+1 for circuitsmith. I logged on to make the same comment. It’s probably the tires but a botched wheel alignment can cause hydroplaning as well.
You are driving too fast for the amount of water on the road. It rains a lot in the PNW but the rain is light. We haven’t had a good rain in 3 weeks, to where it runs off to the road s shoulders. Oil slick is more dangerous.
A heavy rain will cause hydroplaning even at a very slow speed.
There are a couple of things about this that do not make sense to me.
First is the tire involved. The name isn’t right. There is no El40. There is an EL400 and it comes in a plain and an 02 version.
When I use Tire Rack to determine what tire we are talking about, I get that the vehicle could have come with P215/60R16 94T’s, P215/60R16 94H’s, P215/55R17 93V’s, or P235/45R18 94V’s - and the only combination that fits is P235/45R18 94V with EL400-02’s- which has a UTQG rating of 300 A A.
If I look at Tire Rack’s surveys, this tire ranked dead last overall and more importantly also dead last for wet traction and hydroplaning.
Second, since the OP said the car did this from brand new, I think we can eliminate hydroplaning as the true cause - BUT - it is common for folks not to know there is a difference between hydroplaning and wet traction.
And that’s what I think the problem is.
This is a common problem with tires on Japanese vehicles. I might even expand this to include Asian vehicles, but I think there isn’t quite enough data to support such a broad claim.
So why, you may ask, would brand new tires have wet traction issues on Japanese vehicles? The best explanation I have come up with is that the traction tests are run in Japan, and I’ll bet the surface they test on is quite different that what we use in the US. Even within the US, there are places where wet traction is a problem in and of itself. For example, in one survey, some pavements in Texas - when wet - have the coefificent of friction close to that of ice.
So my recommendation is to change the tires out. I’m going to bet the Nissan dealer will not be particularly helpful with a 2 year old vehicle with 9K miles.
- BUT -
Bridgestone should be willing to help in this regard. A call to Brdigestone’s corporate headquarters ( 800 847 - 3272) is in order - and a mention that the Car Talk web site is monitoring the progress will be sure to pay dividends.
Eddo has added a good point; driving conditions. In areas that don’t often get rain, hydroplaniong can be caused by not only the tise of the oils deposited on the surface, but also due to road design with poor runoff. My son, who grew up in the Northeast, commented on his very issue when he first moved to southern California.
May I ask where you reside?
Other than just tires and inflation, there could be a misalignment of the rear wheels. If they are directed with the front of the tires pointing too much toward each other or away, it may cause hydroplaning.
If one adjustment came loose, one tire could be helping to cause the problem. So broken, worn out or misadjusted suspension parts could be helping the tires tear away from solid contact with the road. An alignment specialist could determine this.
If both ends of the car are sliding, it would be odd.
Thanks @capriracer I have Michilen MX something or others on our 2012 Acura and noticed what I thought was a little hydroplaning last fall. Wasn’t too bad but enough to make me slow down some in a driving rain storm. I don’t think I’m really impressed with that tire either and the dang things are nearly $300 when I had to replace one. Interesting that this may be a Japanese thing.
Sue B. I had a similar experience once. I bought a new set of Michelin XA4 tires for a 79 Dodge Colt I had. From the moment I put them on, the car would hydroplane if someone even spit on the road. I though it was the suspension because the car had over 100k one it, but I could not find any component that was over its wear limit, so I began to replace parts that were close.
After a while I had replaced the whole front suspension and still could not control the car when the road was wet. Finally I replaced the tires, even though they still had plenty of tread and it solved the problem. I had the XA4 tires on two other vehicles and did not have a problem with them. Sometimes a particular tire just won’t work on a particular model. BTW, the guy who sold me the tires warned me that they didn’t work on Mitsubushi’s for some reason, but I had good luck before so I didn’t listen.
Having said this, I do agree with the others that the alignment and the suspension should be checked first. If you do buy new tires, I highly recommend the Michelin Primacy (MXV4) tire for this car. At least it’s an excellent tire for our Accord.
@keith I agree and It certainly makes sense too that without something like sufficient toe in, wandering could show up quickly in lower traction situations, like wet pavement. The dealer might do that or free !
Trade it for the car you really want-Kevin
To expand a thought brought up by Capri; when a car is imported from Japan, they usually spray the vehicle with a solution to prevent corrosion during transport; it usually burns off after 100 miles or so. That may be one thing to consider if you have issues at the time of purchase. However, after 2 years it should all be gone now.
Barkydog is correct in that the Goodyear RSAs are junk tires. My CX-7 has a set on it from the factory, and as soon as I get the money saved up, I’m buying a better set for it.
Hello Sue B,
I can almost tell you for sure its probably a combination of bad tire design and perhaps improper inflation. There is always a website I visit when it comes to tire info and here it is:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Turanza+EL400#
Look at some of the customer reviews as well as the websites test review, It pritty much tells me what I need to know about your tires
Hope that helps,
Thatoneguy
After reading more posts I think the tires are bad, especially the reviews on Tire Rack. From the pictures, there isn’t much of a way for water to get out from under the tread. The outer treads are solid, blocking the escape of water.
“when a car is imported from Japan, they usually spray the vehicle with a solution to prevent corrosion during transport; it usually burns off after 100 miles or so.”
But…Altimas are not imported from Japan.
The Altimas sold in the US are all made in the US, in either Smyrna, TN or Canton, MS.
I believe that this is simply a case of original equipment tires that are just not good quality–at least as it relates to resistance to hydroplaning. The car mfr is not going to help with this, nor will the tire mfr.
If the OP is truly interested in safety, he/she will buy a set of new tires, after doing some serious research into appropriate tire models for his/her driving needs.
Looks like another case of a company squandering the reputation of one of their products. I have used Bridgestone Turanza tires in the past, that last set was the LS-T. These were excellent tires and had high ratings on tirerack.com. Too bad.
Another factor in tire grip…
Which can not be known untill they’re mounted and driven on…
is the rubber.
Yah, the stuff that IS the tire.
The recipe/composition is as different between tires as anyone’s recipe for soup !
Case in point…ME
The big Ford/Firestone recall forced me to get tires even though I had proven the utility and value of the 'stones I had already worn through one set and bought a second. I know how my truck works and the conditions I can navigate and avoid.
– they put on Goodyear wrangler ATS …and my-freeking-gawd did those tires suck eggs !!
The evening is cooling off and rain is turning to snow but roads still maintain radiat heat from the day so they’re wet though cold.
- a corner to the college I’ve driven every day for a year… AND in the same conditions the last few days of rain/snow …has instantly and surprisingly become a dangerous skating rink ! Damn good thing no one was comming the other way, there would have been a head-on !
I re-gained control and stayed on the road BUT !
– The very next day I said ''get those crappy tires off and give me back my 'stones !"
" uh, we can’t do that , the recall says."
" then get me a different brand."
They put on the BFGoodrich all-terrain T/A.
and I went directly to the college corner and took it at the same 25mph ( the weather is still crappy all week, on the verge of freezing, snowing but melting on the roads )
---- and guess what ?------
The truck gripped the corner like is should !
It was in fact the tire rubber type !
Shop for tires during the weather conditions in question
AND
Make them agree to returnabilty after test drive. ( that’s the hard part as most tire stores say no return after mounting )