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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - driving in the wet

the wet season is here......i get a little nervous driving the midget under these conditions, found that if you take off from the lights too fast it goes sideways.......not sure if brakes lock up easily. Do i really need to drive like granny when it rains? any experiences or advice from other spridget drivers? I did get an intermittent wiper switch to put in. Anything to improve night vision. Or does one just avoid the rain and take a cab?
b wilson

You drive very carefully! I have spun once in the wet. No damage, but not fun. You also should try to get some good tyres which perform well in the wet.

No need to drive like a granny (just as dangerous imho), but you need to watch out that you don't put too much power in the back wheels when turning.
Rich Amos (1330cc Blaze Red '72)

Hi B

I find visibility the worst part... you forget how good modern cars are in this respect, with large screens several feet away, good wipers, ...

But over many years I've driven in heavy rain, heavy/deep snow and survived. Gentle attention to throttle, brakes, and steering are advisable(!)

BTW in my Kseries, I can spin one of the rear wheels in 3rd around 2.5K...

A
Anthony

I find the worst part is the wet left leg :-(

& then a little injudicious welly can cause a "tail-out" moment but for most of we temperate climate drivers I suppose we get used to it.

We dont get a wet season

we get weather

I had two "tailouts" on Sunday coming back from Stoneleigh, but I have my best two tyres on the front and they are about to find a home at the back this week ,Goodyear GT3s.

The Portuargentinial budget things are bound for the front end and due to be worn to destruction in April on the trackday, I suspect.
Bill

Do what I did at the age of seventeen, in my first Midget.

Find a large, very quiet roundabout (mine serviced a block of privately owned flats, but an industrial estate on a Sunday night would serve just as well), and choose a nice streaming wet night. Just go round and round getting gradually faster and faster, until you're just going round sideways. You'll soon discover the limits, and what to do (and how rapidly) when you exceed them.

Just don't tell them it was me that suggested it.
Steve Clark

Make sure you keep the foot well vents closed to force all the air up to the demisters. You might want to lower your tire pressure a couple of pounds for the season to improve traction a bit and if you're needing new tires select some with better wet weather traction ratings. Steve's idea of a practice session is great, good advice. I've suggested new drivers try autocross to get the feel of their car, but never thought of it in the wet. I suppose the same would work for those of us who might drive our cars in snow or ice on occasion as well.
You don't have to drive like a granny, just make all the inputs such as steering, brake, and throttle smooth and progressive. Nothing sudden to upset the attitude of the car or the tire grip to the road. You will be slower, there's no way around that. Even the best F1 jocks are much slower in the rain.
As far as night vision, I found that because of the low height of our cars I get a lot of glare from the headlamps of other cars, especailly reflections from a wet road surface. I use a pair of lightly amber tinted night driving glasses which help a lot. Don't know if they're legal where you live. http://www.brucemedical.com/nigdrivglas.html
Bill Young

I have done an advanced driving course that recommended running as often as possible in a gear higher than one would use in the dry. The course was done on powerful, modern four-door saloons but I carry across many of the general tips, including the wet weather stuff, to my Sprite and it does helps. Same tip goes for snow. You generally get more traction rather than just spinning the wheels in wet/snowy conditions. Of course, this won't help much pulling away from a stanstill but I'd just apply a very gentle throttle and change up early to minimise wheelspin/maximise traction. And skinny tyres (by modern standards) mean that you might have more grip/control than a number of non-performance modern cars when up to speed so no need to stay like a granny once you're up to speed. Apologies if I am misreading the original question and am just patronising you..!
PG Colver

I use rain X, keep a hand bath towel handy and look to the white line on the edge of the road in oncoming night time traffic wet weather conditions for giudence.

With the wheels I put on last year, I was surprised how much more stable the car is in wet weather....I have really become such a hugh fan of aluminum alloy (1 piece) wheels

my theroy is when the car starts to go side ways the 3 piece welded lucas wheel flex's and acts as a sling shot, to propel the car even more into a slide....but I have no way of proving that.

prop
Prop

Prop

Kower unsprung weight of the alloy wheel will allow it (the tyre) to follow the road contours better; it stays more in contact with the road and this improves handling/feel/grip in all conditions - maybe more noticeable in the wet.

A
Anthony

Never drive on tyres that are more than six years old. The difference between new and old in the wet is huge, no matter how good the thread is.

Tore
Tore

Tore's right. The difference I felt when I replaced my several-years-old Michelins was quite noticeable. Rubber hardens over time, as I understand it, and tires become less grippy with age, even if the treads still look good.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Yes that is why my previously grippy Portugentinians have been moved to the front in lieu of an imminent replacement with Goodyears. I'm sure thats why they went slippy slidey, hardening in service.
Bill

thanks for the input anthony, I found the ride to be massively improveed the 1st. time out, havent driven much in wet weather, but it was definatly a night and day differance from the lucas wheels to the alloy wheels. its no longer a white knuckle drive.


prop
Prop

Slippery weather driving?

Simple.

Accelerate in a straight line, brake in a straight line.

Treat the pedals as if there were egg shells on them. S-m-o-o-t-h-l-y does it, they're not on/off switches.

steering wheel likewise. I see so many people that put on far, far too much lock too early and wonder why they understeer out until the front end grips, which pitches them into a spin whereupon they claim the car is "tail happy". Minimum steering inputs.

Develop traction control/ABS brakes - your right foot. Whenever a car starts to slide, it's 90% certain that whichever pedal your right foot is planted on has caused it, so lift it up and try again! You've heard of cadence braking? Well try cadence acceleration!

If you're in the UK, come and visit me and my SKID CAR in Swindon and we'll see what we can do!

At the outdoor kart track where I used to work, we never put the karts on wets, always slicks. Taught us a hell of a lot when it rained...
Max T

If you think Spridgets are difficult to drive in the wet, speak to anyone who has owned a BMW. They all seem to have a story of dissapearing of the road backwards.Presumably there extra weight and power plus big sticky tyres means that when they do let go it is too late to catch them. The great James Hunt would often drive around London in an A35 van (I recognize that suspension) because he liked the lack of grip combined with the good handling, and would happily slide around all the roundabouts. I say find somewhere safe and practise driving in the wet,keep alert and have fun!
C Bintcliffe

I use rain x on my side windows so i can see where im going err and where iv been :-)
darren 1800 frogeye

After our last so called summer, I got a lot of experience driving my 1275 in the wet. The regency run from Brooklands to Brighton was a good example, it poured down all day. We kept going thinking it would brighten up, it never did.
I did not find any problem with the car in the wet though, it was perfectly stable and well behaved.

Dave


Dave Barrow

More years ago than I like to remember, I was taking a cross-country route through North Germany in my Austin A35.
German country roads at that time were surfaced with small stone setts laid to a kind of fantail pattern, and heavily polished by traffic over the years. The roads were also heavily cambered.
The trip was made during heavy rain, and a real effort had to be made to keep the back end of the car from sliding down the camber, never mind starting and stopping. I spent most of the journey on opposite lock.

Being a regular visitor to Germany these days I must say that their roads are now excellent compared with what we have to suffer in the UK.

Dave.
Penwithian

Buy Better Tires. I bet what you have on the car is a tire purchased for its low price, long rated wear and loud aplause from an audience who uses then to fetch groceries or sit in a traffic que.

What these cars need is a soft tire. Wet or dry, it is going to interface with the pavement. I figure if you get more than two summers out of a set of tires, they are not good enough.

Your mileage may differ.

Pete
Pete

so it's good tyres and alloy wheels? What are good brands of both?
b wilson

You should try competing on the Tour of Ypres in the wet! Or, doing a tarmac stage on worn forest tyres because you have missed service! It is then that you realise you need to do everything gently, softly and with very little fuss. Rather like driving on compacted snow/ice in the Kielder complex. Fingertips on the steering wheel, ballet shoes on the pedals. Big ditches that will swallow a house help to focus the mind somewhat and greatly assist with this concept!
B P Beech




Max has it nailed. Bet he had a motorbike.


Arthur

I also use Max's method. It rains quite regularly up here in northwestern Washington and when we've had a couple of weeks of sunshine, it amazing how many people forget how to drive in the wet. Los Angeles is even worse since they can go 6 - 8 months without rain. All of that accumulated oil on the road gets lifted out of the little cracks in the road and it becomes instant slip-and-slide.
Martin

I cannot help with the tyres but i,ve had Performance mags for 10yrs...great wheels.They are out of Adelaide I think, just google.
mike smith (NZ)

>>>>>>Max has it nailed. Bet he had a motorbike

Strangely enough I did, but kept crashing it (them) so went car racing which is a good deal safer.....
Max T

This thread was discussed between 28/02/2008 and 03/03/2008

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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