Im gutted, local road closed on the way home, the brook flooded the road. I so wanted to p**s people off and drive through in my 19rd BX at high setting, if only the fire engine wasnt parked parrallel to the far side, then id have had fun!!\[:d]
So my question is, how water tight are Citroens? Ive heard loads on VW Bugs which are a near air tight cabin once the doors close!! Anybody any good/bad experince with huge amounts of water?
(and have i put this in the right place? Couldnt decide on Cit or General)
Vanny
Merseyside, UK
Citroenbx19rd@bxproject.co.uk
http://www.bxproject.co.uk
Water legs
Moderator: RichardW
Back in the days when it used to rain in Australia, we used to get Tropical storms. Now unless you've experienced one of these, I doubt that you really have seen heavy rain; 5 inches in under an hour was one that comes to mind that I got caught in<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle> and 39 inches in a week when a cyclone came through. Mentioned that for no other reason than to put "water" into perspective. With any car, possibly more so with a diesel than a petrol car due to the petrols ability to stop due to water in the electrics, be sure the intake & exhaust are above water height due to (a) water getting sucked into the engine on intake & causing major dramas and (b) water blocking off the exhaust and causing it to stall.
Also, a VW in flowing water was like having a 2 year old kid playing with a loaded shotgun; something dangerous was always going to happen, you just didn't know when. The VW was very watertight as you say. It was also rear engined & once the water reached a certain level, its front, being very light, floated....straight off the bridge or culvert being traversed. The cry "abandon ship" was common<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
When (or if) they got to the other side, most forgot to dry out those drum brakes they had, so if you didn't get drowned crossing the creek or crossing, they often hit something down the road when they went to stop & found the anchors weren't operating.
The BX by contrast is front wheel driven and light in the back end, so it could be argued that the opposite may occur with one of them; back end floats off, which may appear to be slightly safer until it swings past the point of no return. The underside of modern cars also plays a part in aerodynamics and as such could compound the problem by creating "lift" when the car starts to float. A friend of mine lost an aircraft at sea and the experts reckon they think it's "flying" underwater due to the currents & water passing over its flying surfaces, so who knows?
So I'd guess that a BX would handle the water about on par if not slightly better than a VW but only in moderate depths with reservations as to its controllability if the water had much current associated to it. Still have to dry out the brakes although this is much quicker process with 4 wheel discs, the only risk here is of course, that you don't have someone in a VW Beetle following you through & hit you up the khyber first time you stop<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Alan S
Also, a VW in flowing water was like having a 2 year old kid playing with a loaded shotgun; something dangerous was always going to happen, you just didn't know when. The VW was very watertight as you say. It was also rear engined & once the water reached a certain level, its front, being very light, floated....straight off the bridge or culvert being traversed. The cry "abandon ship" was common<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
When (or if) they got to the other side, most forgot to dry out those drum brakes they had, so if you didn't get drowned crossing the creek or crossing, they often hit something down the road when they went to stop & found the anchors weren't operating.
The BX by contrast is front wheel driven and light in the back end, so it could be argued that the opposite may occur with one of them; back end floats off, which may appear to be slightly safer until it swings past the point of no return. The underside of modern cars also plays a part in aerodynamics and as such could compound the problem by creating "lift" when the car starts to float. A friend of mine lost an aircraft at sea and the experts reckon they think it's "flying" underwater due to the currents & water passing over its flying surfaces, so who knows?
So I'd guess that a BX would handle the water about on par if not slightly better than a VW but only in moderate depths with reservations as to its controllability if the water had much current associated to it. Still have to dry out the brakes although this is much quicker process with 4 wheel discs, the only risk here is of course, that you don't have someone in a VW Beetle following you through & hit you up the khyber first time you stop<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Alan S
Road near us used to flood regularly and I have driven through quite deep water (by that I mean maximum of a foot). Problem is not how watertight car is but how strong the current is because as soon as water is sill height or above the car starts to float slightly and you lose steering which is rather disconcerting! (Despite weight of engine!) If you go too fast water will get into intake - friend discovered this at cost of new engine! (Water does not compress in cylinders!) Also, water can get into clutch and even worse the gearbox apparently. Go too slow and (i think) engine can stall because of back pressure in exhaust. Therefore - check not too deep (there is always the mad 4x4 driver to judge the depth from) Try to make sure water is stagnant, not a fast flowing river flood. Engage low gear, keep revs up. Put suspension on high (or even highest if desperate and only travelling v.slowly)
If in doubt - don't! At best you will provide a good laugh for the local youths who wait to offer their services for a push at a fiver a time!
Phil
If in doubt - don't! At best you will provide a good laugh for the local youths who wait to offer their services for a push at a fiver a time!
Phil
A colleague at a former employer was on his way to work ("The back way") - avoiding all the traffic because it was chucking it down ( and had been for days )..
He had a company Vauxhall Astra estate at the time, went accross a low bridge ( usually about 1ft above the stream ) - which was SERIOUSLY flooded.
Half way through, he stopped ( keeping the revs up to keep the engine running ), and opened the door to see how deep it was.
I'll let you guess the rest..
A certain Beetles naval song comes to mind <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
He had a company Vauxhall Astra estate at the time, went accross a low bridge ( usually about 1ft above the stream ) - which was SERIOUSLY flooded.
Half way through, he stopped ( keeping the revs up to keep the engine running ), and opened the door to see how deep it was.
I'll let you guess the rest..
A certain Beetles naval song comes to mind <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Well thats brought a little smile to my face, been a <expletive> couple of weeks, but thats got to be the first time ive pissed myself laughing in ages, Being a canoeist i can just envisage a car getting swept into a river and off down the rapids, he he he
And more humerous stories??
Vanny
Merseyside, UK
Citroenbx19rd@bxproject.co.uk
http://www.bxproject.co.uk
And more humerous stories??
Vanny
Merseyside, UK
Citroenbx19rd@bxproject.co.uk
http://www.bxproject.co.uk
-
RichardW
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- Joined: 07 Aug 2002, 17:12
- Location: United Kingdom
- My Cars: MK2 '17 C4GP 1.6 BlueHDi 120
'13 3008 1.6 HDi GripControl - x 996
When at uni we used to regularly hire minibuses from a local firm. There was a picture on their office wall of one of their minibuses in a 'puddle' with water half way up the windscreen. Story went that they had got the bus back and it had been a bit damp inside, which had been explained away because it had been wet all week. Some time later the photo was received with an apology and explanation that the bus had got into the deep water been pulled out, restarted by the breakdown service, and then driven round the rest of the week with the heater on full to try and dry it out!
Made me laugh every time I went in there, and everytime we got one of their buses near some water.....
Richard
Made me laugh every time I went in there, and everytime we got one of their buses near some water.....
Richard
We have a recurring comedy flood on my route to work that pops up when it rains heavily. I have never had any problem taking it easy in the weensy AX. Max depth is about 1 foot. I got highly pissed off by the company car w*nkers coming the other way at 50mph and spraying mud and crap all over my car. I got the last laugh as one of these swamped his engine due to said speeding and later on, on the way home, I discovered that the fire brigade had pushed his vehicle off the road and to the side to let people through... into a ditch! Ho ho <img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>
The only casualty of all the amphibious activity was my rear break shoe linings which floated away and the nasty noise on breaking turned out to be the shoes rubbing directly on the drums. Nice. Didn't know that they made them water soluable!
The only casualty of all the amphibious activity was my rear break shoe linings which floated away and the nasty noise on breaking turned out to be the shoes rubbing directly on the drums. Nice. Didn't know that they made them water soluable!
We also have a lane near us that floods regularly, and only the bravest usually attempt it. One such chap was recently driving a particularly fancy motor (I think it was some sort of a hyped-up Saab), which he hadn't owned for quite long enough to be aware that his air intake was only about five inches off the ground.
Seven inches of water. Slurp, slurp, kaboom.
Mike
Seven inches of water. Slurp, slurp, kaboom.
Mike
I still had my old BX 19RD hatchback during the bad flooding and storms in 2000. At the time I was living on a farm in quite an isolated part of Lincolnshire where the road into the village was flooded.
I don't know exactly what the depth of the water was, but I put the suspension on the BX to maximum and drove through it. It was certainly deeper than I had expected. At one point water began to pour in under the doors and from behind the dash, together with loads of steam !
Despite this, the car carried on to the other side, only slowing down a little when the clutch became water logged and began to slip!
When I got to the other side my feet were in a few inches of water in the footwells. Steam was pouring out from under the bonnet, and alternator and hp pump belts squealing like mad . It took the interior a week or so to dry out, but the car didn't suffer any mechanical damage at all, and was still running perfectly when I sold it 6 months later or so
Nick
I don't know exactly what the depth of the water was, but I put the suspension on the BX to maximum and drove through it. It was certainly deeper than I had expected. At one point water began to pour in under the doors and from behind the dash, together with loads of steam !
Despite this, the car carried on to the other side, only slowing down a little when the clutch became water logged and began to slip!
When I got to the other side my feet were in a few inches of water in the footwells. Steam was pouring out from under the bonnet, and alternator and hp pump belts squealing like mad . It took the interior a week or so to dry out, but the car didn't suffer any mechanical damage at all, and was still running perfectly when I sold it 6 months later or so
Nick