Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Aquaplaning M3W's

Maybe some kind of water/spray deflector could be devised to sit in front of the rear wheel - a kind of extension of the mudguard possibly?

No - you need a water plough. Big lever that lowers a spring-loaded rubber blade on the road to clear standing water and/or slow you down!

Another use for neoprene........

I think Mario hit it with this one. The few times my car has lost it with water the rear broke first then the fronts would lose it as I was trying to compensate. It was worse with the Avon tires and improved significantly using the Blockley or Excelsior line. Swapping out the rear for something "better" was hopeless as there is simply not enough weight back there to really plant it down.

I have learned to avoid wet conditions at all times. Aside from the thrill of sliding around the sheer misery in the cockpit has made me a believer in good weather apps for the phone!

I recall reading that with passengers, the M3W was right at 50/50 weight distribution, somewhat surprisingly. However, given how far forward the front wheels are, it's not hard to believe. So I don't think the rear is as lightly loaded as you might think.

Even so, your hypothesis makes sense, and even with equal weight distributed between the front and rear, I'm fairly certain that the rear tire patch is significantly more than 2x the front patch, so stands to reason that the rear would be much more susceptible to hydroplaning just on a weight per unit area basis, compounded by the width factor impact on water handling.

Agreeing with the above , my aquaplaning incident definetely started with the rear sliding first , starting a slow full car spin and sideways slip as if on ice back to standstill.
All I remember is trees / road / trees / road / phew , not hit anything - in rapid succession.
Then quietly driving off with tail between legs.

Just to add another angle - does anyone know whether this phenomena is the same if the front wheels are being driven on other 3 wheelers.

I just thought it might help gathering a little more information, I guess being front drive by necessity the weight would be over the driven wheels and things could be a little better.

It does seem the lightly loaded driven rear wheel is the culprit going with Mario's very coherent explanation in English .

I don't think it's weight as much as which end is driven. Front-wheel drive is inherently more stable (tends to go straight regardless) than rear-wheel drive, 3 or 4 wheels I would think. As anyone who has ever driven a FWD vs RWD cars in snow or on ice will tell you...

So, for improved stability for extended driving at speed in deep water, just convert your M3W to FWD! Would also have the benefit of removing that pesky bevel box .

Being of the vintage that all cars were rear wheel drive I have had experience of both and agree on snow front drive is the only way to go as the Mini's demonstrated to the world in the 1960's.

I think it just has to be understood that anything with 3 wheels is prone to tipping over very readily and adding a lot of water to the mix will never be good.

Like with the Plus 8 you are very respectful of any surface water when applying the loud pedal or brakes - once you have experienced a moment you learn very quickly.

I feel more concern for the M3W owners with these suspension failures to be quite honest I wouldn't go for a ride in one at speed for any money in the world until they get this sorted out once and for all before someone gets killed as a result of it.

Nippy, at least it was road/trees/road/trees and not sky/ground/sky/ground.

I think in future if rain is forecast I will throw a bag of cement in the passenger footwell.