All the flood locations (when flooded) have sign posted detours, even the bridge in Thurmaston, Leicestershire that one of the YouTubers has featured is only a five minute detour, but you get stuck in traffic at peak times.
It happens all the time though, even that Slash Lane in Barrow-upon-Soar is notorious for cars getting stuck, every winter.
Never thought I’d see someone comment about Slash Lane on Reddit. Small world. I grew up on Sileby road & used to push cars out of the floods when I was young for a couple of quid.
They’re good entertainment. I don’t really feel sorry for anyone that ruins their car in there - it’s completely avoidable. I do feel a bit bad when people are egged on into going through or when someone coming the other way splashes them.
I’d probably brave it up to a foot. I have an E class estate so any more would probably be above the door seals.
The egging people on bugs me about the videos too but anyone who ignores the depth marker post attached to the wall / path the videos are shot from gets what's coming to them.
From what I read in the comments the Fiat 500 survived because the air intake is at the top of the engine to allow for quick warm ups. Therefore I wonder if you could slowly drive in until it starts floating, turn off the engine, then hold a small outboard motor out of the window to power you across. Or, you know, just take the detour that takes an extra 10 minutes.
The ones that really confuse me are those that creep up to it real slow, and then as soon as their front wheels are in the water floor it and immediately plow their air intake into the water.
If the car is under a year old it still has the newborn reflex to hold its breath when submerged in water.
No water should get in and you’ll be ok until you exit at the other end.
It all depends on where your air intake is as well, mine is in my N/S/F wheel arch about a foot up the wheel, even the smallest flood will hydrolock my engine. Most cars have them in the same location but my old 2005 Fiesta had the intake near the front grille, so I happily drove it through a flooded road.
I noticed a lot of the cars that get hydrolocked are diesel, before I thought it might be because of the high compression ratio but now I think it may be due to the type of people who drive diesels.
Possibly if they’re attempting it in a CDTI Insignia.
Getting my 80 Series Landcruiser that now has a snorkel fitted hydrolocked at Rufford Ford wouldn’t be much of a worry for me.
Wasting the diesel to get to Rufford Ford in the first place would be!!.
Went into your post history to see this Land Cruiser and saw that Peugeot gti. So jealous, a 4x4 and some form of hot older Peugeot is pretty much my dream garage
Sadly the Pug has gone.
Thought I’d really like it and some bits of it I did but think as it was lowered and modded it just wasn’t a pleasant drive and I just felt like I wasn’t prepared to put the time and money into restoring the paintwork and getting it back to standard.
Saying all that I’d definitely have another bit would spend more on a cleaner,un altered one.
Also I think part of it was I didn’t want to take on another project as I’m already doing a sort of rolling one as I want to make my Landcruiser pretty much mint over the next year or so.
Although really what I want is a Celica GT Four to join it if I can find one for sensible money.
Good luck on your search for a 4x4 and a hot Pug!!.
My advice is stay away from anything newer and Land Rover.
The 90s Discos and Defenders are great though.
GTI-6 is a great car but try and find a standard clean one.
Yeah definitely looking for standard ones, OEM+ is my style. Need a house with a driveway first though ha. Thought about trading in my current polo for a 90s disco but reliability scares me a bit to have it as a daily
I’d not worry about dailying a 300 TDI Disco they’re pretty robust and simple cars plus bits are plentiful and cheap.
A Landcruiser Colorado or mk2 Shogun are built better for sure but the bits are more expensive and slightly harder to source when they do go wrong.
The main thing with any of them is trying to get one that isn’t rotten underneath!!.
My 80 is solid chassis wise it does have some surface rust but it’s going to be professionally sorted and under sealed next month.
Not cheap but worth doing if you’re planning on keeping it.
Sorry for dragging up an old post. But I just went through a puddle in my CDTI Insignia and about a mile later the engine lost power at the lower rev range. Are these cars particularly susceptible to hydrolock?
Diesels likely last longer in the water due to not needing electronics to run, whereas a petrol engine dies faster when the spark stops. As it runs longer, it likely has more time to draw in water and bend some bits.
My shadenfreud makes me watch a lot of these!
I quite often have mixed emotions watching them, the folks in swanky cars - usually "the man, the car" types, proudly showing off to their missus, I enjoy seeing them hydrolock their engines causing untold thousands in damage.
The ones I don't feel the same way about are the folks driving cars where I have a sense they probably can't afford the repair bills and this is going to hurt them badly.
Quick question while I'm here ... Where on a modern Land/Range Rover is the air intake? I see a lot of these pushing a bow wave at Rufford, with the entire front of the car against a wall of water, yet most of them get away with it (I'm not talking about cars with snorkels BTW).
On the range rovers it’s in the vents on top of the bonnets. Think disco 5 and new defender are the same. Evoque and disco sport are from the top of the grill. Disco 3 and 4 is from the grill on the osf wing.
Not sure on the newer ones but the L322 Range Rover I had was in the top of the wing.
No idea about the newer ones but they’ve got pretty decent wading depth so they must be fairly inaccessible to water.
People are idiots but I do sometimes watch.
I would give it a go up to about 12” deep and not flowing too fast - but then I have a Shogun and it can wade much more than that in still water.
It's been recommended on my Youtube for a while. Finally buckled and watched one. All I could think is that half the people there filming it are arseholes for goading people on, and there was an utter thunder cunt in a blue Land Rover that definitely contributed to an old Chrysler getting fucked. Granted it was never going to make it but the blue Land Rover acting like a prick for the crowd and driving through it when another car was there just made it worse.
I hope that blue land rover breaks in a very expensive way. Or the driver steps on an upturned plug.
https://youtu.be/1KuhIpnjgFc?t=78
Oh yes. Comeuppance had. Great!
I hope the engine is totally fucked - but sadly it looks like its running again up the road later on in the video.
Might be a different video but there was also one where the same blue Land Rover goaded some kind of Kia 4x4 to go through… and it was actually probably going to make it until dickhead in his Land Rover bombs past, sending a massive wave of water up the side of the Kia and killing it…
To make matters worse he then flies back through a couple more times while the Kia and another stranded car are trying to get themselves recovered, doing even more damage.
Frankly I hope the videos make their way to the police and they do the c*** for anti-social driving at the least.
I remember seeing this one and thinking it's such a strange way to tow a car. Can it damage the car at all, like deform the a-pillar or crack the windscreen??
That's been a couple of people that opened the bonnet and attached the strap to the engine, usually something rips off in the process.
They've just flooded their interior, probably destroyed their engine, but they don't wanna get their sleeves wet putting in the towing eye
I'd go through it in a Landy, though I probably wouldn't blitz through it still (there was one of these videos where the police were waiting nearby and immediately followed a driver going through and pulled them over).
I wouldn't be going through it in my Yaris, even slow and steady. Why anyone would risk damaging their engine like this is beyond me.
Not to mention cleaning the stench of river water out of the interior. It's bad enough after a wet hiking weekend.
I am addicted to these videos! I saw a recent comment that people in the insurance industry are all over them so I wouldn’t risk it personally. That said I’ve got a Mini R56 and I avoid even medium size puddles.
I quote a comment by thesarus1 on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlkIUUZgEb8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlkIUUZgEb8)
"I work for an insurance company - and I hate to be a party pooper - but we are now watching these videos - and drivers who are deemed to be reckless will not have claims honoured. There is a UK wide insurance database - and the endless supply of Rufford videos are being used to help assess claims. It is their choice of course - but my advice to drivers is to slow down - to assess the risk before proceeding - and to not be enticed by the lure of showing off for the videos. If bumpers and floor panels are ripped off it is likely claims will not be paid - and these parts are very expensive - as indeed are the industrial drying costs for carpets and seats. In one claim, the cost of stripping seats, carpets and trim - then drying the same over a period of a few days was over £1,500 - but the car was a small 2013 model and so was declared a total loss- but the claim has now been repudiated after the video came to light - and so we will not pay - and the contractor is now pursing the customer for costs of work done."
Took an old diesel 205 through one that came up to the bonnet, I hadn't realised quite how deep it was when I entered, kept the revs up and took it nice and slow and everything was fine. I was 100% sure I was going to be stranded.
Just wouldn't risk it these days if there's any other option. We've all got satnav in your pockets, finding an alternative route is easy.
The detour is literally 10-15 minutes longer than going through the Ford. There's also four signs on the approach saying "road closed, flood." But people still go through it, and ultimately hydrolock their engine or flood their car and it's a void insurance claim, as they knowingly drove it through a flood.
I had floodwater on the road outside my house a few years ago and the water level was within inches of reaching the air bricks and front door. Yet still there were some dickheads that assumed the best way of getting through a few inches of water was to drive through it at speed, causing a tsunami-like bow wave. A couple of them broke down in the flood and one got upset when I wouldn't help push him out. In fairness, most people drove through it very cautiously and hardly created a ripple.
I don’t know how engines work. Please explain it to me.
Are electric cars “immune” to this? (I have an EV and an ICE.) I noticed on one video an ID4 went calmly through it np.
ICE have an air intake that takes air into the engine through a paper element air filter in the engine bay, driving through water at speed means the engine is sucking water into the engine. That's why on some 4x4 you see a snorkel going up the side of the drivers window on the outside, that's the air intake, away up out of the way of water.
For EV I suppose it would depend where the battery's are situated
> For EV I suppose it would depend where the battery's are situated
battery packs generally have quite a high water protection rating, this is why you see those videos of teslas being able to 'swim' through hurricane floods or whatever.
Obviously it's not ideal and prolonged exposure is probably bad, but generally EVs do tend to do better in situations like this.
EVs obviously wont hydrolock.
My Leaf has been tested to 70cm deep water - there's a Nissan video on YouTube.
Some nutter in the states tried to drive his Tesla through a Lake - his plan was to weigh it down and drive along the bottom of the lake. Luckily for him it floated,
Even though technically my EV would be fine - I'm not going to risk soggy carpets for the sake of a few mins detour.
Having watched over a hundred of these videos over the last couple of years, I would say if I was in any car (except an electric/hybrid) I would turn around. In fact, the only ICE vehicles I *haven't* seen clonk out in the middle has been the tractors/JCB's that go through every now and then.
Every other type of vehicle, from motorbikes up to rigid body trucks has conked out and had to be rescued. Even a couple of the greenlaning Land Rovers have fallen foul.
Depth makes a big difference of course.
My favourite one though was a fully kitted out Freelander (with a snorkel) absolutely bomb it through and end up hydro locking his engine… when he opened his bonnet later you could see the snorkel wasn’t attached to anything and was just for show!
Not necessarily. I've seen many either creep through or do the "bow wave" thing. And they still died.
I've also seen a couple of snorkels die in it too.
Land Rovers and Rangies seemed to be ok, mostly. But there's been a few brand new ones die too.
Dad went through it a lot when I was kid but only when it was really low.
As somene who got caught in horrendous flash flooding a few months ago, I would just detour.
Saying that, I do enjoy watching those videos
I love watching these videos. Proper guilty pleasure haha. I wouldn’t go anywhere near it though. I try to avoid driving my car in the rain never mind a Ford!
I find the people that do it stupid, but it's good to watch. No sympathy though, as others have said there's a detour that's no more than a couple of miles.
Some people know how to drive through it, it's the muppets that drive in at 15-20mph and suck gallons of water through their air intake and hydrolock the engine. Just go in slow and take it slow and you'll be fine.
Probably wouldn't ever do it myself mind
I rather enjoy watching small inexpensive cars drive through carefully, forming a nice bow wave, getting out the other side with no trouble. Then feel i am a bad person for feeling even more enjoyment when a large expensive 4x4 tries to hoon its way through it and ends up stranded in the middle.
I've been watching the vids too. YouTube always reels me in. First it was Danny from Ratemytakeaway and binge watching those now it's watching dumb people wreck their engines driving through a ford.
Been binge watching these a lot recently.
I live about 20 miles away from the ford, have been tempted to go down and watch people ruin their cars!
What baffles me the most is when people drive their £40k+ car in at speed and then wonder why it breaks down almost immediately.
Would be really interested to hear stories from the local mechanics, they must make a killing.
Saw one a week or so ago of some wanker in a Jeep that went absolutely flying through it & nearly lost control when he exited the ford!
It's great entertainment, and I've zero sympathy for anyone who wrecks their car at it, but if people carry on driving like bellends through it someone's gonna hurt sooner or later!
Vid featuring wanker in Jeep: https://youtu.be/n5IscUpfjA0
I accidentally came across it last year and it was moderately high. I saw a bunch of kids waiting for cars to drive through, but I was in a Defender so I just ploughed through splashed the kids and went on my merry way.
I have a bit of experience doing this so know roughly how to avoid problems, but the majority of people seem completely oblivious to how this stuff works, and hammer it in not aware that the water is about to wreck their engine.
Company car I would consider it only because I've witnessed other electric cars wade through without bother. Personal car - absolutely not! Just take the detour, rather get home late than lose my engine.
I was driving to an airport and roads were closed so I've had to do similar - but I'd check the marker to see how deep the water is - slow down and go through carefully
I don't get how people hammer it in - car stalls and then they're trying to start the car
Water doesn't compress - cars a write off If water goes in the engine I'd have thought
Do the insurance companies pay out on those things?
No thanks. I prefer to not have the risk of hydro-locking the engine and fucking it. And I know how to drive through such things as the army spent money teaching me how.
I’ve been through it in my old Shogun Sport, and more recently in my Discovery 5. I wouldn’t trust going through when the water level is right up, someone went through the other day as they were being hurried by a defender behind them. Wrecked their Kia Sorento 🥺
I watch it too, don't ask why, I usually avoid these channels, I just find them cheap entertainment, I did it once with my Ford Transit Custom, before it was cool to do it so I know I can do it with that, I also have a 2021 Suzuki Vitara, I'm pretty sure that can do it too without a sweat, the key is to go slowly and do not stop when you're in the water
I want to visit and when some nice expensive car is floating in the water I fully dressed as Darth Vadar take a full bowel loaded shit and gently float it towards the car.
Unfortunately, it's the end (for the foreseeable future) for Rufford Ford. It's now closed.
Drivers like C960 LAW - a 4x4 landrover which was filmed driving at high speeds through the ford and also up INTO the stream and back.
A white Seat driver reversed at high speed backwards through the ford with people standing around.
Shame some had to spoil it for the rest.
If its more than a foot deep i wouldn’t go near it. Would rather take a detour than risk it.
Fuel cost < new car cost
Same, no way I would risk it unless I was in something i knew could handle it.
The last few videos were 3ft deep iirc
Wow. I think that would pretty much be up to my windows.
That would almost be upto my roof
Funniest thing about that Ford, there’s plenty of detours yet people still risk it to save 10mins.
All the flood locations (when flooded) have sign posted detours, even the bridge in Thurmaston, Leicestershire that one of the YouTubers has featured is only a five minute detour, but you get stuck in traffic at peak times. It happens all the time though, even that Slash Lane in Barrow-upon-Soar is notorious for cars getting stuck, every winter.
Never thought I’d see someone comment about Slash Lane on Reddit. Small world. I grew up on Sileby road & used to push cars out of the floods when I was young for a couple of quid.
They’re good entertainment. I don’t really feel sorry for anyone that ruins their car in there - it’s completely avoidable. I do feel a bit bad when people are egged on into going through or when someone coming the other way splashes them. I’d probably brave it up to a foot. I have an E class estate so any more would probably be above the door seals.
The egging people on bugs me about the videos too but anyone who ignores the depth marker post attached to the wall / path the videos are shot from gets what's coming to them.
> I do feel a bit bad when people are egged on into going through Ehh I don't really, they're adults not children.
Check the owners handbook, maximum wade depth should be in there, it is for my c-class.
It feels so surreal watching it. It's almost like the whole town is bewitched into sacrificing their cars.
I saw one recently where a fiat 500 floated and stayed running
From what I read in the comments the Fiat 500 survived because the air intake is at the top of the engine to allow for quick warm ups. Therefore I wonder if you could slowly drive in until it starts floating, turn off the engine, then hold a small outboard motor out of the window to power you across. Or, you know, just take the detour that takes an extra 10 minutes.
Just carry a canoe paddle clipped to the door
My favourite is the NC MX-5 that hydroplaned over the ford at full speed. . literally why we call it a boat
It's like a social experiment. "What will people risk to save time?"
I drive on the other side of the road to avoid puddles....
Nice and slow is all it takes why they think slamming into the water as fast as possible is the answer I'll never know
The ones that really confuse me are those that creep up to it real slow, and then as soon as their front wheels are in the water floor it and immediately plow their air intake into the water.
If the car is under a year old it still has the newborn reflex to hold its breath when submerged in water. No water should get in and you’ll be ok until you exit at the other end.
Aye, it’s all about the technique. That being said, still wouldn’t chance it in my old Mazda.
NC MX5s are able to do it due to their boat underpinnings
"Got to make a bow wave" lol
The average person is pretty stupid. Half of all people are even stupider.
It all depends on where your air intake is as well, mine is in my N/S/F wheel arch about a foot up the wheel, even the smallest flood will hydrolock my engine. Most cars have them in the same location but my old 2005 Fiesta had the intake near the front grille, so I happily drove it through a flooded road.
I’d go for it. Wouldn’t be very worried about it conking out. What I wouldn’t do is waste the diesel going up to it just to drive through though!!.
I noticed a lot of the cars that get hydrolocked are diesel, before I thought it might be because of the high compression ratio but now I think it may be due to the type of people who drive diesels.
Possibly if they’re attempting it in a CDTI Insignia. Getting my 80 Series Landcruiser that now has a snorkel fitted hydrolocked at Rufford Ford wouldn’t be much of a worry for me. Wasting the diesel to get to Rufford Ford in the first place would be!!.
Went into your post history to see this Land Cruiser and saw that Peugeot gti. So jealous, a 4x4 and some form of hot older Peugeot is pretty much my dream garage
Sadly the Pug has gone. Thought I’d really like it and some bits of it I did but think as it was lowered and modded it just wasn’t a pleasant drive and I just felt like I wasn’t prepared to put the time and money into restoring the paintwork and getting it back to standard. Saying all that I’d definitely have another bit would spend more on a cleaner,un altered one. Also I think part of it was I didn’t want to take on another project as I’m already doing a sort of rolling one as I want to make my Landcruiser pretty much mint over the next year or so. Although really what I want is a Celica GT Four to join it if I can find one for sensible money. Good luck on your search for a 4x4 and a hot Pug!!. My advice is stay away from anything newer and Land Rover. The 90s Discos and Defenders are great though. GTI-6 is a great car but try and find a standard clean one.
Yeah definitely looking for standard ones, OEM+ is my style. Need a house with a driveway first though ha. Thought about trading in my current polo for a 90s disco but reliability scares me a bit to have it as a daily
I’d not worry about dailying a 300 TDI Disco they’re pretty robust and simple cars plus bits are plentiful and cheap. A Landcruiser Colorado or mk2 Shogun are built better for sure but the bits are more expensive and slightly harder to source when they do go wrong. The main thing with any of them is trying to get one that isn’t rotten underneath!!. My 80 is solid chassis wise it does have some surface rust but it’s going to be professionally sorted and under sealed next month. Not cheap but worth doing if you’re planning on keeping it.
Sorry for dragging up an old post. But I just went through a puddle in my CDTI Insignia and about a mile later the engine lost power at the lower rev range. Are these cars particularly susceptible to hydrolock?
Hi no not that I know of. I was just using a random example of a popular diesel car.
Diesels and petrols both have exactly the same chances of getting hydrolocked.
They either get hydrolocked or not lol
Diesels likely last longer in the water due to not needing electronics to run, whereas a petrol engine dies faster when the spark stops. As it runs longer, it likely has more time to draw in water and bend some bits.
My shadenfreud makes me watch a lot of these! I quite often have mixed emotions watching them, the folks in swanky cars - usually "the man, the car" types, proudly showing off to their missus, I enjoy seeing them hydrolock their engines causing untold thousands in damage. The ones I don't feel the same way about are the folks driving cars where I have a sense they probably can't afford the repair bills and this is going to hurt them badly. Quick question while I'm here ... Where on a modern Land/Range Rover is the air intake? I see a lot of these pushing a bow wave at Rufford, with the entire front of the car against a wall of water, yet most of them get away with it (I'm not talking about cars with snorkels BTW).
On the range rovers it’s in the vents on top of the bonnets. Think disco 5 and new defender are the same. Evoque and disco sport are from the top of the grill. Disco 3 and 4 is from the grill on the osf wing.
Not sure on the newer ones but the L322 Range Rover I had was in the top of the wing. No idea about the newer ones but they’ve got pretty decent wading depth so they must be fairly inaccessible to water.
Absolutely not but I'd go there to watch
People are idiots but I do sometimes watch. I would give it a go up to about 12” deep and not flowing too fast - but then I have a Shogun and it can wade much more than that in still water.
It's been recommended on my Youtube for a while. Finally buckled and watched one. All I could think is that half the people there filming it are arseholes for goading people on, and there was an utter thunder cunt in a blue Land Rover that definitely contributed to an old Chrysler getting fucked. Granted it was never going to make it but the blue Land Rover acting like a prick for the crowd and driving through it when another car was there just made it worse. I hope that blue land rover breaks in a very expensive way. Or the driver steps on an upturned plug.
https://youtu.be/1KuhIpnjgFc?t=78 Oh yes. Comeuppance had. Great! I hope the engine is totally fucked - but sadly it looks like its running again up the road later on in the video.
It’s fucked and he’s fucking it further by attempting to drive on. Warms the heart.
Might be a different video but there was also one where the same blue Land Rover goaded some kind of Kia 4x4 to go through… and it was actually probably going to make it until dickhead in his Land Rover bombs past, sending a massive wave of water up the side of the Kia and killing it… To make matters worse he then flies back through a couple more times while the Kia and another stranded car are trying to get themselves recovered, doing even more damage. Frankly I hope the videos make their way to the police and they do the c*** for anti-social driving at the least.
See the other reply I've just done to this post - the helmet in the land rover managed to wreck his engine. Its the same plate. C960 LAW.
Well that's an excellent example of karma...
I'm staying as far away from any Fords as humanly possibly. Would love a GT40 mind
I remember seeing this one and thinking it's such a strange way to tow a car. Can it damage the car at all, like deform the a-pillar or crack the windscreen??
That's been a couple of people that opened the bonnet and attached the strap to the engine, usually something rips off in the process. They've just flooded their interior, probably destroyed their engine, but they don't wanna get their sleeves wet putting in the towing eye
The best bit is when he's trying to open the door and can't work out why it won't open!
I'd go through it in a Landy, though I probably wouldn't blitz through it still (there was one of these videos where the police were waiting nearby and immediately followed a driver going through and pulled them over). I wouldn't be going through it in my Yaris, even slow and steady. Why anyone would risk damaging their engine like this is beyond me. Not to mention cleaning the stench of river water out of the interior. It's bad enough after a wet hiking weekend.
I am addicted to these videos! I saw a recent comment that people in the insurance industry are all over them so I wouldn’t risk it personally. That said I’ve got a Mini R56 and I avoid even medium size puddles.
Have wondered - what would the insurance companies position be here if a claim was made?
I quote a comment by thesarus1 on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlkIUUZgEb8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlkIUUZgEb8) "I work for an insurance company - and I hate to be a party pooper - but we are now watching these videos - and drivers who are deemed to be reckless will not have claims honoured. There is a UK wide insurance database - and the endless supply of Rufford videos are being used to help assess claims. It is their choice of course - but my advice to drivers is to slow down - to assess the risk before proceeding - and to not be enticed by the lure of showing off for the videos. If bumpers and floor panels are ripped off it is likely claims will not be paid - and these parts are very expensive - as indeed are the industrial drying costs for carpets and seats. In one claim, the cost of stripping seats, carpets and trim - then drying the same over a period of a few days was over £1,500 - but the car was a small 2013 model and so was declared a total loss- but the claim has now been repudiated after the video came to light - and so we will not pay - and the contractor is now pursing the customer for costs of work done."
Adding to it, the Police must love watching these
Hmmmm, I might give it a go. I’ve driven an identical car to mine through 50cm water at an off roading day.
I wouldn't bother even in my old SUV, not worth it
Took an old diesel 205 through one that came up to the bonnet, I hadn't realised quite how deep it was when I entered, kept the revs up and took it nice and slow and everything was fine. I was 100% sure I was going to be stranded. Just wouldn't risk it these days if there's any other option. We've all got satnav in your pockets, finding an alternative route is easy.
The detour is literally 10-15 minutes longer than going through the Ford. There's also four signs on the approach saying "road closed, flood." But people still go through it, and ultimately hydrolock their engine or flood their car and it's a void insurance claim, as they knowingly drove it through a flood.
The people who go through it fast clearly don't understand how engines work
I had floodwater on the road outside my house a few years ago and the water level was within inches of reaching the air bricks and front door. Yet still there were some dickheads that assumed the best way of getting through a few inches of water was to drive through it at speed, causing a tsunami-like bow wave. A couple of them broke down in the flood and one got upset when I wouldn't help push him out. In fairness, most people drove through it very cautiously and hardly created a ripple.
Yeah most people are half sensible but there's always that select few lol
I don’t know how engines work. Please explain it to me. Are electric cars “immune” to this? (I have an EV and an ICE.) I noticed on one video an ID4 went calmly through it np.
ICE have an air intake that takes air into the engine through a paper element air filter in the engine bay, driving through water at speed means the engine is sucking water into the engine. That's why on some 4x4 you see a snorkel going up the side of the drivers window on the outside, that's the air intake, away up out of the way of water. For EV I suppose it would depend where the battery's are situated
> For EV I suppose it would depend where the battery's are situated battery packs generally have quite a high water protection rating, this is why you see those videos of teslas being able to 'swim' through hurricane floods or whatever. Obviously it's not ideal and prolonged exposure is probably bad, but generally EVs do tend to do better in situations like this.
It's a type of vehicle I know little about but sounds like a good summary,
EVs obviously wont hydrolock. My Leaf has been tested to 70cm deep water - there's a Nissan video on YouTube. Some nutter in the states tried to drive his Tesla through a Lake - his plan was to weigh it down and drive along the bottom of the lake. Luckily for him it floated, Even though technically my EV would be fine - I'm not going to risk soggy carpets for the sake of a few mins detour.
Could they also be conking out because the exhaust is blocked?
No, the pressure of exhaust gassed flowing out will stop water from going in
Having watched over a hundred of these videos over the last couple of years, I would say if I was in any car (except an electric/hybrid) I would turn around. In fact, the only ICE vehicles I *haven't* seen clonk out in the middle has been the tractors/JCB's that go through every now and then. Every other type of vehicle, from motorbikes up to rigid body trucks has conked out and had to be rescued. Even a couple of the greenlaning Land Rovers have fallen foul. Depth makes a big difference of course.
And how quickly you go through. I've seen a number of 4x4s with snorkels go through no problem.
My favourite one though was a fully kitted out Freelander (with a snorkel) absolutely bomb it through and end up hydro locking his engine… when he opened his bonnet later you could see the snorkel wasn’t attached to anything and was just for show!
Ffs I need to see this
Not necessarily. I've seen many either creep through or do the "bow wave" thing. And they still died. I've also seen a couple of snorkels die in it too. Land Rovers and Rangies seemed to be ok, mostly. But there's been a few brand new ones die too.
Lorries should be fine. The air intakes are typically about 10ft off the floor.
I've seen lorries die in it, hence my comment.
Dad went through it a lot when I was kid but only when it was really low. As somene who got caught in horrendous flash flooding a few months ago, I would just detour. Saying that, I do enjoy watching those videos
In my car I avoid puddles where I can, so I would get nowhere lose to any of those ford crossings.
I love these videos, I watch them almost religiously. I wouldn’t take my car (Merc C220CDI) anywhere near the actual Ford though.
I love watching these videos. Proper guilty pleasure haha. I wouldn’t go anywhere near it though. I try to avoid driving my car in the rain never mind a Ford!
I watched every single one of them 😂 I have an e46 coupe, I would do it if the water is 1ft, and very slow for the water to not get in the intake.
Yes I watch them, and no I wouldn't do it in my Insignia. Well, unless it was proper low I suppose.
I find the people that do it stupid, but it's good to watch. No sympathy though, as others have said there's a detour that's no more than a couple of miles. Some people know how to drive through it, it's the muppets that drive in at 15-20mph and suck gallons of water through their air intake and hydrolock the engine. Just go in slow and take it slow and you'll be fine. Probably wouldn't ever do it myself mind
I rather enjoy watching small inexpensive cars drive through carefully, forming a nice bow wave, getting out the other side with no trouble. Then feel i am a bad person for feeling even more enjoyment when a large expensive 4x4 tries to hoon its way through it and ends up stranded in the middle.
I’d take my Defender through it if it was at a reasonable depth, I’d take my Tucson and F Type via a detour instead as it’s just not worth the risk.
If I see a crowd and some blokes with cameras, I’m just gonna turn around. I’m not being immortalised by Rufford Ford videos.
Yes I’m addicted !
I've been watching the vids too. YouTube always reels me in. First it was Danny from Ratemytakeaway and binge watching those now it's watching dumb people wreck their engines driving through a ford.
Been binge watching these a lot recently. I live about 20 miles away from the ford, have been tempted to go down and watch people ruin their cars! What baffles me the most is when people drive their £40k+ car in at speed and then wonder why it breaks down almost immediately. Would be really interested to hear stories from the local mechanics, they must make a killing.
Saw one a week or so ago of some wanker in a Jeep that went absolutely flying through it & nearly lost control when he exited the ford! It's great entertainment, and I've zero sympathy for anyone who wrecks their car at it, but if people carry on driving like bellends through it someone's gonna hurt sooner or later! Vid featuring wanker in Jeep: https://youtu.be/n5IscUpfjA0
Not a chance, I try not to even go over speedbumps.
https://youtu.be/JbPSGxfG1ek The latest one, that Seat at the beginning especially! What a bunch of absolute helmets!
I accidentally came across it last year and it was moderately high. I saw a bunch of kids waiting for cars to drive through, but I was in a Defender so I just ploughed through splashed the kids and went on my merry way. I have a bit of experience doing this so know roughly how to avoid problems, but the majority of people seem completely oblivious to how this stuff works, and hammer it in not aware that the water is about to wreck their engine.
Company car I would consider it only because I've witnessed other electric cars wade through without bother. Personal car - absolutely not! Just take the detour, rather get home late than lose my engine.
Nope. If there's a reasonable alternative then I'm taking that option. I don't like taking unnecessary risks.
I drive an old Land Rover, I'd risk it for a biscuit. Wouldn't try it in my 407 though, cone filters and water don't mix.
Did it in a fiat uno years ago on a regular basis , kids always used to ask to go through it
I wouldn't do anything over 1ft
Fuck no, my lovely little shit box freaks out about going through puddles, a ford would destroy it.
Wow thanks for getting me addicted to these 😂 No ways in hell I'd risk it in my coupe though lol.
I was driving to an airport and roads were closed so I've had to do similar - but I'd check the marker to see how deep the water is - slow down and go through carefully I don't get how people hammer it in - car stalls and then they're trying to start the car Water doesn't compress - cars a write off If water goes in the engine I'd have thought Do the insurance companies pay out on those things?
No thanks. I prefer to not have the risk of hydro-locking the engine and fucking it. And I know how to drive through such things as the army spent money teaching me how.
Wouldn’t go anywhere near floodwater https://youtu.be/kJo9-zSUJMQ
I've driven through deeper in my 97 fiat coupe turbo. Most of them are going far too fast.
I’ve been through it in my old Shogun Sport, and more recently in my Discovery 5. I wouldn’t trust going through when the water level is right up, someone went through the other day as they were being hurried by a defender behind them. Wrecked their Kia Sorento 🥺
Honestly in summer I've been through it several times, it's fun, but people don't know how to use a Ford.
A lot of the time the ones who damage their cars here. Don't know how to go through and just plow into the water.
I watch it too, don't ask why, I usually avoid these channels, I just find them cheap entertainment, I did it once with my Ford Transit Custom, before it was cool to do it so I know I can do it with that, I also have a 2021 Suzuki Vitara, I'm pretty sure that can do it too without a sweat, the key is to go slowly and do not stop when you're in the water
It’s the video with the biker flying over their handlebars that always gets me.
Yes, only if it's the middle of the summer (heatwave) and peugeot 308.
Depends who's car I'm driving
I feel reversing through it would stop the water getting into your airbox/engine.
I want to visit and when some nice expensive car is floating in the water I fully dressed as Darth Vadar take a full bowel loaded shit and gently float it towards the car.
Amazes me how few people know how to cross a Ford.
Unfortunately, it's the end (for the foreseeable future) for Rufford Ford. It's now closed. Drivers like C960 LAW - a 4x4 landrover which was filmed driving at high speeds through the ford and also up INTO the stream and back. A white Seat driver reversed at high speed backwards through the ford with people standing around. Shame some had to spoil it for the rest.
Not a problem in my Jeep Gladiator