Aquaplaning: it's best to prevent it - test

Driving in heavy rain, when a thick layer of water forms on the road, has its risks. In extreme conditions, there is a risk of aquaplaning.

Loss of adhesion or aquaplaning? The vast majority of drivers do not distinguish between these two phenomena. However, they differ quite significantly. How? We asked Ivan Jan Novák, an instructor of safe driving courses at the Most Autodrom, about this and more.

“We consider a situation where, for example, the right half of the car has driven through a puddle to be a loss of adhesion. On the other hand, the wheels on the left side of the car still have sufficient adhesion,” says Novák at the beginning. And he adds: “Aquaplaning occurs when the wheels on the same axle lose grip.” During aquaplaning, the grooves in the tire tread pattern are filled with water. “As a result, the wheel with the tire becomes lighter and creates a water wedge underneath it,” explains Ivan Jan Novák. This results in water getting under the tire. It no longer rolls on the road surface, but floats on the water.

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Second section

According to the aforementioned instructor, it is best not to aquaplan at all. But how can you prevent it? "It is absolutely essential to have good tires. By this I mean a sufficiently deep tread. In the case of winter tires, we can take the legally prescribed four mm as the limit, but for summer tires I recommend at least three mm, although the law allows 1.6 mm," says Ivan Jan Novák. "However, if the tire tread is at least seven mm deep (this represents approximately 80 percent of the condition of new tires), there is a significantly greater chance that the car will not aquaplan at all," Novák specifies. The correct tire pressure is also no less important. Novák also recommends using more worn tires on the front axle than on the rear, i.e. if you have a pair of unevenly worn tires. "The reason is that the car is more likely to understeer," adds Novák.

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