2001 Elantra poor handling on turns

I have had 3 accidents with my elantra. they all occured because of slippery road conditions. I slipped while making turns that weren't especially tight. Has anyone else experienced poor handling under similar situations?

Welcome to the AF family and the Hyundai sections.:smile:

Sorry to hear about your accidents, hope you are okay.
Didi you notice any tire and wheel vibration when this happened? If so it could be that your tire has an imbalance and or have excess Radial Force Variations. Hyundai should be able to adress the RFV by checking the tires with a wheel balancer. The following technical service bulletin (TSB) explains.

TSB # 01-50-008 Tire and Wheels Vibration and Radial Force Variation (http://www.hmaservice.com/webtech/iindex.asp?id=394881862#_394881862)

If there isn't any vibration then I am at a loss except that the tires do not grip well enough.

Have you taken it in to the dealership/service center?

TS out

Thanks, I'll check that. However, I still believe there is something wrong with the suspension/traction handling. My 2001 has the Traction Control System installed and it seems to make no difference.

Thanks, I'll check that. However, I still believe there is something wrong with the suspension/traction handling. My 2001 has the Traction Control System installed and it seems to make no difference.

Hi Vince, The others have heard me say it more than once, Hyundai hasn't proven to me that they can produced an ABS and TCS system that is competent. However I have had many cars with TCS and all require a reduction/deviation from moderate to agreesive driving habits in inclimate weather. What tires are you using and how old are they....wear? If you frequently find yourself in inclimate weather I'd recommend getting a set of high performance all season tires. I have seen the most improvement in wet traction by switching tires...I can recommend some great tires but costs are up there.

Hope this helps a little,
Jason

I don't mean to be rude here but if you have had 3 accidents all around tight turns why not try slowing down first?

I will say that the car inherently has poor roll when cornering. Strut bars help keep the car level while cornering and are a bit more aggressive but you should try taking them slower first.

first of all, I was not traveling faster than 15 - 20 MPH on these turns (incidently, they were not "tight" turns as you intimated) . The accidents all occured on slippery road conditions with the traction control on. What good is traction control if it doesn't work on these road conditions.

Just because a car has Traction Control doesnt mean that it can handle better than any other car. Its still a front wheel front engine car, which do not have the best handling characteristics, with most of their weight on the front wheels. If the car had factory tires this could also be an issue, especially on a car like the Elantra, the factory will put the longest wearing, most well balanced tires to do a decent job in all conditions. another factor is if you had your tires overinflated, which causes them to be too hard and slide due to the lack of tread that is contacting the road. i still find it hard to beleive that your car would simply fail to handle with the low speeds you have claimed.

First, I admit I don't drive this particular car often -- it is my daughters car. However, I've driven various front drive vehicles and I find the Elantra to be inept at handling hazzrdous road conditions. The other FWD vehicles I have experience with give me no pause during wet/slippery conditions.

well maybe it is the car...what kind of tires does it have?

You can put the best brakes, the best traction control and the best suspension on a car, but if the tires are no good then all the other gadgets are worthless.

If you're tires have poor traction in the wet, and that's what my opinion would be, you need to get new tires. Don't go for econo tires. Spend the extra money and get some good tires. Go to tirerack.com and read the reviews for the tires there and see what others are saying about them. Just because a tire says Goodyear or Michelin doesn't mean it's a good tire.

The phrase "where the rubber meets the road" is more than just a cliche or trite expression. The better the tire, the better you car will stick to the road.

I just bought an 01 Elantra. It has a 5-speed transmission and lacks the Traction Control. There are a few different kinds of traction control. Most traction controls (like in Buicks, Pontiacs, the Hyundai) are mostly for slippage. Basically, if you're in the rain and the snow and the front tires are going a lot faster than the rear, or one tire seems to be spinning hard, the system cuts the gas or ignition and/or applies the brakes so you can gain some traction. The system that you seem to be talking about is one more like ESP, not TCS. ESP is found more in the high end stuff like cadillac, VW, BMW, etc. Most of these vehicles use both ESP and TCS. The ESP is the one that uses the sensors to detect grip, roll, slide, etc and can adjust braking on individual wheels, make small steering adjustments, etc. This system is NOT the one you find on Hyundais however. I admit, the Elantra isn't the best in corners and it does tend to let you oversteer and slide but no matter how wet the road is, at 10-15 on what you say is a "slight" curve, I'd go wit tires too. If there was something wrong enough with the suspension where possibly the strut collapses enough to send you sliding, I think you'd be able to tell during other driving times. The tires that come factory on a Hyundai in the U.S. are Michelin XW4's. As far as I know that's a pretty good tire. I would check them shomehow though.