Hello there,
On my way home from work yesterday, just into a left bend, I lost control of the car. To start with it understeered and was heading towards the oncoming traffic and the steering felt very odd. I very carefully carried on working at the steering to avoid complete understeer and it gradually pulled back a bit and then went into oversteer. It all happened in what appeared to be slow motion. I managed to get it under control and pulled over. To my surprise, noone stopped even though I must have only been about 2 feet from the oncoming traffic and I wasn't travelling fast or pushing it round the corner. My first thought was that either there had been a catastrophic failure of the steering/suspension or my tyres were flat. On checking everything and recovering my composure, I did notice a strong smell of diesel and thought that might have been the cause. I carefully watched other cars and none showed any problem. The car is on 175 tyres. I drove very very carefully home and noticed it still tending to steer strangely and would lock the wheels on gentle braking.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this please?
I am taking it to my tyre fitter this morning for a look at the tyres and then to Fiat for an inspection (if they can fit me in).
Any ideas gratefully received.
Many thanks,
Richard.

Hi,
glad you got away with it unscathed..,


not heard of ANY such incidents in the @ 2 years of the Nuova..,

so think the diesel may be a contributing factor..,
"normal" after 2.5 weeks of dry weather.. then add moisture..!!


well worth getting things checked.. but I suspect it was the road conditions,


Charlie

Not sure if you've been lucky or unlucky, certainly scary. Sounds like a diesel spill to me, hate to think what might happen to a motor cyclist. Tyres are another possibility, one of the original tyres on Mrs b_u's 2011 1.2 Panda went out of shape.

Sounds like a diesel spill to me also. Makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I also ride a motorcycle.

Geoff.

I'm another for thinking a possible diesel spill

Thank you all for your replies and concern.
Yes it was terrifying but more so because it is my wife, Moira's, car and I know she would have been driving faster and would not have been able to get the car back under control so would almost certainly have hit the oncoming traffic!
Also, I am a motorcyclist and know that I would have been off and under the oncoming traffic if I hadn't been borrowing Moira's car!
Ah well that didn't happen and I took the car to Fiat for a full safety check which it passed ok.
I phoned the police (I wish I had called them when it happened but didn't think of it) and they informed me that there had been a major spill and several cars had lost control there. They didn't do anything about it or put signs up but just sent a car down the road 1/2 hr later and said that the diesel had been washed away by the rain.
Luckily no one crashed.
I still don't understand why only some cars were affected by the spill. Might it be down to the wide tyres they insist on fitting to the Panda and light weight?
I did ask the dealer if I could replace the 175 tyres with 165s but was told I would void my warranty.
Ah well, thanks again for all the replies.
Richard Black.

richardblack said:

Thank you all for your replies and concern.
Yes it was terrifying but more so because it is my wife, Moira's, car and I know she would have been driving faster and would not have been able to get the car back under control so would almost certainly have hit the oncoming traffic!
Also, I am a motorcyclist and know that I would have been off and under the oncoming traffic if I hadn't been borrowing Moira's car!
Ah well that didn't happen and I took the car to Fiat for a full safety check which it passed ok.
I phoned the police (I wish I had called them when it happened but didn't think of it) and they informed me that there had been a major spill and several cars had lost control there. They didn't do anything about it or put signs up but just sent a car down the road 1/2 hr later and said that the diesel had been washed away by the rain.
Luckily no one crashed.
I still don't understand why only some cars were affected by the spill. Might it be down to the wide tyres they insist on fitting to the Panda and light weight?
I did ask the dealer if I could replace the 175 tyres with 165s but was told I would void my warranty.
Ah well, thanks again for all the replies.
Richard Black.

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This is what I think happened to me with my grande punto years ago. I was also highly confused as was going slower than other cars on the roundabout so couldn't understand why I skidded. Was bloody terrifying as nearly went into some railings. Also near to that roundabout, I actually spun on a smaller island within a few weeks of that, in dry weather at slow speeds. Made me lose confidence in the car for a while but diesel is slippy stuff and it's pot luck on whether it gets you or not. Glad everything is OK with you :thumbup:

richardblack said:

I did ask the dealer if I could replace the 175 tyres with 165s but was told I would void my warranty.

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On what basis

Is it a tyre size thats in the handbook as an authorized size?

When ever I've seen large quantities of Diesel / oil on the road I'm always straight on the blower to 101 reporting it. Luckily its not that often.

richardblack said:

Thank you all for your replies and concern.
Yes it was terrifying but more so because it is my wife, Moira's, car and I know she would have been driving faster and would not have been able to get the car back under control so would almost certainly have hit the oncoming traffic!
Also, I am a motorcyclist and know that I would have been off and under the oncoming traffic if I hadn't been borrowing Moira's car!
Ah well that didn't happen and I took the car to Fiat for a full safety check which it passed ok.
I phoned the police (I wish I had called them when it happened but didn't think of it) and they informed me that there had been a major spill and several cars had lost control there. They didn't do anything about it or put signs up but just sent a car down the road 1/2 hr later and said that the diesel had been washed away by the rain.
Luckily no one crashed.
I still don't understand why only some cars were affected by the spill. Might it be down to the wide tyres they insist on fitting to the Panda and light weight?
I did ask the dealer if I could replace the 175 tyres with 165s but was told I would void my warranty.
Ah well, thanks again for all the replies.
Richard Black.

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Hi Richard,

Glad to hear you are all OK now anyway, as you say it could have been nasty.

Are your tyres the factory fitted Continental EcoContact 3's? If so, then that might well be the main cause.

I have had them on both our old 500 and our current Panda and they have never inspired 100% in the wet in terms of grip. Certainly very quiet and I guess relatively fuel efficient too, but quite slippy when cornering in the wet above 30mph.

So I can well imagine if they came into contact with a diesel spill, they might not be the best to keep you going in a straight line...

Super Uwe said:

Hi Richard,

Glad to hear you are all OK now anyway, as you say it could have been nasty.

Are your tyres the factory fitted Continental EcoContact 3's? If so, then that might well be the main cause.

I have had them on both our old 500 and our current Panda and they have never inspired 100% in the wet in terms of grip. Certainly very quiet and I guess relatively fuel efficient too, but quite slippy when cornering in the wet above 30mph.

So I can well imagine if they came into contact with a diesel spill, they might not be the best to keep you going in a straight line...

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Thank you for that enlightening comment. I did wonder about the tyres (yes they are the original tyres) and will replace them with winter tyres or similar. I really wanted to use thinner ones, as I have on my Scudo, but have been told by Stoneacre that I can't do that. They are a worry for me because it is my wife's car and she drives faster than me. I will check out the price for changing to winter tyres. Do you have any suggestions for tyre choice?
Thanks again,
Richard.

Personally I use Vresdstein Snowtrac's

Winter is practically over. Don't panic.

Ulpian said:

Winter is practically over. Don't panic.

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Better off with winters all year rather than summers if you can only accommodate 1 set

Thanks again for the replies.
I think I will probably change to winters as soon as I can afford it. I certainly have been extremely pleased with the ones on my Scudo which has been transformed from a skittish thing that locks the wheels and looses grip at the drop of your hat to a really stable vehicle.
I will check out the Vredstein ones. I remember I used to use their tyres decades ago. Forgotten all about them.
Many thanks again,
Richard.