I was driving home in the rain today, and I came up to a round about... The traffic was bad so I was driving very slowly. Anyway as I was coming off the round about I lost control of the car and ended up 180* the opposite way. I was accelerating in the turn (as you should with front wheel drives) and doing most likely under 20kph... I've just got new yoko A008s on the front (less then a week old) but the back are Falken tyres, they still have plenty of tred, but they seem to be cr@p. All I can say is I'm bloody lucky to not have hit anyone or have anyone hit me!

But now my steering seems to be slightly out of line... Would a wheel alignment fix this? Or could it be something else?

My car had Falcens all round, couldn't keep it on the road. I won't get them again.
Just because the tyres have tread doesn't mean they will work. The tyres have to be soft, not hard and shiny from age.
Wheel alignment should fix your problem, unless anything is damaged.
I'd get a shock absorber test if you have them on the back as well.
Mine were well past the use by date. Everything plays a part.

When you have odd tyres run the better ones on the rear. (you have the better ones on the front) Swap them around before you scare yourself again!
If fitting new tyres of the same type fit them to the rear.

You should not be able to knock the allignment out by having a half spin in the wet.
Could the steering have been out of line before and you only noticed after the spin?

Is the steering column tight where it attaches to the rack? It may have jumped a spline or two if it is loose. If it has you need to fix it NOW!!!!
Can you pull up and push down on the wheel about 4mm? If you can the column is loose.

Can't say I've had anything happen like that. I run pirelli tyre's but I've also got 13inch rims with wider tyers than a standard commondore. It may have been oilly where you were but I think the wheel alignment should be OK.

I'd say a bit of road grim/oil. its been the first rain for a while today. at least you did'nt dent the beast! all good

Werw! I was hoping not to hear a mini related incident due to the rain Lucky you did ok, I once did exactly that on the freeway! (Hence they call me 360 Chong )

Bridgestones all round, balanced, wheel aligned, ball joints and wheel bearings checked for play.. goes along way to making handling good in the wet.

Or do as I do, when it rains, don't drive the mini!

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Bridgestone's??? I just got rid of mine - in the dry they were poor, in the wet they were dangerous - very little traction. just put A008's on and the difference is HUGE!!

h0nk I reckon go buy another 2 A008's - you won't regret it

Yeah Minis are great in the dry, not much fun in the wet! I have Bridgestone tyres all round, brand new basically and they are crap in the wet, squeal a lot in the dry too. I also am running on the bump stops on the passengers side (hydro pump failed half way through a pump up ) which means I have to be extra extra careful, it only takes a bit of extra braking to lock the left wheel up!

Damn hydro is easy to lose the rear as well, I have on occasion let her spin out when I knew I wouldn't hit anything and there were no cars, as it was easier & safer than trying to wrestle back straight again! At low speeds I can at least trust my car to only spin in its own length.

Yeah you just have to be careful, I go from overtaking everybody around roundabouts in the dry, to being tailgated by Action buses in the wet. I don't mind it has kept me in one piece so far.

I had my clubby running on Khumo's for the last 4 years and never ever had a problem. Great tyres imo.

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just curious, were you accelerating into the cnr or out of the corner. On the road you should have reduced speed BEFORE the cnr, back throttle to mid and be accelerating out of the cnr. And i agree with most other comments here. you need to go get yourself another 2 a008's 1st thing tomorrow. And while it's there get a wheel alignment, or go get it done by John Leffler (st georges steering, punchbowl) The car be crabbing also, this may have helped out the cause too. I would say it went round because of a combination of all of the above.
I did a 180 today too.... but i did it using a handbrake and on the front lawn.... needed to turn the car around, and the turning circle in a mini is so much better when the handbrake is applied just at the right time.

Cheers

Aaron

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Agree with all the above..

It's simple, the A008's have twice the grip of the falkens easily in the wet, and you have them on the front, hence the rear broke traction while the front still had more to give. I'm running Falkens way past their used by date at the moment all round while i sort out my next tire/rim choice and you think they're bad in the rain with a bit or tread, try them when they're bald I can go over a bump at 100km/h with my foot flat and spin the wheels in the rain ..

I do think you were doing more than 20km though..or you just applied too much throttle to bring the rear around, even with bald falkens in the wet i could go around a roundabout in the wet at 20km/h..

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Starlet Conversion:
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on the way to kazjims place ey!

i have the 165/70/10 bridgestone on the the front of mine and some retreads on te back. tday coming home from school it was ver slipply in the front of the car. i was going round a roundabout and about half way round my front wheels started spinning and there was alot of understeer but it was ok i backed of the accelerator and corrected it.

the bridgestones squeel quite abit in the dry also so i think ill be going to the yokis soon.

also the roads a very slippery because of that it doesnt rain very often and when it does it seems to be very oily

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Whatever tyres you run, try and use the same ones all round, please...
When you have a real emergency stop or swerve, you will appreciate my advice..
I once did a 180* at speed at Wakefield Pk (coming onto main straight) with Dunlop LeMans on front and Falkens rear. Not funny......

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Yeah with my old 1098 with the Dellorto (read: accelerator pump) I used to have to excercise a fair bit of caution accelerating during roundabouts in the wet because it broke traction fairly easily. Not such a problem with the SU it doesn't quite have the throttle response!

Drove my parents MX5 the other day when it was pissing down with rain, accelerated hard in a straight line in second gear, was fine until I got to about 5000 rpm and the power started to come on properly, both rear wheels completely broke traction at about 70-80kph! Didn't expect that! Was fun though