If you haven’t noticed by now, we’re having a somewhat… wet Winter season. From puddles stretching across half a country road, to floods transforming your local Main Street into a murky river, we thought we’d start off the new year with a little FYI on driving in water.

You may think you know all there is about driving through water, we mean, you’ve read about it and you’ve seen it lots of time on the television. Physically driving through a large body of water, however, can be very nerve wrecking. To combat this our first rule when driving through a large body of water is not to panic.

When Faced With a Flood…

Breathe. Before make sure the flooded section of road is shallow enough for you to drive through. 6 inches of water can reach up to the bottom of your doors and has the potential to be sucked into your exhaust pipe. If this happens your car can suffer great and costly damage- especially if the flood water is pulled into your cylinders or if it cracks the catalytic converter in your exhaust.

The centre of the road will be shallower than the edges though, if  you’re at all uncertain, turn around and find a different route.

When Driving Through a Flood…

If you have no choice but to drive through the flooded section of road, put your vehicle into 1st or 2nd gear and drive through at a brisk walking pace. If you attempt to drive through a flood at speed, as soon as you hit the water, the feeling will be similar to hitting a brick wall. If you manage to keep control of your car after that you’ll risk forcing water up over your bonnet and into your engine.

Slow and steady wins the race… at least with flood water. If you feel your wheels start to lose traction, your vehicle might well be trying to float. It’s a pain, but to counterbalance this open one of your doors and let a little water inside- this will help to weigh down your vehicle until you’ve reached the other side.

When Coming Out of Flood Water

Once you’ve survived the treacherous journey through the water, it’s important to make sure your vehicle is in good working order. Drying out your breaks is your first point of call. Gentle push down on your breaks as you’re driving to remove excess water.

Just because you may be driving an awesome 4×4 doesn’t mean you’re safe from flood water either. Flowing water is always dangerous and only 2ft of flowing water can sweep your vehicle away. Make sure you always check the depth of the water before you attempt any kind of crossing.

If you do find yourself rushing through flood water and are now searching for Land Rover spares in Somerset to replace your damaged 4×4 parts, don’t hesitate to contact us on 01458 834930 today!

Supplying drivers with quality Land Rover Discovery parts, we’re used to seeing the heartbreaking states that our beloved vehicles can get into. During the winter weather, we have a tendency to push our cars to the extreme, whether we mean to or not. With the ice and snow descending, here’s the second part to our winter safe driving tips to help you, and your vehicle, stay safe on the roads!

 
Do You Want to Drive in the Snow?
 
As we mentioned in How to Drive in Snow and Ice Safely (Part 1), when you’re planning your driving route this winter, it’s a good idea to give yourself plenty of time. It’s one thing to plan out your journey, however, and another to actually drive it. No amount of planning can prepare you for a road blanketed in snow.

• Take Your Time: When travelling on snow, everything takes twice as long and braking distances should be doubled. You’re basically driving on condensed water after all, take your time and don’t hurry anywhere.
• Just Keep Driving: It takes a lot more power to get your car moving after you stop than it does to keep the wheels rolling. When you’re coming up to traffic lights, slow your speed right down to crawling, try and keep moving as much as possible so that your car doesn’t lose the tracking it has in the snowy road.
• Remember Gravity? Powering up snowy hills will do nothing but have your car slipping and sliding all over the road. The trick is to accelerate on the drive up to a hill instead of on the hill. Once at the crest, reduce your speed and travel down as slowly as possible and, of course, try not to stop on a hill!

 
It’s Not an Ice Rink!
 
One of the key mistakes when driving on ice is speed. Going too fast can cause your car to lose traction which can lead to your vehicle skidding all over the road. Not nice. What do you do when you skid though?

• First off, don’t panic. If you’re travelling at speeds above 45 mph you’ll need to act fast in order to correct the skid.
• Don’t brake, don’t accelerate: Slamming on your brakes will more likely lock up your brakes and do nothing to change the trajectory of your skid. Accelerating will speed up your trajectory and make it harder to recover your skid.
• Turn into the spin. When your car starts to fishtail or skid, turn the wheel in the direction of the rear of your car. You need to get the balance just right though, if you turn your the wheel too far you can overcorrect your spin, causing it to skid in the opposite direction.

 
Most of the time, if you think the weather is too bad to drive in, it’s a good idea to stay home. If, however, you’ve ventured out into the wild winter weather and your vehicle’s suffered as a result, we have quality spare parts to keep you covered. To find out more, contact us on 01458 834930 and our friendly team will be more than happy to help find the spare part for you!