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It was raining, and I was on a Motor Way, driving at about 100 mph and approaching 110. It was an automatic Volkswagen Passat, 12K miles old. The car started behaving weirdly, and it started shaking left right about 3-4 times, before I got it back under control.

Have never experienced this before, and have driven other (smaller) cars up to 125 mph. I wouldn't be able to give much info about the car, since I was renting it.

What could be the possible reason?

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  • Did you happen to have the cruise control on?
    – mikes
    Jun 9, 2014 at 18:23
  • I still do not know whether the car had cruise control :-( . But it was not ON. I know its very bad to not know this about the car you are driving..
    – Chillax
    Jun 10, 2014 at 9:00
  • Weird that you said Passat too. I have had multiple cars, I have a CDL and have driven a ton of various cars, the Passat is the only one that scared the hell out of me! I even dropped to 20 MPH slower than everyone else and was still out of control. I'm sure it has something to do with it's automatic traction control, this is the first car that I have driven with traction control when in bad weather. I am not sure if it is old and worn out or working as designed (and scaring the hell out of people who know how to drive)
    – BillyNair
    Oct 1, 2015 at 17:34

1 Answer 1

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Sounds like a simple case of driving too fast in the rain. There's only so much water that tires can push out of the way, and the effectiveness drops as the tires wear, water depth increases, and speed increases.

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    Yup, you have to respect the vehicle and not drive past not only its limits, but your own as well.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Jun 9, 2014 at 18:51
  • Oh Maybe. But then I thought even if it goes out of control, we would be able to get it back after 1-2 shakes. but this went on 3-4 times until i got it back... As I mentioned, I have driven an Astra upto 125 mph without problems.. Maybe I just need to be careful the next time
    – Chillax
    Jun 10, 2014 at 9:02
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    I hydroplaned at 55 mph in the rain one particular day and I ended up in another lane before I got control back. There are a ton of variables, it's not possible to say exactly how fast you should be able to go nor how quickly you will get control back. Hence why one must try to stay well within what the limits are believed to be in the rain. Push the edges and you're likely to end up upside down in a ditch...
    – Brian Knoblauch
    Jun 10, 2014 at 12:50

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