| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| christina | I have driven my Prowler for a few years now, and I want to know from other Prowler owners how your Prowler drives on long trips during rain spells? Speed limit no problem?
I know in the city I have done a little hydroplaning, anyone else?This message has been edited by christina on 12-06-2003 at 12:13 AM |
| CJ | I try not to deliberately drive in the rain. However, both of my cats (99 Black and 02 Candy Red) have been caught in some pretty good downpours. Seems like it always happens at a POA event! They don't really drive much different than any other car in the rain. I had no problems at all. The worst thing is having to clean it up!  ------------------
CJ - The One and Only
1999 Black - PPROWLR 2002 Deep Candy Red - CJPROWLN Classic/Beautiful - I'm referring to the Cat of course!
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| c.mangeng | Since mine is a daily driver in the rainy state of Washington, it sees alot of rain. No problems once the top seals were adjusted correctly. Be careful putting your foot into it when the pavement is wet. You may not be able to spin the tires on a stock katt, when the pavement is dry, but they will spin easily on the wet pavement. Long trips are not as fun with the top up as it is when down, but your going to turn heads either way and have fun doing it. Us parabolic mirrors to get rid of the blind spots and driving in the rain is no problem. Aluminum components means no rust and unlike what many think water does not bother the katt and it wont melt. Enjoy the car in any weather. |
| lavka | My top seals leak like mad but I don't drive the car everyday anymore so I have not had them fixed. When driving in the rain I agree that a light throttle is required on corners, especially if you have the ProwlerPro or Gforce gears. The car can lose traction easily when shifting. I avoid autostick altogether on wet roads. I have gone sideways on dry pavement when turning left from a stop sign and bumping the autostick to 2nd midway thru the turn. What a rush... This message has been edited by lavka on 12-06-2003 at 12:57 AM |
| ed monahan | We seem to have a lot of truck tire ruts in the X-way system here. I think it is hard to drive in the rain due to all the rain flying off of the front tires and the wide rear tires do not "fit" into the truck tire grooves so it does tend to hydroplane. I don't care for driving in the rain much, anymore, anyway. Even on the motorcycle it is not much fun. lol |
| JoeD | Christina - Only my opinion... Be Very Careful. The car is very prone to hydroplaning - particularly with standing water. It's one of the worse wet weather vehicles I've ever driven (visibility stinks too). Hydroplaning conditions are similar to icy conditions - You can't reliably predict exactly where/when and the faster the potentially uglier! But I still love'r...just finicky when wet.  ------------------
by: ~Sean Desiderato~ |
| GenoTex | Last year, end of April(ish), I was caught down in Texas and had to drive back to Wisconsin with an "awful" storm coming... one that evidently wrecked havoc in several states with upwards of 20 or so tornadoes...
In any case, the Lovely Bride and I had to 'dodge' this storm all the way north, over a period of two days, trying to keep ourselves between the middle of two nasty systems.
End result... 1300 mile trip, of which at least 1000 of which were in nasty rain....
I was extremely 'anxious' (Edge of the seat anxious that is) to find out how it would do... and except for the 'boattail' spray from the front tires, it did, in my honest opionion... G R E A T.
It handled extremely well I thought. Never once felt like it was outta control, and this was on I35 from Central Texas all the way to Iowa....
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| CTProwler | Drove it home from the dealer one day in heavy rain. The Kat did fine, only problem was all the water being thrown off the tires, especially the fronts. My Blue Kat leaks a little more then the my Candy. I never take it out in the rain but have got caught a couple of times coming home from golfing in late thunder storms. Welcome to the club, hope to meet you in Niagara in July   ------------------
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| GRROWL | Never had a problem in the rain, handles about the same as any other rear-wheel drive car. HOWEVER, on ice or a light cover of snow, if you power through curves, you can expect to spin out. -GRROWL |
| BeWare | I have only experienced hydroplaning was once when we dodged a Tornado in Grand Island Nebraska. We were pulling the trailer. Rain was coming down as hard as I have ever seen it. Sounded like hail. Could not go faster than 45 MPH or the Kat would be all over the road. |
| ETMIDZT | I got caught in a huge rain storm this last Summer in the U.P. of Michigan! With those WIDE back tires it lifted me up & couldn't contol her! I pulled over & waited for the storm to pass.......Had rags in my hands wiping the leaking rain inside from the top!! Love my Kat......Just ain't rain worthy! |
| Marc-Colo-99 | Rain? Just be careful. Snow? Be verrrrry careful. 2 hours in these conditions last month on the way to Sema, 
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This message has been edited by Marc-Colo-99 on 12-06-2003 at 08:59 AM |
| CatDude | Compared to the vehicles I used to own: Firebird, and then a Mustang, the Prowler handles much better on wet pavement. My other vehicle, which I still own is the worst of all on wet pavement: Ford F150 Lightning. To lose control of the rear end in the Lightning, all I have to do is an acceleration that is slightly more than a "normal". To my recollection, I have never hydroplaned in the prowler even while driving moderately aggressive. |
| DR PROWLER | Handling in the rain has always been as well as expected.Can't ever say that I've been in real heavy rain ever!
Compared to the Viper in the rain,I'll take the Prowler anytime! |
| WildCat | as with any car that has wide tires, they HYDROPLANE. I have driven in some very hard rains, but the worst was coming home from 25th class reunion and hitting standing water about 45mph. sideways and could not see, only to come out of that to hit another puddle and same thing. I do not remember ever having standing water in this spot...........BE CAREFUL, SLOW DOWN AND PAY ATTENTION |
| ETMIDZT | Due to the fact the Kat's are so light & Tires are so Wide......Maybe extra weight would help keep em from Hydro-planing.......Like Nowell Herman driving & his twin Brother as a Passenger!? Just a thought!(grin) |
| firegabe | In High School I had a Porsche 914 gutted, and a racing plastic gas tank, five point seatbelts, a 2.7 liter engine with 240 HP, not even a passenger seat! This was just a fun toy! At 1,700 pounds full of gas with driver Me inside! And 245/40R16 in the rear It would just skim over any puddle.
My autoshop teacher told me to put more air in the rear tires BUT NOT TO EXCEED THE MAX PSI. It will balloon the tire pushing out the middle of the tire letting it follow the road,
I did it and continue to do it every time there is massive rain no matter what car I drive.
Removing the value of your tires of a few miles to not crash your car has always been a good option for me. Also the value of my life too!?!?!!!
Fire Gabe |
| firegabe | OK sorry all you're right some times you just can't drive in the rain. This is the last car I built and I didn't leave enough room for the hood!!! AHH $%@&!! Too much damn Testosterone!!!  I hate it when that happens  
Fire Gabe |
| WildCat | quote:
Originally posted by firegabe:
OK sorry all you're right some times you just can't drive in the rain. This is the last car I built and I didn't leave enough room for the hood!!! AHH $%@&!! Too much damn Testosterone!!! I hate it when that happens
Fire Gabe
why would you want to hide that with a hood?
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| cstall | I've been caught in some good downpours and I have to say the car handles really well.
Even with the top down, you don't get wet as long as you keep moving. On the last Devil's Highway cruise, I kept the top off as long as I could. Eventually though, the slippery, twisty roads didn't allow for enough speed to keep the rain off the humble occupants. BTW...once you stop, you get drenched FAST! (In case anyone was wondering) |
| Marty Usher | With almost 68,000 miles of daily driving including lots of rain and a half dozen snow covered daily commutes each winter, I believe the Prowler handles wet/snow conditions as well or better than most rear drive vehicles I have driven in the past including Corvettes, Pickup trucks, Camaros, etc. Being cautious in adverse weather is always a good idea and being I try to be keenly aware of how my car handles. My worst fear is other drivers. Marty ------------------
 2000 Black with hand painted blue faded to purple flames
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| Black Tie 161 | Marty said it best...It handles no differently than my Camaros did in the rain or even snow for that matter. Roof leaks can be controlled or stopped with 303 canvas protectant applied, and some rubber dressing on the window seals to prevent water seeping. My top will leak a small drop only in the heavy day-long rains. The only thing to look out for is to cheack under the hood after driving in heavy rain and get any standing water off the battery and front brace. That will help prevent battery cable corrosion IMO. my sig says the rest.... ------------------
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| indy96 | Like CJ, I've only been caught in the rain a couple of times and found it no worse than any other car with rear wheel drive, even with the trailer on Skyline the kitty done good (i also kept my foot out the gas). |
| Lone Ranger | Picked up our new kat with the trailer and drove nearly 700 miles in continuous downpour No problems Second long trip to PTS mostly in rain same results..Kat handles fine..However i haven't driven in the rain fast and for any long distance without pulling the trailer..Don't know if that would make a difference. |
| JRL | I only got caught once in a monsoon, but the Kat got through it just fine.
Little hard to see though as I don't have wipers.
Actually it really wasn't too bad as long as I kept it above 50 or so as the windshield has glass wax on it. The stuff acts like RainX and the water just beads up.
JRL |
