Just drove Civic through a flooded road, it handled it like a champ!!

Gruber

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I didn't have much choice a couple of years ago in Louisiana when I escaped the town of Hammond on interstate 10 at the last moment when it became flooded with increasing water level. Less than 30 minutes after we passed through the I10 was closed there and there was no escape from Hammond for days (secondary roads were even more flooded).
There were cars that stopped and parked on the shoulder and I guess they had to be rescued later. I would have been quite nervous in a civicx and maybe wouldn't have made it through, but I was driving a rental Hyundai SantaFe and was (almost) completely optimistic.

(* It's actually I-12 there)
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wheedy

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Yikes, I'm glad it all worked out for you! With my own past experience with high water I wouldn't have had the balls the power through.

About 2 years ago (before Hurricane Harvey) we had some crazy flash flooding in Houston one morning around Newcastle & Bissonnet. I tried to leave my neighborhood 3 different ways through 2 feet of water but kept having to turn around. I still had my '06 Grand Cherokee when this happened, I never would have made it as far as I did in my Civic. I saw a very unfortunate number of sedans get stuck and flood in the streets. A few F-150's (lifted typical Texas-style) were able to make it through the water and one guy stopped to push a few cars out of the water. I called it quits once I saw a big SUV literally bobbing up and down in the water right at the 610/Bissonnet feeder. I ended up pulling into a parking garage and shooting the shit with a few guys until the water subsided a few hours later.
 
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jred721

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I didn't have much choice a couple of years ago in Louisiana when I escaped the town of Hammond on interstate 10 at the last moment when it became flooded with increasing water level. Less than 30 minutes after we passed through the I10 was closed there and there was no escape from Hammond for days (secondary roads were even more flooded).
There were cars that stopped and parked on the shoulder and I guess they had to be rescued later. I would have been quite nervous in a civicx and maybe wouldn't have made it through, but I was driving a rental Hyundai SantaFe and was (almost) completely optimistic.
Did you make it to your destination safe? Luckily the Hyundai Santa Fe is a higher riding vehicle, so you had a bit of extra ground clearance. These Civic X's are pretty low cars from the factory itself, so I probably would have been just as nervous if I encountered the situation you did.

Yikes, I'm glad it all worked out for you! With my own past experience with high water I wouldn't have had the balls the power through.

About 2 years ago (before Hurricane Harvey) we had some crazy flash flooding in Houston one morning around Newcastle & Bissonnet. I tried to leave my neighborhood 3 different ways through 2 feet of water but kept having to turn around. I still had my '06 Grand Cherokee when this happened, I never would have made it as far as I did in my Civic. I saw a very unfortunate number of sedans get stuck and flood in the streets. A few F-150's (lifted typical Texas-style) were able to make irt through the water and one guy stopped to push a few cars out of the water. I called it quits once I saw a big SUV literally bobbing up and down in the water right at the 610/Bissonnet feeder. I ended up pulling into a parking garage and shooting the shit with a few guys until the water subsided a few hours later.
Damn, yeah Harvey definitely hit you guys hard, I saw pictures of the flooding there and it was crazy. What you went through was definitely way more severe than what happened here, I probably wouldn't have went through that water either.
 

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Did you make it to your destination safe? Luckily the Hyundai Santa Fe is a higher riding vehicle, so you had a bit of extra ground clearance. These Civic X's are pretty low cars from the factory itself, so I probably would have been just as nervous if I encountered the situation you did.
I did, and we didn't get delayed and stuck there only thanks to listening to the radio. The local authorities apparently didn't want people to drive around but instead to settle in hotels, so information was not readily available and the water was still rising. But people calling in were giving some hints which roads are still open and we then had to go around the lake through New Orleans to get out.
 

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So I was on my way home today and I was coming back through a narrower residential street which a lot of people use as a cut through to avoid all the traffic on the main road, and it was raining REALLY heavy and all of a sudden towards the end of the road there was a backup because people were too afraid to make the left turn onto the main road because the visibility was near zero and water was everywhere.

Worst part was, I ended up getting stuck on a bridge that was right over a stream that was flooding and was stuck there for about 12 mins while the water was up to the doors, literally the worst place to become stuck. Eventually, the line started to move and I made it onto the intersection where I drove on to the main road. To my luck, that road was also mildly flooded and it was like driving through a pond. Visibility was still near zero and everyone was going very slow with their emergency lights on, unfortunately I was in a bit of a rush because I had my daughter who was sick in the backseat and looked like she was about to throw up, so I needed to get home.

I went a little faster than I should have through the road but I made sure I was cautious and aware of the car's stability, and that's when the tornado warning screamed through my speakers because of CarPlay and my daughter started to burst into tears. Luckily, it didn't hit us and I pushed the car through the road and man the Civic literally went through it like it was nothing, I was honestly surprised. There were a lot of cars next to me slipping and almost hydroplaning, but somehow the Civic was stable throughout and we made it home safe and my daughter ended up being okay. I know it probably has more to do with the tires and my overall control of the vehicle but still, I was impressed as hell!!
Dang that's awesome! Though the ML or even the 5 series would've been a bunch better then haha
 


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jred721

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Dang that's awesome! Though the ML or even the 5 series would've been a bunch better then haha
Haha true, I usually take the the Civic for when I have to commute to DC because its smaller, and better gas mileage in the traffic on the way there, so all of this happened on the day I was coming back from DC. I was actually wishing I was in the ML at that point more than anything because it's higher riding and built like an absolute tank so it would have gotten through easily. The 5 series would have also edged out the Civic because of its AWD with extremely sticky tires and its a bigger car so its much more planted on the road. But the Civic surprised me with how good it did.
 

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Our car can easily beat range rovers in deep water, and it seems Chinese owners are willing to test it to the extreme:

If you drive at the right speed you can get away with water up to the top of the tires
 

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Glad you guys made it through, we had a family member with a newer Dodge Dart that hydrolocked itself while going through a deep puddle.
You make it sound like they went through a 5 inch puddle and BAM, the Dodge dies. :D Well, I used to have a Dart before my Civic and the clearance and protection were the same.
 

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Here is my idol Scotty, even younger and handsomer than today, on the perils of hell and high water. Such as a big hole in the Chrysler 300 engine.

Some cars have the air intake lower than can be expected (like his Toyota Celica). You don't need water even to half the wheel. The civic's is on top of the engine, but it's generally a pretty low set car.

 
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Back when hurricane Irene hit and we had the torrential rains afterwards (2011 I think it was) the roads out of my neighborhood flooded. It didn't seem bad so I decided to risk it. As I got further and further down the road I realized it was a bad idea. The BMW I saw floating I the intersection really drove this home. So I pulled into a parking lot and went back home.

I thought I had dodged a bullet...until a week later when I noticed that the inside of my car started smelling like a pond. I reached under the carpet and found a bunch of standing water!! I filed an insurance claim thinking they would just pull the carpet out and dry it out. The car drove fine so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. A day later they totaled the car :(. It was a 2007 Volvo S40.

So...after driving through something like this you may want to double check that no water came into the car even it seemed to get through OK.
 


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I dont fuck with flooded roads. If you see even 2 inches of standing water on a road, you should turn around and find another way. The damage you could potentially do splashing cold water up into the engine compartment is not worth it. Cracked engine blocks, seals weakening, getting water into the intake, slipping belts...
 
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jred721

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I dont fuck with flooded roads. If you see even 2 inches of standing water on a road, you should turn around and find another way. The damage you could potentially do splashing cold water up into the engine compartment is not worth it. Cracked engine blocks, seals weakening, getting water into the intake, slipping belts...
This was a while ago but when you're caught on a single lane bridge in a flash flood and there's tornado warnings around the area, there's no option besides plowing through and hoping you make it home :dunno: .
 

Gruber

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You should try out for Hyperdrive!!
Haha Netflix.....

"I'm working four jobs to keep the lights on..." ....and to afford wrecking cars for fun.....

Obviously the economy still is not working for everyone... There is a lot of poverty in this country....
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