Where Did You Take Your Slingshot Today?

    Quote from chavey2

    Both times it was coming from a dead stop and accelerating around a 90 degree street corner (once left coming out of the neighborhood and once right getting on to the freeway). I just applied a little counter steer and everything was good. I think the "Nannies" helped. I know that on dry payment those things are awesome. I've taken it around some pretty hard corners (Crabapple Road! - for the SA guys) and it pulled me back in fast.


    BTW, just to be clear, it rained the day before. That morning was just fog and moisture on the ground - not standing water.

    One thing that could have happened was for the little bit of rain to float the oil back to the surface of the pavement. The slickest pavement that I have run into was at .a traffic light with the pavement just wet. It was so slick with oil and water I could not pull off without spinning, there was "NO" traction

    Quote from chavey2

    Both times it was coming from a dead stop and accelerating around a 90 degree street corner (once left coming out of the neighborhood and once right getting on to the freeway). I just applied a little counter steer and everything was good. I think the "Nannies" helped. I know that on dry payment those things are awesome. I've taken it around some pretty hard corners (Crabapple Road! - for the SA guys) and it pulled me back in fast.


    BTW, just to be clear, it rained the day before. That morning was just fog and moisture on the ground - not standing water.

    Not standing water is the key. Fog and moisture is a hindrance, but not a huge deal. Might cut traction by 50%, but that's my estimate only. Standing water ( MiM could maybe chime in here) could be deadly if you do it wrong. When in hard rain, and standing water is possible (if I can't find a place to pull off or a do it yourself car wash to chill until it passes) both nannies are off. No exceptions. I'd rather drive thru it best I can. If the left wheel in front hits a puddle, and the nannies are on.... the right applies the brakes to compensate and match the wheels. But, if you are going even 30MPH, then the left wheel lifts in a puddle and slows to 15, the right tries to match it. Suddenly the Slingshot is going 30, and the right front is down to 15 MPH, and maybe has traction. Instant spin, little you can do because the "nannies" are trying to fix the problem.... that the "nannies" caused in the first place.


    Puddles out, Nannies off here. I'm not the highest mileage here, but at over 50k, that's my advice!

    ($.02 thrown on the table for the amount of my advice)

    Quote from Goats_Hogs

    Not standing water is the key. Fog and moisture is a hindrance, but not a huge deal. Might cut traction by 50%, but that's my estimate only. Standing water ( MiM could maybe chime in here) could be deadly if you do it wrong. When in hard rain, and standing water is possible (if I can't find a place to pull off or a do it yourself car wash to chill until it passes) both nannies are off. No exceptions. I'd rather drive thru it best I can. If the left wheel in front hits a puddle, and the nannies are on.... the right applies the brakes to compensate and match the wheels. But, if you are going even 30MPH, then the left wheel lifts in a puddle and slows to 15, the right tries to match it. Suddenly the Slingshot is going 30, and the right front is down to 15 MPH, and maybe has traction. Instant spin, little you can do because the "nannies" are trying to fix the problem.... that the "nannies" caused in the first place.


    Puddles out, Nannies off here. I'm not the highest mileage here, but at over 50k, that's my advice!

    ($.02 thrown on the table for the amount of my advice)

    Goats_Hogs great explanation! I have always been reluctant to take the nannies off but then again I have only been caught in the rain twice and what I have been caught in most wouldn’t even call rain.


    I think I may find some time in a wide open area take all the nannies off And just have some fun.


    However should I find myself in rain I will take them off completely based on your explanation which now makes perfect sense to me. Thank you! I would much rather trust MY capabilities in a squirrley situation than having a computer second-guess it for me.

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    Quote from SoCal

    Goats_Hogs great explanation! I have always been reluctant to take the nannies off but then again I have only been caught in the rain twice and what I have been caught in most wouldn’t even call rain.


    I think I may find some time in a wide open area take all the nannies off And just have some fun.


    However should I find myself in rain I will take them off completely based on your explanation which now makes perfect sense to me. Thank you! I would much rather trust MY capabilities in a squirrley situation than having a computer second-guess it for me.

    SoCal we have been preaching this for years but some of the newer folks on here have not seen this. I think I had just explained all of this a few post back.

    FunCycle you are absolutely correct but sometimes I’m just a little bit slow. For some reason it just clicked with me now. I have seen some previous posts on this but not read all.


    That’s one of the coolest things about this forum. Everybody in someway or another always takes me to school and I’m better for it.

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    Goats_Hogs is correct... The stream of water is what did it. Mind you I was driving in HEAVY rain from Houston to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Indiana, then back to Houston. All was fine until the end...never slipped once. Until the Woodlands on I45... Overpass caused runoff on highway and as soon as I hit that stream... Instant spin city. I didn't apply brake or anything, thought I'd just hold tight and run through it... But now I know the nannies kicked in and spun me. Thankfully concrete barrier, and not the trailer trucks and traffic, stopped me.


    Anyway, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!


    Quote from Roadhawg

    Okay, I'm getting a little anxious. Are these things dangerous to drive on wet roads? What should you do if you're caught in a sudden rain storm?

    I can’t speak to the Slingshot but every time I was caught in a rainstorm with my motorcycle I pulled over into a café or under a bridge and met some new friends.

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    Quote from SoCal

    I can’t speak to the Slingshot but every time I was caught in a rainstorm with my motorcycle I pulled over into a café or under a bridge and met some new friends.

    Sure, we always did similar things, but reading Venomous' story made me a little nervous about driving on a wet road.

    "If I were a Jedi, there's a 100% chance I would use the force inappropriately!"

    Quote from Roadhawg

    Sure, we always did similar things, but reading Venomous' story made me a little nervous about driving on a wet road.

    I believe you hail from the great state of Arizona. Not a whole lot of threat there for you and me I think😜 Except for the occasional flash flood🤪

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    Quote from Roadhawg

    Sure, we always did similar things, but reading Venomous' story made me a little nervous about driving on a wet road.

    I know myself, along with others, won't ride on wet roads again... Best to just pull over and wait it out. Or go no more than about 30mph.


    Just my 2 cents.


    Wouldn't want to try my luck twice!


    I don't blame you and my apologies, my first post should have said how thankful I am that you weren't seriously hurt. I'm certainly not looking forward to the day when I unexpectedly encounter a similar situation, but it feels inevitable. I've mentioned before that I learn something valuable almost every day from things I read on the forum and as unfortunate as your experience was, you may have saved someone's life simply by sharing it here. Thank you.

    "If I were a Jedi, there's a 100% chance I would use the force inappropriately!"

    Quote from Roadhawg

    Okay, I'm getting a little anxious. Are these things dangerous to drive on wet roads? What should you do if you're caught in a sudden rain storm?

    The most dangerous 'trip' we take everyday is the walk from the bedroom to the bathroom. More people killed there every day.


    That being said, with over 88,000+ miles in the seat of my Slingshot I have driven in more weather conditions than most. SLOW down --- turn nannies off --- watch for puddling of water on the road and water streaming across the road. If you can pull off and wait the worst of the weather to pass. Living in AZ you will run into less in a year than I'll run into in the month of April.


    Slow down.

    Quote from Roadhawg

    Okay, I'm getting a little anxious. Are these things dangerous to drive on wet roads? What should you do if you're caught in a sudden rain storm?

    I've driven on many wet roads, including going over the mountain on US 19 from Cherokee NC to Maggie Valley in up to 2 inches of standing water..... actually moving water as it was rushing off the mountain on the road. There was no place to pull over. I was going 10-15 MPH at times. A good "wicking" tread design will help, one that V's out from the center of the tire. I was leading that ride, I think there were 6 or 7 of us.

    My humble opinion is that wet will cut traction by about 50% for turns. Drive slow, like you are on ice. Standing water is your enemy. That is the real issue, and by standing I mean any water that is covering the high spots in the pavement. If the road is just wet, it's not too bad. But if there is no road sticking up above the water, that is very sketchy at any speed. I've had it lift at 20 MPH, and have put around 50K on the two that I've owned. Like EJ said, be sure to turn off the nannies, and by that I mean push the button above the stick shift and hold it down 3-4 seconds. It is my opinion that the Stability control works great in most all driving circumstances, but not in standing water times.

    But like said before, an overpass or diner... even a self serve car wash (no one will need it if it's raining) are likely the best options.

    Quote from Goats_Hogs

    Like EJ said, be sure to turn off the nannies...

    Thanks to you and @Ej Ford and to everyone else that chimed in on this. The dealer pointed out the traction control switch and explained what it does, but that's all. He didn't mention how it could be used strategically in rainy weather to reduce the chances of losing control. I thank all of you for helping come to understand that. I'll never be afraid of driving in the rain when circumstances prohibit me from pulling over and waiting it out and thanks to everyone's advice, I now know what to expect when maneuvering on wet roads and how to deal with it like a champ... 👍👍👍

    "If I were a Jedi, there's a 100% chance I would use the force inappropriately!"

    Quote from Roadhawg

    Thanks to you and @Ej Ford and to everyone else that chimed in on this. The dealer pointed out the traction control switch and explained what it does, but that's all. He didn't mention how it could be used strategically in rainy weather to reduce the chances of losing control. I thank all of you for helping come to understand that. I'll never be afraid of driving in the rain when circumstances prohibit me from pulling over and waiting it out and thanks to everyone's advice, I now know what to expect when maneuvering on wet roads and how to deal with it like a champ... 👍👍👍

    Like EjFord I have maybe 95,000 miles between the two Slings with a lot of rainy riding. It might happen tomorrow but so far it has not and I have rode in floods where I could barely see the rode.

    Quote from Roadhawg

    Thanks to you and @Ej Ford and to everyone else that chimed in on this. The dealer pointed out the traction control switch and explained what it does, but that's all. He didn't mention how it could be used strategically in rainy weather to reduce the chances of losing control. I thank all of you for helping come to understand that. I'll never be afraid of driving in the rain when circumstances prohibit me from pulling over and waiting it out and thanks to everyone's advice, I now know what to expect when maneuvering on wet roads and how to deal with it like a champ... 👍👍👍

    Most of the dealer/sales people don't put as many miles on a Slingshot as I put on going to my dealer for a 'oil change'. They may know the button, but have no clue on how and when to use.