PSA: Wet leaves SUCK

[Duquette5]

Just a friendly reminder to be careful with the wet leaves on the road. A fellow forum member (Wasateener) hit a patch of wet leaves, slid off the road, hit a tree head on, and flipped back over on to the road landing on his roof. Fortunately he walked away with just a few scratches.



He is trying to decide if he should buy it back from the insurance company or not. If there is enough interest we'll start parting it and list in the parts section. The engine is solid with a fresh IMS done just a few months ago.

[RedTele58]

That sucks. Hate to hear. Glad he's okay.

[Chuck W.]

Agreed.... as long as he could walk away from it's good.

[thstone]

Happy to hear that he's ok! Let's be safe out there folks.

[78F350]

Wow, I didn't read this post yesterday, thinking it was just about a little tire slip. Glad he could walk away from it. Thanks for posting.

[rexcramer]

Who knew leaves were an issue. We don't have that problem in LA. Good to hear your friend is alright. The top and windshield look to be in pretty good shape for being upside down.

[grc0456]

Lucky dude! Happy to hear he is OK. This time of year wet leaves are nearly as dangerous as a patch oh black ice.


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[Duquette5]

He got lucky this time. We drove by the accident spot and the tree he hit is dislodged and half the root ball is exposed. I just posted the engine and tranny up on the bird board for him. Hopefully someone local needs an engine.

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by rexcramer

The top and windshield look to be in pretty good shape for being upside down.

That's what I thought too, very sturdy looking results. Glad everybody is ok.

[jdraupp]

Originally Posted by steved0x

That's what I thought too, very sturdy looking results. Glad everybody is ok.

Guess the Germans knew what they were doing lol

[joecal]

Glad to hear he's okay, the car is replaceable but it's still a shame. You really don't think about leaves doing that but I guess they can and they're just starting to fall around hear. That with some water and twisty roads I could see that happening very easily.

[Jim Rockford]

This is a valuable post, thanks to the OP.

Leaves on the road can create tragic results. I know of an instance through another forum where the outcome ended up fatal.

I actually just went for a good fall drive myself and I didn't think of it at the time but this post serves as a good reminder.

[stephen wilson]

Sand & Gravel can have the same effect. I have to be careful driving in PA in the spring, they use gravel/cinders with the salt when they treat the roads. This is especially bad on a motorcycle......

[Fyeganeh]

What was the ambient temperature and was he driving summer tires? Anything below 45-40F and he may have lost traction from the tires not being right for the weather. The leaves may not have been the problem.

I just had my oil changed at an indie mechanic and just decided to ask about summer tires in the winter and the guy at the desk and one of the mechanics had no clue. They said you could use them in the winter - no problem. They said there was no potential to damage the tire and the traction is based on the grooves so don't use them in the snow but don't worry about the cold! They were clueless!

Seriously dangerous advice! I didn't know about this until two years ago and had multiple poor traction stories. Luckily I avoided driving my Boxster in the winter due to salt and knew I had poor traction in the snow. But I didn't realize the performance tires I had were summer only and had such poor traction below 40F.

[stephen wilson]

I drive on my summer tires in the winter, as long as there is no frost or snow. It's not that big a deal, as long as you respect the lower traction limits and don't drive like you would in warm weather. It still has more traction than almost every SUV out there, and many cars.

[Fyeganeh]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

I drive on my summer tires in the winter, as long as there is no frost or snow. It's not that big a deal, as long as you respect the lower traction limits and don't drive like you would in warm weather. It still has more traction than almost every SUV out there, and many cars.

You may want to research this more.... From what I've read and from experience that is a bad idea and could be very dangerous. Any other opinions or experience from others?

[dsallean]

I hit a patch of wet leaves in central Texas in 1987. It was like the car was sliding on oil. The tree that cratered the front end of my Triumph Spitfire stopped me from going over a cliff!

Glad the driver here was able to walk away with just a few scratches.

Dave in TX

[Fyeganeh]

Here are some links on summer tires in the winter:

Beware that some performance summer tires can crack in winter - Consumer Reports

https://mobiloil.com/en/article/travel-and-safety/road-safety-tips/using-summer-tires-in-winter

[stephen wilson]

I've done it for 6-7 years with no ill effects. Do you see Porsche dealers putting every car in a heated garage for the winter, and forbidding test drives.....I don't think so. The article even characterized the cracks as "cosmetic", and I'm generally not driving it in sub 20° temperatures.

[Fyeganeh]

The consumer reports article says:

If you own a car with summer tires, refrain from using it at all in cold temperatures as the tires may crack. Leave it parked. Beyond cracking concerns, summer tires have diminished grip below 40º F on dry and wet roads and virtually little to no grip on snow and ice.

The cracking is characterized as cosmetic, but in our experience any cracking shouldn’t be taken lightly as it can evolve over time.