Technical Car doesnt feel safe in the rain - and brakes locking

[kellybee]

Hello all,

Have had my Punto since April, and have had a few problems with it

!) When the road is wet the car feels like its going to tip over if I drive round corners at less than a crawl and when braking it feels horribly light/as though it wont stop if I brake too hard.

That was just a "feeling" until last weekend when it was wet, and driving towards a roundabout at a slow speed I put my foot on the brake at a safe distance and not at all hard, only to find the wheels locked up which sent me skidding halfway into the path of another car. Thankfully he stopped and everyone was ok but I dont feel safe in the rain in my car. Its a 53 plate Fiat Punto Active, 1.2. It has a decent tread on the tyres (although they are not a make I've ever heard of)and passed its MOT with no advisories just before I had it. I dont know whether changing the tyres will make any difference to the brakes locking on me like that or if I need to have it looked at. Any ideas?

2) The stereo didnt work so I bought a DAB USB radio that you can plug an ipod into. Worked great but the Power Steering light kept coming on and every now and then all the dashbord dials died and came back on again a second later. That wasnt a problem because we have just removed the stereo, but the central locking has lost the plot since then. If you put the key in the driver's door and lock the passenger door doesnt lock with it any more. Can lock the passenger door from the outside but not by pressing the button down on the inside. If I open the drivers door with the key the passenger door remains up. Its like they have stopped communicating. If I pull up the passenger button to unlock from the inside it snaps straight back down if you dont open the door quick enough

3) Can anyone tell me what stereo I can put in the car without it interfering with my dashboard?

With thanks
Kelly

 

[Brendan W]

What make and size are the tyres and what pressure have you got in there?
How old are they ? There should be string of characters on the tyre starting with DOT and somewhere in that string a four digit number like 2113 meaning week 21 of 2013.

 

[kellybee]

thanks it says:

DOT ZYAU XLK 4711

Brand is "PRESTIVO" 300

Not sure about the tyre pressure, husband did it about a fortnight ago. He took it to tesco where they have a pressure chart next to the machine

Edit to say thats not the first time its had the tyres checked since April!

 

[flisko]

since its mk2 punto it probably has 14" tires

what was the speed of the vehichle while you were sliding?

 

[kellybee]

Not sure - I pulled out of the driveway in second gear, drove a hundred yards then started to brake... probably no more than 20 or 25mph

 

[kellybee]

there was no ABS, it just locked. Even without that incident, as I say it feels like its almost skating on the road in the rain, especially around corners

 

[flisko]

i only slid once and that was cuz of to high speed and sharp corner and ofcourse in rain, just drive slower on corners

 

[Brendan W]

thanks it says:

DOT ZYAU XLK 4711

Brand is "PRESTIVO" 300

Not sure about the tyre pressure, husband did it about a fortnight ago. He took it to tesco where they have a pressure chart next to the machine

Edit to say thats not the first time its had the tyres checked since April!

That's week 47 of 2011. The tyres are reasonably young.
The Prestivo 3000 ( presume that's what you meant) has quite a few black marks against it for wet grip. Of course internet tyre reviews tend to be all over the place and unreliable.
Garage or supermarket tyre pressure gauges are generally not very accurate due mainly to the abuse they get from people driving over them. If the pressure is too high the contact patch with the road is too small and will cause skittish behaviour. A pressure checker is only a few pounds and a good investment for any owner trying to get the best from their tyres.

 

[atom0007]

Also, check the remaining tread is sufficient

 

[AndyRKett]

Brand is "PRESTIVO" 300

It sounds like they are a very cheap brand of tyre (I've never heard of them) it might be worth investing in a new set of tyres.

I don't know where you're based but if anywhere near Norfolk I have a set in my shed on wheels gathering dust you can have to tide you over if the tyres on your car are worrying you.

 

[Scudmonkey]

Quick search on the Net for Prestivo brought up lots of revues which basicaly said they don't grip in the wet.
Personally i always use Goodyear or Michelin by choice (Although whats on my active sport came with it when i bought it, i forget the make but they grip ok and they arent Prestivo ). and when they eventually wear out it will be Michelin or Goodyear on it.
Once had a Car with really cheapo (budget) tyres on it when i bought and that was a Mk5 Escort, basically no grip in the wet (similar to what you described) and even on dry roads the cornering was 'Interesting' to say the least...Brand new set of mid range Michelins transformed that cars handling immensely.
Tyre places always like trying to flog you budget tyres, but long term you're better buying mid range well known makes which are generally ok for most driving and dont actually cost massive amounts more.
It's also worth pointing out that when i had a Sei i was limited a lot on choice...the tyre size on a Sei Sporting is somewhat unique (since it only fits sei and Cinq sporting ...However Punto's don't have that particular problem

 

[Ziggy122]

My google has found the same thing

There a budget tyre by the looks of it

Which also brings reviews of poor wet grip

Tread is 1 thing
But wet grip is another

The punto is quiet a stable car, i run both the steel 165/70/14 in winter and alloys 185/55/15 in summer, and with decent tyres, i can say i trust my car alot in the corner - even more so that now its been retracked

I use Uni-royals, partly because i find there a good price, decent wearing if sensible and careful
And they are some of the best wet gripping tyres i've found

There a siste company to michelin or Continential cant remember, so you're still getting a good tyre

Any Mid range - Premium tyre will soon show the light of why GOOD QUALITY TYRES BEAT CHEAP TYRES

This video may help prove the point


----

The stereo, sounds like the stereo might be connected to the canbus system in the car by accident or poor fitment

This CAN cause issues like loss of speedo, which can also **** up the power steering

This is the video i made about wiring a punto stereo up - my voice is annoying, but you get the jist of what im on about


Ziggy

 

[flisko]

who is doing 70mph in rain and suddenly braking? everyone blames tires while its just their high speed

 

[g8rpi]

there was no ABS, it just locked. Even without that incident, as I say it feels like its almost skating on the road in the rain, especially around corners

Get some new tyres, doesn't matter how good your brakes or suspension are, those small patches of rubber are the only contact with the road. I put Uniroyal Rainexpert tyres on my Marea and was very pleased with them all round.

Robert G8RPI.

 

[Ziggy122]

who is doing 70mph in rain and suddenly braking? everyone blames tires while its just their high speed

tbh there is a strong element of yes
But it you were doing 20mph and you can very easily lock and slide, i'd be changing tyres
I'd like to say i'd geta very small amount of lock up / slide in the wet with mine
Not enough to nearly cause an accident

Get some new tyres, doesn't matter how good your brakes or suspension are, those small patches of rubber are the only contact with the road. I put Uniroyal Rainexpert tyres on my Marea and was very pleased with them all round.

Robert G8RPI.

I agree
My brothers had rain experts on the rear of his car, and he said the noise drop was pleasent compared to his premium tyres

So much so - he's now had some new Rain experts 3's on the front to replace the corded tyres he had

Mrs has Rain experts on her little C1 - the way her ABS changed its braking was odd

On her 5 year old tyres, it was very aggressive
on the new uniroyals, it was faster and less aggressive - stopped better really
So it does help the ABS

Me - Rainsport 3's all around in summer
Winter - i need a new set - so going for the new Ms plus 7' range
The MSplus6, did very well in the snow, and better cold rain (probably cause i dropped tyre sizes)

ziggy

 

[kellybee]

It sounds like they are a very cheap brand of tyre (I've never heard of them) it might be worth investing in a new set of tyres.

I don't know where you're based but if anywhere near Norfolk I have a set in my shed on wheels gathering dust you can have to tide you over if the tyres on your car are worrying you.

Thank you - I'm in Coventry and very much appreciate the offer but have just bought a new set today, I asked the garage for tyres that will do the best job in the rain, just need to wait for some wet weather i guess.

Thanks again

 

[Ziggy122]

Thank you - I'm in Coventry and very much appreciate the offer but have just bought a new set today, I asked the garage for tyres that will do the best job in the rain, just need to wait for some wet weather i guess.

Thanks again

What have they fitted?

Ziggy

 

[TONY55S]

I have a mk2 punto for last 15 years.
I have used expensive tyres and ok tyres.
Anytime i had to brake hard on wet surface,the wheels always locked up.
I think the main reason is because my mk2 doesnt have antilock brakes.
I know you can brake,release,brake,but if a child runs out in front of
you,its only natural to stand on the brake pedal,like i did whenit happened to me at 40kph,i left a 6 metre skid mark on dry surface.Had goodyear tyres.
i do agree buy the best tyres you can afford,and you have better chance,
but ABS is now a requirement on all new cars sold in Europe.

 

[flisko]

screw new tires, i drift in rain with 4 spare tires from mk1 punto year 1994 !

 

[Dodza]

Sq

2) The stereo didnt work so I bought a DAB USB radio that you can plug an ipod into. Worked great but the Power Steering light kept coming on and every now and then all the dashbord dials died and came back on again a second later. That wasnt a problem because we have just removed the stereo, but the central locking has lost the plot since then. If you put the key in the driver's door and lock the passenger door doesnt lock with it any more. Can lock the passenger door from the outside but not by pressing the button down on the inside. If I open the drivers door with the key the passenger door remains up. Its like they have stopped communicating. If I pull up the passenger button to unlock from the inside it snaps straight back down if you dont open the door quick enough

3) Can anyone tell me what stereo I can put in the car without it interfering with my dashboard?

With thanks
Kelly

Hi

Had a similar problem with my 07 GP stereo. Turns out some canbus connections in Puntos/GPS are different from each other tho they are the same models.

In mine I got a harness adaptor from Ebay,car instruments went haywire. Switched around my ACC cable, removed the iginition and used the cigarette lighter to switch on my radio and completely removed the steering remote wire. All these changes were done on the harness adapter part that connects to the car stereo connector. So jus make sure that the wires match up when you connect. Also read somewhere that some stock stereos use the aerial as a ground so just check that if you wiring harness does have a ground as you are using DAB your aerial myt not be connected. So check using a wiring diagram.