Floods

[jontyd]

as there seems to be loads of the bloody things all over the place, whats the deepest standing water you can drive a gen 6 through with out causing any un wanted damage?

thanks

[rpsmith79]

At 30 mph i'd say about a foot, as proven by Panda

Although, saying that, after his third attempt it did start running a bit lumpy for the next 5 miles till it dried out

[Old Red Celica]

I've driven Sabrina through water that came over the bonnet, but you have to keep moving with the bow wave!! Would I do it again? maybe no I was lucky last time. The good thing about the air intake is that it goes through to the inner wing about level with the headlight.

[Bill T]

As Bryan has indicated it's very much down to how you drive through it. One of the biggest risks is while you are doing everything very correctly some jackass comes the other way in a 4 x 4 with snorkel (or a Transit) and swamps you.

[silver gt]

If you want to avoid any chance of damage, then the limit would be about 4 inches and keep the speed right down (10 to 20). Any more than that and you run the risk of the bumper scooping water into the engine bay.

Obviously if the engine sucks some water in to the cylinders there is the chance of writing it off, but in reality if you have the stock intake complete with filter and no leaks then that is a small risk. But I've known of many cases of wrecked radiators, alternators and starter motors from driving through shallow flood water.

If you run through deep water you really are playing Russian Roulette. If the water gets deeper than you first thought, or as Bill mentions someone else's wave catches you, you could stall. A large mass of water at the air intake will effectively suffocate the motor or could short out the electrics. Then you've got a dead car sitting partially submerged. The rust and electrical problems will haunt the car for the rest of it's (short) life.

Do I sound over cautious? I have had to sort out the aftermath of other people's errors, I have seen the damage.