The NI of NZ has been hammered by cyclone Gabrielle, then I saw this video in FB. Though the MINI in the video is not an SE, it got me thinking, can I do this in my SE? I can drive the SE through flood? I know it is a bad decision to do so, but I know I can do this in an ICE. I got this video from FB, all copyright belongs to @bengregers who has the watermark imprint on the video. https://youtube.com/shorts/k5LWEKNq_og?feature=share
Yikes. Apart from all the obvious reasons of safety why you wouldn’t want to do that, and there’s all the water getting into electrics and electronics that will more than likely cause issues… but the biggest fear is that the intake snorkels are below the front edge of the bonnet; it wouldn’t take but a few millilitres of water to hydrolock the engine.
The SE doesn't need air intake or have exhaust, so it should be able to ford a river like that unless the water causes an electrical short. There are YouTube videos of Teslas swimming through flooded tunnels, the SE should fair similarly well. But I wouldn't do it, it's not amphibious so the interior likely would fill with water.
My first two cars were VW Beetles, but for the longest time my dream car was a VW Thing which was based on Germany's version of the Willys Jeep, the Kübelwagen. But what I really wanted was a Schwimmwagen, the amphibious vehicle. Nowadays, though, I wouldn't be able to tolerate the barebones interior even if it were electric.
As soon as the water level reaches the floor, the car gains buoyancy and you start to lose control. You even see it happening in that youtube video... that MINI is lucky to have made it to the other side at all. It's not just a bad idea; it's bone-headed to even try. I used to live in southern Arizona. Each and every time it rained certain roadways would become flooded like that, and some moron who thought "oh, it's not that deep" and "I'm sure it'll be fine" would get stranded. https://news.azpm.org/p/news-topical-nature/2019/9/11/157986-stupid-motorist-law-rarely-enforced-in-tucson-area/
In 1979 I had an orange thing. Most miserable contraption. My Firebird Convertible was in the garage a lot because of the gas crisis. What a difference between those two cars.
Yup, seen those Tesla YouTube videos, and this is the 1st video I have seen of a MINI going through water, though an ICE one. Definitely I will not do this with our SE. We went to the doctor yesterday and there was surface flooding probably less than 25cm deep and I was very anxious and the SUV behind us was really impatient. My thinking; it is not worth it, best to wait it out. You might be able to get where you wanna go, but the water damage to your SE will be incomprehensible IMO.
I think all the air-cooled VWs make for good conversion candidates, since the engine basically drops right out (I've replaced more than one). But that video really shows the bare-bones interior I couldn't live with after being spoiled by MINI luxurious interiors.
As people point out, you risk an electrical short and the car floating temporarily and thus losing traction and control. Modern Land Rovers like the Discovery have special chambers in the doors that are designed to flood with water to stop the car floating so easily. This is one of the reasons they are rated from the factory to ford 35 inches of water when other off-roasters are not…
