednesday 24th February 11:46

[Yellow 7]

Easy with the right foot, short shift.
LSD makes it much more forgiving when you do break traction IMO.
Ditto about ARB - better on the road without it.

Make sure there's nice amount of tyre tread on the rear - if the fronts and the rears are the same and there's more tread on the front - swap em round.

Enjoy.