Porsche "Wet Mode" to Reduce Hydroplaning

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Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
This tells me that Porsche is seeing a shift in the type of buyer for the 911. It's a buyer who's more interested in the panache of owning a 911 rather than actual driving of one.

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I'm sure they're seeing the shift, so why bother with this wet mode, when the "new Porsche owner" is just hogging the left lane...
 
Originally Posted by SubLGT
https://www.autonews.com/blogs/porsche-hopes-new-wet-mode-will-solve-911s-hydroplaning-problem
Quote
..."People drive too fast in the rain and are not aware of how close they are to the aquaplaning threshold," Morbitzer said, adding this was especially true for 911 customers......The best solution was to simply reduce speed and switch to the slow lane, but Porsche 911 drivers are not accustomed to this ...
...All new 911s will now come standard with a new safety system. Miniature microphone sensors analyze indirectly the intensity of the water on the road splashed up into the front wheel arches. Depending on the current speed, the vehicle can recommend the driver to activate the so-called "wet mode."
If activated, the vehicle starts to prepare itself for potential hydroplaning. Engine torque buildup is reduced, its distribution biased to the smaller front wheels for greater stability, and aero flaps open to create greater downforce. Actuating systems for safety features like Porsche stability management (PSM) and Porsche traction management (PTM) are lowered...


Mine has a system that can be transferred from car to car it's called "My Right Foot" it works wonderfully especially when connected to the optional "Common Sense" application, that makes it foolproof !
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
This tells me that Porsche is seeing a shift in the type of buyer for the 911. It's a buyer who's more interested in the panache of owning a 911 rather than actual driving of one.

27.gif




No need to hide on that comment...idiots with money, rather than enthusiasts, are getting behind the wheel for the image alone and don't know how to drive a 1972 Datsun B210, much less a Porsche.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdLHAqL8KJw
 
It's just a more advanced version of traction control. Hydroplaning does not announce itself clearly in advance to the driver and can occur already at 35 mph. Does nobody here go over 35mph when the road is wet? A Porsche has rather wide tires, probably in a staggered setup, which makes the vehicle especially prone to hydroplaning. Given the technical possibility, why wouldn't a manufacturer include an implementable safety feature? Most drivers, and just because someone drives a Porsche he can't be expected to be a professional driver, will be better off with the additional safety feature. As for all the idiot drivers, most of them don't drive a Porsche but some other hooptie. 90% of drivers can't even manage to come to a full stop at a stop sign or understand the concept of the right of way.in advance
 
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Hopefully works when wet
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The auto braking in wife's 2018 Tiguan shuts off quietly with minor warning light in heavy rain and slushy weather when sensor gets obscured.... the two times this feature might be handy.
 
Originally Posted by vavavroom
It's just a more advanced version of traction control. Hydroplaning does not announce itself clearly in advance to the driver and can occur already at 35 mph. Does nobody here go over 35mph when the road is wet? A Porsche has rather wide tires, probably in a staggered setup, which makes the vehicle especially prone to hydroplaning. Given the technical possibility, why wouldn't a manufacturer include an implementable safety feature? Most drivers, and just because someone drives a Porsche he can't be expected to be a professional driver, will be better off with the additional safety feature. As for all the idiot drivers, most of them don't drive a Porsche but some other hooptie. 90% of drivers can't even manage to come to a full stop at a stop sign or understand the concept of the right of way.in advance

Well said.

My 911 is light, has no weight over the front 225s, and has 295s in the rear.

You bet it likes to hydroplane.
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by d00df00d
Guys.

You all know this is a selectable mode, right?

Like... It's not a thing that's always on and impossible to defeat. It's a light that comes on sometimes, does literally nothing else unless you press the button, and then stops doing things the moment you press the button again.

I agree it shouldn't be necessary but you guys are whining like it's a horseman of the automotive apocalypse. Calm down.


lol..ya but I suspect default mode is "active" just like traction control.

No need for suspicion. The article specifically says it works upon activation by the driver. Zero ambiguity.

If the reality turns out otherwise, there'll be plenty of time to whine then.
 
The thing about hydroplaning is that you don't know that it's going to happen until it does although you do know the conditions in which it's likely, basically prolonged heavy rain.
You typically pass through a hydroplaning event very quickly and other than feeling that momentary loss of steering feel and control, I've never had anything bad happen myself. Most fast roads are well drained and you usually don't see that small stream of deeper water until it's too late to do anything other than keep a light grip on the wheel and pass right through and you may not see it at all but know it only by the hydroplaning event that you experience.
By the time these sensors hear a larger than threshold splash in the wheel wells, the hydroplaning event will have come and gone unless that threshold is fairly low in which case most drivers will dismiss it as Chicken Little.
As described, I don't see this implementation doing much to reduce hydroplaning anyway.
 
Originally Posted by fdcg27
The thing about hydroplaning is that you don't know that it's going to happen until it does although you do know the conditions in which it's likely, basically prolonged heavy rain.
You typically pass through a hydroplaning event very quickly and other than feeling that momentary loss of steering feel and control, I've never had anything bad happen myself. Most fast roads are well drained and you usually don't see that small stream of deeper water until it's too late to do anything other than keep a light grip on the wheel and pass right through and you may not see it at all but know it only by the hydroplaning event that you experience.
By the time these sensors hear a larger than threshold splash in the wheel wells, the hydroplaning event will have come and gone unless that threshold is fairly low in which case most drivers will dismiss it as Chicken Little.
As described, I don't see this implementation doing much to reduce hydroplaning anyway.




I watched the video demonstration and first it was hard to understand the person describing how it worked. Was it automatic or driver engaged? If the driver has to activate it then the biggest problem I see is that the driver is doing something at a crucial point when he or she should be driving and sensing conditions.

Here in the rainy side of WA state the system would have to be on constantly during the rainy season. That in turn might affect performance.

I like technology but to be reliant on it is a new paradigm. A Porsche spins out in the rain and the driver will blame the technology and not their lack of common sense. One might say we already have this system on all cars and that is our right foot.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by fdcg27
The thing about hydroplaning is that you don't know that it's going to happen until it does although you do know the conditions in which it's likely, basically prolonged heavy rain.
You typically pass through a hydroplaning event very quickly and other than feeling that momentary loss of steering feel and control, I've never had anything bad happen myself. Most fast roads are well drained and you usually don't see that small stream of deeper water until it's too late to do anything other than keep a light grip on the wheel and pass right through and you may not see it at all but know it only by the hydroplaning event that you experience.
By the time these sensors hear a larger than threshold splash in the wheel wells, the hydroplaning event will have come and gone unless that threshold is fairly low in which case most drivers will dismiss it as Chicken Little.
As described, I don't see this implementation doing much to reduce hydroplaning anyway.




I watched the video demonstration and first it was hard to understand the person describing how it worked. Was it automatic or driver engaged? If the driver has to activate it then the biggest problem I see is that the driver is doing something at a crucial point when he or she should be driving and sensing conditions.

Here in the rainy side of WA state the system would have to be on constantly during the rainy season. That in turn might affect performance.

I like technology but to be reliant on it is a new paradigm. A Porsche spins out in the rain and the driver will blame the technology and not their lack of common sense. One might say we already have this system on all cars and that is our right foot.


True, new Porsche owner will drive faster under the assumption that the car will take care of them.

It's really sad that Porsche thought this tech was worth pursuing.
 
Typical BiTOG thread.

Technology bad.

German car buyer dumb.

Ugga ugga.

Hydroplaning can catch anyone out. How is tech that makes everyone safer a bad thing? If Chevrolet was developing this tech for the new 'Vette, you'd all be signing their praises.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Typical BiTOG thread.

Technology bad.

German car buyer dumb.

Ugga ugga.

Hydroplaning can catch anyone out. How is tech that makes everyone safer a bad thing? If Chevrolet was developing this tech for the new 'Vette, you'd all be signing their praises.


Yep.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
I watched the video demonstration and first it was hard to understand the person describing how it worked. Was it automatic or driver engaged?

It's driver activated.

The driver has to activate it or it's not active.

It does nothing unless it's positively selected by the driver.


There. Hopefully people will see it now.


Originally Posted by PimTac
If the driver has to activate it then the biggest problem I see is that the driver is doing something at a crucial point when he or she should be driving and sensing conditions.

And if the driver didn't have to activate it, people would be complaining exactly as they are now, except their complaints would be less divorced from reality.


Originally Posted by PimTac
A Porsche spins out in the rain and the driver will blame the technology and not their lack of common sense.

Then someone plugs into the onboard data recorder and notices the system hadn't been activated at the time of the crash, and the driver is told to pound sand.

Originally Posted by PimTac
One might say we already have this system on all cars and that is our right foot.

I wish my right foot added downforce and changed ABS and DSC thresholds. Seems like I'm missing out.
 
Originally Posted by d00df00d
Originally Posted by PimTac
I watched the video demonstration and first it was hard to understand the person describing how it worked. Was it automatic or driver engaged?

It's driver activated.

The driver has to activate it or it's not active.

It does nothing unless it's positively selected by the driver.


There. Hopefully people will see it now.


Originally Posted by PimTac
If the driver has to activate it then the biggest problem I see is that the driver is doing something at a crucial point when he or she should be driving and sensing conditions.

And if the driver didn't have to activate it, people would be complaining exactly as they are now, except their complaints would be less divorced from reality.


Originally Posted by PimTac
A Porsche spins out in the rain and the driver will blame the technology and not their lack of common sense.

Then someone plugs into the onboard data recorder and notices the system hadn't been activated at the time of the crash, and the driver is told to pound sand.

Originally Posted by PimTac
One might say we already have this system on all cars and that is our right foot.

I wish my right foot added downforce and changed ABS and DSC thresholds. Seems like I'm missing out.





Well pardon me all to heðŸ’ðŸ’
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Typical BiTOG thread.

Technology bad.

German car buyer dumb.

Ugga ugga.

Hydroplaning can catch anyone out. How is tech that makes everyone safer a bad thing? If Chevrolet was developing this tech for the new 'Vette, you'd all be signing their praises.


True but you forget that most Vette owners don't enjoy their cars enough to be in such a position, ie in the wet or at any meaningful speed.
 
"My 911 is light, has no weight over the front 225s, and has 295s in the rear.

You bet it likes to hydroplane."

Maybe you need more appropriate tires? I got Michelin Pilot Sport P4s (summer tires) on mine and those two deep,wide grooves down the middle and side channels disperse water rather well. But I don't like to drive in the rain because it sits so low and the road spray from cars and trucks nearly blinds you. Downside to these tires is the 20k life. Soft tire compound sticks like chewing gum on a sidewalk
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Typical BiTOG thread.

Technology bad.

German car buyer dumb.

Ugga ugga.

Hydroplaning can catch anyone out. How is tech that makes everyone safer a bad thing? If Chevrolet was developing this tech for the new 'Vette, you'd all be signing their praises.


Not this.
It's just that we've all experienced hydroplaning and this Porsche system seems unlikely to do much to ameliorate it.
As I originally wrote, we all know the conditions in which it's likely but we don't know that it'll happen until it does and it's usually over with in less time than you can say the shortest word in this thread.
How many accidents involving hydroplaning where tires with decent tread depth are in use?
I bet somewhere between few and none.
 
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