Puddle driving

[bobdabuilda]

Am I the only one to have noticed and be concerned about the absolute deluge of water that is thrown off the front wheels and onto the windscreen whenever one drives through a fairly large puddle? I was literally blinded on a B-road in Cardiff earlier when I hit the unavoidable puddle at 30mph and 'shat myself' for several seconds until i could clear the damn screen! It should be noted in the handbook just how bad it is! ( I hoped fitting mudguards would help reduce this but it makes no difference)

[lolinginthelolvo]

In my (probably limited compared to many here) experience the larger and more blunt a car is the more this seems to happen, I have an old Jeep that I often use for puddle bashing abuse and it seems despite the height and wide wheelarches water always floods the windscreen. (And interior, and electrics).

I have yet to notice it in the XC, but i am banned from abusing it like the heep Must be something to do with aerodynamics or summit on high or blunt vehicles. Never seemed as bad on smaller more curvy cars, the S60 was better for example.

I always found the best bet would be to put the wipers on full whack before you hit said puddle, like you would if you saw a big lorry trailing massive spray coming your way on the other side of the road. Because automatic wipers only react when the water hits the windscreen its already too late.

[owenfackrell]

I have found in all my cars that if you hit water at speed it throws it forward and then you drive straight I to it. In fact this is easier to see on my mtb with the mud and as said above it's best to have the wipers on before hand if you can or have them on auto.

[Coconut]

Even worse in a Land Rover Discovery ( IMHO ).

Great if your washer bottle is empty or washer jets are frozen though

[Ron_XC90]

I complained about this a long time ago, response then was that even with mud flaps it doesn't seem to improve a lot...

[Banzai]

I always keep my wipers on the auto setting.

[ianu]

Originally Posted by bobdabuilda

Am I the only one to have noticed and be concerned about the absolute deluge of water that is thrown off the front wheels and onto the windscreen whenever one drives through a fairly large puddle? I was literally blinded on a B-road in Cardiff earlier when I hit the unavoidable puddle at 30mph and 'shat myself' for several seconds until i could clear the damn screen! It should be noted in the handbook just how bad it is! ( I hoped fitting mudguards would help reduce this but it makes no difference)

..aha - I mentioned this quite a while ago too - I have also noticed the same compared to most other cars I've ever owned. Similarly I had temporarily lost vision on a bend at reletively low speed too - until the wipers flicked across. If I can see it coming and can't avoid it - I make sure I've got my hand on the wiper stalk to catch it as it lands.
Mud flaps make no difference as I think it is actually the bow wave from in front of the tyre that flows up the bumper and over the top - or gets drawn across the screen as it goes over the wing.
It's definitely not you BdB - I know exactly what you mean - tyres don't seem to make a difference either.
I've thought about seeing if a 'mini flap' on the leading edge of the wheel arch like you see on some other SUV's or Rally Cars would make a difference to try and interupt the wave and prevent it coming over the front - I'll put it on my list of projects for the summer.
Cheers
Ian.

[bakerman]

yup - fully agree - I would hate to calculate how much water comes up onto the windscreen from a decent puddle! worse than any other car I have driven.

As per Banzai - the wipers are always set to automatic - and I have yet to have a puddle fail to get the wipers to react, in fact in this situation it is probably their greatest advantage..

So in essence that makes the problem go away from the drivers point of view, but still keep the kids smiling..

[reggie59]

Originally Posted by bakerman

yup - fully agree - I would hate to calculate how much water comes up onto the windscreen from a decent puddle! worse than any other car I have driven.

As per Banzai - the wipers are always set to automatic - and I have yet to have a puddle fail to get the wipers to react, in fact in this situation it is probably their greatest advantage..

So in essence that makes the problem go away from the drivers point of view, but still keep the kids smiling..

I have not notived it with the Volvo but my freelander seems to be even more impressive. I think it must be due to the large space between wheels and wheel arches.

[owenfackrell]

I think it's a problem because of the fact the these type of cars have good approach angles and that means that there is nothing to stop the water flying up from the tyres at which point you drive into it. It was as bad in a 205GTi I had which had a wheel at each courner and nothing to stop water flying forwards and up wards.