Help! Just Bought Cpo '07 Is 250 Awd And Experienced Severe H

[kmashek]

I just bought a CPO '07 IS 250 AWD and driving home last night in heavy rain, I experienced severe hydroplaning on the freeway. So much to the extent that I was nervous driving home and almost pulled over. Previously I owned an SC400, which occassionally hydroplaned while driving (as with any low sports car). However, last night I had never experienced hydroplaying in a car like this before. At one point, an alarm was triggered when I was hydroplaning and shut off when I brought the car back under control. The dealer indicated new tires were on the car so I would be very surprised if the tires were a factor. Overall, I am a good driver in the rain, having been raised in the Seattle area my whole life, so I am nervous about this experience I had last night and was hoping that someone has advice on best next steps e.g. possible stability alignment issue? Any information is greatly appreciated!

[cduluk]

With NEW tires this happened!? :o

Woah... there's gotta be something else wrong here. Was speed an issue?

[navylexman]

ya deffinatly dont sound right... of course at high speeds your going to hydroplane more but if you were going below like 40 or 50 that shouldn't happen

[1990LS400]

Any tire can hydroplane if the water is deep enough regardless of how new the tire is. And some tires are much more resistant to hydroplaning than others. There are other factors like the ratio of car weight to tire contact patch size. And if your car has the optional 245 front, 255 rear tires, then it may be more prone to hydroplaning due to fewer pounds of pressure per square inch of each tire contact patch.

What size, brand and model tires are you using and what are the pressure readings of the tires?

Maybe your IS250 is simply communicating the hydroplaning to you in a way your SC400 could not. Some cars just give more feedback. If your SC400 didn't have VSC and the "Oh !Removed!" alarm like your IS has, maybe you were just as out of control in your SC and didn't know about it. Ignorance is bliss!

I love that VSC chime and sometimes drive hard when it's rainy or snowy just to hear it. I gotta stop doing that.

[kmashek]

Just want to say thanks to everyone who responded. This is my first time on this site and the replies were very helpful. I don't know the exact tires that are on the car, but I am going to the service department after work to get my chip protector put on so I am definitely going to ask about my hydroplaning experience. I was going between 55 - 65 while this was happening on the freeway. To 1990LS400, you probably hit the nail on the head in terms of the "ignorance is bliss." Because it was so apparent it probably freaked me out more. I will investiage the type of tire and re-post to get people's thoughts.