I headed over to the Consumer Reports auto test track
to dive into the subject of hydroplaning.
Ryan Pszczolkowski, technician here at the test track.
Yes, how are you?
So what do we got going on here?
This is our hydroplaning facility where we test tires
for hydroplaning resistance.
Woo!
What was that all about?
That's hydroplaning.
Want to try it?
Before we go for a ride, Ryan takes me to the tire test lab.
How does this tire hydroplane?
What's happening is as you drive through a puddle of water,
these grooves are evacuating water out from underneath them
so that you stay in contact with the road.
When you're hydroplaning, the tire actually
lifts up on top of the water.
So you can imagine now you have these grooves.
What happens when they go away?
You've lost a lot of all-weathered performance.
It's just like skimming across the water at the beach
except it's no fun when you're on the road.
In fact, it can be really dangerous.
To experience hydroplaning up close,
first testers have to get the track ready.
This looks like a road, but it's actually a shallow pool.
It takes the technicians hours to pour 700 gallons of water
onto the track.
All right, this is going to be exciting, right?
Oh, no, no, no.
You're driving.
I'm driving this?
Yes, you're doing this.
All right, let's do it.
I don't have ever done anything like this.
In the first run, we're not going to hydroplaning.
We're going to go through about 45 miles per hour.
All right, let's do it.
Follow that little--
Yep.
--curve line?
Perfect.
There we go.
We got it.
You did.
No hydroplaning.
All right, so let's go faster.
This should be a full hydroplaning.
OK, 55 miles an hour.
Let's do this.
Whoa, starting to feel it.
Luckily, nothing dramatic.
Yeah.
The car just essentially pushes straight
even though you're trying to turn to the left.
The car just felt like it wasn't in control.
Yeah, we weren't-- we were floating on water there.
That was a full hydroplaning situation.
Oh man.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do.
You're kind of there for the ride.
Yeah.
Most people experience hydroplaning for the first time
without a trained professional by their side.
Luckily, I have Ryan here to talk me through my experience.
What we tell people is to, you know,
keep firm grip on the wheel, no sudden movements,
lift off the throttle, and wait until you regain grip again.
That was a little scary.
So you notice how as we get back onto dry asphalt,
you have your wheels turned.
Now all of a sudden, we have grip,
and the car lurches to the left, which
is why you don't want to turn is because when you do come out
of that water, the car might, you know,
radically go to the left when you're least expecting it.
There might be a car next to you.
You know, you might put other people's lives in danger.
Now what about braking?
Stepping on the brakes isn't really
going to help you too-- too much because you are now
skimming across the surface.
Now we're really going to go for it--
run number three, 65 miles an hour,
just like hitting that scary patch of water
in the fast lane of the freeway.
Here we go, Ryan.
Whoa!
Yep.
Woof!
Let's look at the eye in the sky.
At 45 miles an hour like on my first run,
when you turned the wheel to the left,
the car veers to the left.
But at 65 miles an hour, if you try
turning the wheel the same way, nothing happens.
The car keeps going straight.
That's hydroplaning.
I can never get used to it.
I don't know how you do it.
It's an unnerving feeling.
You know, the average driver, the first time they experience
that, it's frightening.
It's really frightening.
It is frightening.
Ryan's final piece of advice--
avoid hydroplaning altogether by reducing your speed when
it rains and avoiding patches of standing
water if at all possible.
Then the only skimming across water you'll do
is safely at the beach.
Well, sort of.
Oof!
That's got to hurt.