[bianchi2]

here in califronia< i live in sacramento work in lodi..so i have a 42 mile drive to work..not bad,, can do it in 40 mins..but today...wow..we had a storm come in this morning...45-75 mph winds.. and durring my drive to work steady45 mph wind, with those nice gust..and rain....you know when you drive the top will bow up?? just sitting at a stop sign into the wind, the same thing happend..hitting standing puddles that you did not see..oh yes.i am only in 4 th gear..50 mph....feeling the front lift and skate around...and yes the big rigs.tossing so much rain into the air...being blinded by it..found the fix to that... punch it..race by a big rig to clear the spray...... but the drive home was nice..storm had past.little drizzle, no wind...

 

[Brad Baum]

enjoyed your post! I just checked into a hotel in Davis (@11:00pm) following a 10 hr drive from San Diego. Our only scary weather was between LA and Bakersfield, although, I was very nervous about what I would run into north of Tracy. We were very lucky today!
Regards, Brad Baum
Giulietta Sprint & Spider
Escondido,Ca

 

[Slackjaw]

Bad weather in the Bay Area today

I drove my GTV6 today, and I was very impressed with how it handled the messy weather. It was the first time I've had it in any kind of serious rain.

Route 101 was horrible between Gilroy and Sunnyvale, especially this morning. A car just in front of me drifted a little too close to the grassy median and hit some standing water, then the driver lost control and did a 360, finally hitting the guard rail. About 5 miles later, a pickup truck had spun out and ended up in the breakdown lane next to the median facing oncoming traffic. A few miles later there were several cars off to the RH side which had obviously been in a pileup, one just getting pulled onto a flatbed wrecker. Having had enough of 101, I decided to try 280 North and very shortly came upon a 3 car pileup in the middle lane right around the 880 exit, just getting cleared. After I got past that I took 85 North, no joy. There was a multi-car pileup in the southbound lanes just getting cleared, with tow trucks and CHP all over, and traffic was backed up on both sides with people gawking.

Through it all the GTV6 handled very well, no hydroplaning, braking was good even though my tires aren't anything special. The balance was great. My only problem was the side windows fogging up a little now and then. Even the wipers decided not to chatter too much.

 

[Zunige]

Good thread bianchi1!

We've seen our share of driving in horrible rain and windy conditions... One of the first times that my wife (well, actually my girlfriend back then ) and I took a long trip it started pouring, and I do mean pouring... I still had some of the Rain-X coating on the windshield, but I had to turn on the wipers at their highest speed. We were on the interstate, and I wasn't precisely slowing down and after hitting about the third puddle in the left lane my wife asked me what my hurry was... I replied that I was just trying to get around the much bigger eighteen wheelers so we wouldn't get splashed so badly. Well, once I worked my way through the traffic we could tell that it was bad, and my wife asked if the top would hold-up in so much rain. Just as I answered that it never leaked, a few drops got in and landed right on her leg... I was POed - my top never leaked. I always made sure that all gaskets were in tip-top shape, etc. Good thing however, that was the only time it did, and we drove for hours in the rain... I am very fond of my '84. She's really a great Spider. And oh yeah, my wife is also great!

Best regards,