Hey guys, just adding how great our max's are. I live in northern california which have been storming for the past several days. I was southbound on 680travelling about 65mph when i hit a large pool of water on the fast lane. I saw it coming but it was too late. Next thing I knew, I grabbed hold of the steering wheel hard and held on for the ride. The water completely covered the whoel car but to my surprise, the car continued driving straight. I didnt even swerve (considering I was truning in a slight bend) nor hydroplane out of control. I wasnt sure if the TCS kicked in but I was glad I didnt loose control.

 

im not going to say its only maxima's but i've hydroplaned around the same speed and it stayed straight at on time and another i've noticed the car slightly drifting so consider it god on your side lol

 

Just have to be very careful on the road, nothing else you can do.

 

About 2 months ago, had same thing happen to me. They just rebuilt this freeway to drop it below street level. What I didn't know, is that they put a drain from street level dumping excess rain water right onto the freeway.

Hit it, at about 80mph. Hydroplaned, but didn't panick. Car started to turn from the rear, turned into the skid and it straightened out. Needless, to say, didn't need any coffee to wake me up that morning.

 

I hear ya, I need something like that to wake up me in the morning on a regular basis.

 

Do these Maxima's have any other kind of stability control besides Traction Control System?

 

Ya gotta be careful in wet weather. Where on the 680 were you? I half grew up in that region after moving from east coast.

 

lucky yall, i dont have traction control... well lucky me also lol

 

I hear it's most dangerous to drive right when it STARTS raining because apparently that's when all the oil and stuff on the road from cars driving on it starts moving towards the edges of the road (cause the road is sloped downwards on both sides). At least this is what I was taught in a driving course a long time ago haha.

 

I haven't experienced hydroplaning yet but I heard its one of the scariest things on the road. Glad to hear that the max is holdin' up on it though!!

 

i actually spun out in my maxima when it just started to rain. scariest thing i ever experienced....especially when it was on the highway

 

even more frightening is when it snows... my car slid downhill with me to an intersection (luckily) no one was coming, had to pull the handbrake up to have the car fishtailng to a certain direction rather than going in the woods

 

What area of 680 were you at? I live close to hwy 80, so im in your area. I hydroplaned about 2 years ago. It was the first time driving the maxima in the rain I was headed towards San Fran when I hit a puddle of water while the road was turning and I nearly ended up under an 18-wheeler. Thank God nothing happened though. I've learned how the car reacts to hydroplaning and I try to avoid puddles no matter what.

 

man i hydroplaned so badly one time in my dodge ram. Spun across 3 lanes, over a median into oncoming traffic. I was on my way to work one morning. It was intense. Ive luckly never had a bad experience in a car with hydroplaning. My truck however was the devil since it was RWD and a truck bed has no weight to it. Fun times lol

 

Wider (lower profile) tires are more likely to hydroplane, as the wider tread makes it more difficult for the water to escape from under the tire, especially at higher speeds. Also, the less tread depth on the tires, the harder for the water to escape and the easier it is to hydroplane.

tarun900 - Maximas have Traction Control (optional on early 6th gens, then became standard), Antilock Braking (ABS), Brake Assist and Electronic Brake Force Distribution, but the only true vehicle stability system available on the Maxima is the Vehicle Dynamic Control System (VDC), which has been an option (including full size matching alloy wheel/spare) on all five 6th gen model years equipped with auto tranny. Unfortunately, few 6th gen Maximas came with this option, especially during the '04 and '05 model years. There is no doubt whatsoever that the 7th gen Maxima will have some form of electronic stability control as standard.

 

And don't forget the effect of tire inflation on hydroplaning. An under-inflated tire can become concave in the middle of the contact patch and trap a water bubble in there, increasing hydroplaning...

 

Patsky - You are correct, of course.

Slightly higher inflation helps reduce hydroplaning, while slightly lower inflation can help with traction on snow and ice.

 

they should just install a button that alows us to inflat and deflat our tires when needed

 

My spare tire was a steel full size but 17", my car came with 18" . Whats the deal with that?

 

I am also impressed with the Max's anti-hydroplaning abilities. One of my favorite turns had a very deep puddle on the right hand side of it and even with all the weight on the opposite tire, the inside never lifted. I wished I saw better at night. A buddy of mine works at Carmax and when I was shopping for cars trying to decide between the Altima and the Max he let me know the extra weight is very handy in the rain. I'm sure tires have a lot to do with it as well.

 

redls1 - As with most Maximas, yours does NOT have the VDC package (which includes a full size OEM-matching tire on OEM-matching alloy wheel).

As a result, your spare is a 17" steel wheel matched with a higher profile tire than the OEMs. This higher profile spare tire on your 17" steel wheel gives an outside tire diameter approximately the same as your OEM low profile tire on an 18" wheel.

Of course the road-handling characteristics of your spare are not the same as your OEM tire/wheel combo, so you should not drive aggressively or fast or for long distances on your spare.

 

Actually you could put it on the rear and make it a drift car

 

I actually ditched it since I have now have 20" rims and it wouldnt do me much good.

 

On a non hydroplaning note, I had my rear driver's side tire explode when I was going 80+. The Maxima didn't even budge, I would have expected something worse, but the car was solid, kept on going straight like nothing had happened.

 

Good post and correct.

I hydroplaned once in 2003 in my '98 Olds when I hit standing water on I-76 going 75 mph. I now know that the major reason for this hydroplaning (other than the water on the road) was because I had different tread depths between the front tires and the rear tires. With less tread in the rear, they lost traction and the back end of the car came around -- we eneded up going sideways down the highway and into the median where the car rolled over on the top just before coming to a stop. We did not hit anything, but the car was totaled. After this I bought my 04 Max.

Keeping tread depth the same on all tires (to reduce hydroplaning problems) is a major reason for rotating your tires -- to keep the tread wear on all treads as close to the same as possible.

And a good tire-tread pattern is also important to reduce the tendency to hydroplane. While I did not experinece any hydroplaning with the RSA tires, I find that my Michelin Pilot Sports are much better in both rain and especially in snow. I will also be replacing my Pilot Sports before they wear down to the wear-bars in the tread. Hydroplaning is one of the most scary things that can happen to you when driving.

 

SilverMax_04 -Good point about not waiting until the tread depth reaches the wear bars to replace the tires. On dry pavement, tread depth is not very important, but on wet pavement, tread depth is extremely important. If a vehicle is going to be driven at highway speeds on wet roads, it is probably better to forego the last 2/32nds of tread before reaching the wear bars than to end up hydroplaning.