Driving over an oil slick

[malazn mafia]

Has anyone been unfortunate enough to drive over an oil slick? What actually happened and is it possible to regain control of the car, even with today's ABS and Stability Control systems, or is it basically game over?

[DBourne]

Guess it'd depend on where it is.

Tight corner doing 180km/h no.

Straight doing 20km/h I'd say you'll recover

[Mechan1k]

If it's anything like black ice .... you wouldn't want to be commited through a bend that's for sure.

Initially you'd have literally no traction or control ... even with all the whizz bang electrickery in modern day vehicles .... although you may have a chance that you may recover with the way the electronics work though.

[Bobman]

Turned through a slip lane one night some years ago and drove over an oil slick that I did not see. Wheels were spinning for another 100 metres before the car had traction again.

As above, in corners you'll have to just hope that you can make it through without doing a 360.

[needaXYGT]

a guy at work recently drove over some diesel, slid of the road into a tree, luckly he is ok, not so much the car though.

[f1tzy]

I hit one earlier this year, just passed an accident where the car was being hauled up onto a flat bed, luckily i was in a straight line on a highway on ramp because the back end of the car just started trying to be the front for a good 100 or so metres. Was lucky to catch it

[mik]

brings back memories of doing a 180 in my 67 xr falcon on a large roundabout (barrys rd broady)many years ago after following a ht holden that spewed petrol out of the filler cap (for which they were notorius for) even though i was going slow , i would have said stability control may have helped a bit but check this out ..........freakin amazeing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3m24bjkfg0

[Airmon]

doing 20-40kph in a RWD with LSD, going very carefully as it was wet (first rain in a while), driving straight, rear comes out, corrected but going too slowly for anything to happen. The front of the car basically stopped while the rear kept going.

Luckily it was too slow to cause any serious drama, but still mounted an island.

[Revolver]

Why would you be driving in the middle of the gulf of mexico over the oil slick?

I haven't however, imagining the situation, I guess it would be much like aqua-planing. Pretty much a passenger until you get some grip. Also dependant on the whether conditions, speed, road surface, type & condition of the tyres, whether you were looking at the woman on the footpath with really, really, short shorts, etc... I think of its a case of if you hit one, youll know...

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Has anyone been unfortunate enough to drive over an oil slick? What actually happened and is it possible to regain control of the car, even with today's ABS and Stability Control systems, or is it basically game over?

Electronic car controls only work when the tyres are in contact with the road.
If you are on oil, the contact is lost so it's game over. It's not until the oil between the tyre and the road is dispersed that you get some control back.

It happened to me and my BF 11 F6 was written off, but I survived.

[fangq]

Originally Posted by Airmon

doing 20-40kph in a RWD with LSD, going very carefully as it was wet (first rain in a while), driving straight, rear comes out, corrected but going too slowly for anything to happen. The front of the car basically stopped while the rear kept going.

Luckily it was too slow to cause any serious drama, but still mounted an island.

During daylight, particularly after rain, the give away can be the rainbow hue
on the road. Nice spot of that this morning on the new round about in Beerwah. It's also close to a servo..another heads up for the locals.
Steve

[irish2]

I was going to a car show one day early on a Sunday. Saw a fire truck up ahead with lights blazing. As i got closer I could see they were putting sand on the road and all of a sudden I just started sliding. Was only doing about 20km/h. 30 meters later all was good and continued on.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Pedro

Electronic car controls only work when the tyres are in contact with the road.
If you are on oil, the contact is lost so it's game over. It's not until the oil between the tyre and the road is dispersed that you get some control back.

It happened to me and my BF 11 F6 was written off, but I survived.

ouch thats nasty Pedro , care to share the circumstances to the event that wrote off your cruiser?

[dylancox]

Originally Posted by mik

ouch thats nasty Pedro , care to share the circumstances to the event that wrote off your cruiser?

Isn't that a typhoon, not a cruiser ( as in landcruiser )

[jakkes]

this stuff happens people were purposely putting oil on a certain 45* bend in my town while doing skids they take of then the next person comes along and well you get the picture soo stupid!!

[LUXO_8]

i managed to slide at around 60km(accidentally, however as controlled as could be possible) my old 3 speed auto na fairlane on oil on a bend....... yes it was dangerous, yes i was extremley suprised at how slipery it was as that car couldnt spin the tyres on dirt even, yet it just arked up and kicked sideways no worries on the oil....

definantly do not underestimate how slipery oil can be on the road

[mrbaxr6t]

I havn't had the privilege of hitting an oil slick but A guy whom was a mutual aqqaintance who imho is full of crap said this - "I was driving along in my XE f/mont ghia (v8) and there was a car following me said car just lost it bigtime so I stopped to help - my car was absolutely plastered in oil as was his my car "hung on" because I had the wheels balanced on the car and had new tyres the other guy had conventionally balanced slightly older tyres - I still think he is full of cr!p oil by design is used to reduce friction and it is quite effective at it, why would it getting between tyres and the road be any different, problem is tyres need friction to "work"

[Marduk]

First time I hit diesel I was coming around a bend and then back went out and I ended up going into a bush only minor damage though as I was only going 30km/h. Second time I was turning into another road from a turning lane and hit a spot of diesel and ended up entering the road sideways but kept it on the road.

[T3ts50]

Drove over a patch of oil in the EL XR6 turning onto the Monash, and had already committed to the turn. Lost all control but was lucky enough to stop sideways. I was pretty lucky there was no cars around me at the time.

As I drove off a guy in a Commodore did the exact same thing.

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by mik

ouch thats nasty Pedro , care to share the circumstances to the event that wrote off your cruiser?

I went to Lakeside that day to do the sprints but the rain was persistent and I sat out the first runs (as I didn’t have any wets), while 5 cars met various walls and Armco. The rain didn’t clear by noon so I decided to call it a day without a run, and headed for home.

On the way home in a dual lane section I was overtaking a slower car that was in the left lane. As I drew level with the slower car, my F6 snapped to the left, hit the slower car and continued over and smashed into the rock embankment and destroyed itself. The passenger side front and curtain airbags went off, the passenger side front wheel ended up under the passenger seat floor and the floor came up and hit the glove box, the firewall moved back 150mm on the left side. Fortunately no one was in the passenger seat as they would have had their legs broken.

I was wearing my full harness fitted for the sprints and sustained no injuries. The poor girl in the Camry I hit ended up climbing the embankment and rolling over. Thankfully she got out without a scratch.

The reason for the smash was there was a trail of oil on the left side of the overtaking lane. When my left rear wheel made contact with the oil, it lost traction while the right continued to drive. The result was an immediate left turn that happened so fast, I had no chance of catching it.

[mik]

thats bad luck about the car Pedro, but any crash you can walk away from is a good one, yes its amazeing how fast these things can happen, i had a lhr tyre go bang while rounding a bend at the top of a hill years ago, in a second it sent me up an embankment backwards flipped the car on its roof back on to the road, also walked away without a scratch , thanks for shareing,
to be honest i would have thought the stability control would have saved you in that scenario, but i guess even these modern safety features have their limits.

[Pedro]

Stability control didn't come in till FG's mik.
The BF 11 had Traction Control but what happened in my case was it sensed slippage in the left rear so took power away from there and transferred it to the right which kept driving. The driving force was exacerbated by the fact my rear tyres were 285 wide.

[mik]

ahhh ok..... bugger......you were unlucky.

[Halfmo Rocks]

came unstuck on a bend, right as a sudden monsoon level storm hit...in my old AU (a week after a bought it, and my first RWD car), with it's quality ''boat in the high seas'' type of body roll.
fortunately i didn't hit anyone/anything, somehow missed skimming the armco on the left. it went 45 degrees before i caught it.

turns out it was a diesel spill, that & the first rain in ages made the bend a bit poor...while i pulled onto the shoulder and sat there shaking for a minute...2 more cars came unstuck right where i did. and i saw i controlled the slide/spin better than either of them. one smacked the armco i missed in a car destroying fashion
it was my first ''moment'' behind the wheel, still has me a bit touchy on wet roads even years on, but i'm learning to control it better now.

[MexicanBatman]

Originally Posted by Pedro

Stability control didn't come in till FG's mik.
The BF 11 had Traction Control but what happened in my case was it sensed slippage in the left rear so took power away from there and transferred it to the right which kept driving. The driving force was exacerbated by the fact my rear tyres were 285 wide.

I do not understand how torque on a mechanical LSD can be removed from one wheel and applied to the other, one wheel slips a little the torque is transferred and both wheels receive torque..

Now what you have described is possible with an open diff centre the wheels that loses traction can be braked and then torque will transfer to the opposite wheel, but it doesn't work the same way with a mechanical lsd.

Anyhow, petrol on the road can be slippery stuff, I had my awd magna drift the entrance to the calder fwy going up the green gully road on ramp ( very greasy even at the best of times, love that corner LOL ), then thought WTF?

A large stick had pierced the tank and 70L of 98 was ****ing out

Even more fun is on a 2 wheeler, even my crappy 883 would fishy down the road after some spill or rain, coolant is pretty nasty too.

[20focus05]

I was driving to adelaide in the hill may years ago in an EB going around sharpish corner 80km/h whoo yeah side ways, stuck the boot into it, kept it going. wheels spin for ages up the road.
turned out 60ltr drum of diesel came off truck just before me.
8 other cars into bank!!
Lucky I guess

[svo supporter]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you'd need a pretty decent spill to have problems. A small spill, wouldn't cause to much drama. You'd have to have 1/2 to 3/4 of the whole tread covered to cause problems.

[dylancox]

Originally Posted by 20focus05

around sharpish corner 80km/h whoo yeah side ways, stuck the boot into it, kept it going. wheels spin for ages up the road.

Haha awesome, you seemed to have enjoyed it . In todays draconian society, you'd probably get done for Hoon driving regardless of the excuse

[jpd80]

Not so long a go in Gladstone a 205 litre drum of diesel tipped over and spilled fuel out on a roundabout.
The first few car through the roundabout began spinning and sliding around at an alarming rate.
Quick work by emergency services prevented even more dangerous spin outs.

By all accounts, the bitumen was driving on slippery ice....

[20focus05]

Not much needed at all
In Orange NSW I was driving a truck and came out of an intersection. A truck had spilled fuel not much but enough to let the truck I was driving go very side ways.
Truck drifting BRO!!!
I had forgoten about that one! lol
we followed that fuel trail for 20km
lots of sand was used