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[Alex W]

It might just be down to a greasy road (light rain after weeks of dry) but my car nearly threw me into the centre of a roundabout today. I was only doing about 20 mph and was gently accelerating around the island in traffic when the back suddenly let go and pointed my nose inwards. I managed to catch it without any damage. I also noticed the TC light didn't come on (it does work).

Similar thing happened in February (icy conditions this time but again, not throwing it about, generally, I drive like a granny).

In between, the car passed its MOT and is reasonably well maintained. It has only covered 88k and it has had new rear coil springs (about 20000 miles ago) and new self-levelling rear dampers (about 6000 miles ago) and the rear tyres are only about 2000 miles old, although they are cheap ones.

Has anyone heard of Omega's doing this? I've been driving 30 years and have never had a car step out at the back like this before. I've had this car for about five years and had no problems like this before February. Its really quite unnerving.

What might cause this behaviour? Apart from bad driving that is.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[Entwood]

Tyre Condition ?? especially tread depth ..  if they are "slicks" they will move a lot more in the wet as there is no way of removeing the water .. that's the job of the "sipes" .. the little channels in the tyre pattern

Tyre Pressures ?? incorrect pressures change the profile and effect the amount of rubber in contact with the ground, and the way the "sipes" behave

Tyre Quality ?? cheaper tyres have different artificial compounds in them .. some of these are more conducive to low cost/long life than they are to grip, especialy in damp/wet conditions.

Might also be road surface .. any fuel spillage in the past will become very slippery now its damp, but not wet enough to wash off.

[Alex W]

The rear tyres are only a couple of months old almost full tread but they are cheap ones.

[Lazydocker]

The rear tyres are only a couple of months old almost full tread but they are cheap ones.

That could well be the final factor in a chain of several events. Wet, greasy roads and cheap tyres are never a good combination

Just out of interest... What tyres did you fit?

[Alex W]

Autogrip Tyres

[Lazydocker]

Autogrip Tyres

Never heard of them!

[Alex W]

Autogrip by name but not by nature.

[TheBoy]

I suspect shite tyres (most budget tyres are OK-ish in dry, but all to willing to let go when wet).  Worth checking for things like broken springs and worn bushes at the back.  Just because it passes an MOT doesn't mean such components are OK.

[feeutfo]

Tyres. Bin em before they bin you.

Although  ......I have linglongs on the back of mine at the moment,  they came with the wheels I bought as a set then fitted conti sc3 on the tyreless fronts. Knowing the lingings would be shite I put them on the back so at least the car would stop in an emergency at least, and made a mental note to go steady on the corner speed, and then was pleasantly surprised by grip level in the dry. However in the wet, as said, being cheap they are lethal in the wet.   

No power is needed for them to slip out as you describe, a fraction more than tip toe speed off the throttle can have the rear on the wrong side of the road on left handers. Even had to apply opposite lock from the passenger seat when the Mrs was driving.  

During the current dry spell I thought I'd risk it, ware them out and fit sc3's and rotate the old sc3's to the rear. But the linglongs don't ware out. They got a go. 

[Alex W]

Like I said above, I've had the car five years without problem. That must be  because I've always fitted brand name tyres in the past (£100+ a corner) but this year, times are hard, so I tried to save a few quid (£65 a corner). False economy.

I'll have a look at the springs and bushes as well. Thanks all.

[bigdods]

I had this when my geometry was way out. Any damp and the back end would step out as if I was driving over a diesel spill. Quick session at WIM sorted it out.

The tyres wont be helping things, geo setup is £60 + vat and worth every penny

[TheBoy]

Tyres. Bin em before they bin you.

Although  ......I have linglongs on the back of mine at the moment,  they came with the wheels I bought as a set then fitted conti sc3 on the tyreless fronts. Knowing the lingings would be shite I put them on the back so at least the car would stop in an emergency at least, and made a mental note to go steady on the corner speed, and then was pleasantly surprised by grip level in the dry. However in the wet, as said, being cheap they are lethal in the wet.   

No power is needed for them to slip out as you describe, a fraction more than tip toe speed off the throttle can have the rear on the wrong side of the road on left handers. Even had to apply opposite lock from the passenger seat when the Mrs was driving.  

During the current dry spell I thought I'd risk it, ware them out and fit sc3's and rotate the old sc3's to the rear. But the linglongs don't ware out. They got a go. 

In fairness to Mrs Gixer and your tyres, I also had to catch the back end of the Dunlop SP9000 shod MV6 on the same roundabout, about 30s in front of you

[feeutfo]

Tyres. Bin em before they bin you.

Although  ......I have linglongs on the back of mine at the moment,  they came with the wheels I bought as a set then fitted conti sc3 on the tyreless fronts. Knowing the lingings would be shite I put them on the back so at least the car would stop in an emergency at least, and made a mental note to go steady on the corner speed, and then was pleasantly surprised by grip level in the dry. However in the wet, as said, being cheap they are lethal in the wet.   

No power is needed for them to slip out as you describe, a fraction more than tip toe speed off the throttle can have the rear on the wrong side of the road on left handers. Even had to apply opposite lock from the passenger seat when the Mrs was driving.  

During the current dry spell I thought I'd risk it, ware them out and fit sc3's and rotate the old sc3's to the rear. But the linglongs don't ware out. They got a go. 

In fairness to Mrs Gixer and your tyres, I also had to catch the back end of the Dunlop SP9000 shod MV6 on the same roundabout, about 30s in front of you

Yeah but hers was better, "we" almost held a drift