Slowly Slid into a Curb. Should I do Anything?

[SLU_S5]

So it's winter time here in upstate NY. As I was leaving a parking lot, I turned right, lost traction and began to drift across the street toward the curb. I slammed on the brakes and tried my best to straighten the car onto the road. Unfortunately, my left rear wheel hit the curb and stopped my S5. Impact was probably at the rate of 5 MPH or less.

I stopped to check for damage and all I saw was a small bit of curb rash on one section of the left rear wheel. its close to the size of a dime in surface area, and maybe 3mm deep. I'm not so bothered about this because they're my (Audi OEM) winter wheels anyway. Tire looks fine, car drives straight.

My question is: How resilient are our cars to bumps like these? I've drifted into curbs with my previous vehicles and they were just fine aside from some scrapes on the wheel. Friends of mine haven't had such luck- hitting the curb has forced them to replace several suspension components on their cars in the past.

Thanks!

-Josh

[HP Hungry S5]

You should be fine. As long as your car has no vibrations or drifts either left or right when you let go of the steering wheel. If you have any of those issues, get your alignment checked. You could always do a visual check and see if anything looks out of the norm behind the wheel as well. Gotta love those upstate NY winters!!

[Mops@Nemesis]

Yep, that^. And have your shop have a look around while checking the align.

[mozman68]

The same thing happened to me the first week I was home with mine...nearly shit myself. everything looked okay underneath when I changed my wheels, but I think it knocked the car slightly out of alignment (very slight vibration over 75 mph). Will have that taken care of when it is in the shop getting all of the goodies put on in a couple of weeks.

[Audibot]

Ditto. I had done the same thing on my old Pontiac about 8 years back (except it was a front wheel). Bent the entire spindle and had to replace it and get an alignment.

Definitely get it checked out

[SLU_S5]

Thanks guys! I'll just continue to feel for anything that is out of the norm for now and I'll bring it into the shop if I have any concerns at all. Hopefully I'll be fine.

[ChipB]

I know it's a terrifying feeling to have your car sliding sideways totally out of control, even at only 5 MPH. Just one comment - not a criticism because I wasn't there - but you state you "slammed on the brakes," which is generally wrong thing to to in a slide. Hitting the brakes is bound to make the problem worse. Better to steer into the direction of the of the slide and gently apply a small amount of throttle, hoping that the wheels will start rolling as opposed to sliding. It's a hard thing to do, as every fiber in your body wants the car to stop, but when you get to a point where the car is going sideways there's really not much hope for recovery using brakes.

[milesed]

Did the same last winter and all it did was curb the rim.

[SLU_S5]

I know it's a terrifying feeling to have your car sliding sideways totally out of control, even at only 5 MPH. Just one comment - not a criticism because I wasn't there - but you state you "slammed on the brakes," which is generally wrong thing to to in a slide. Hitting the brakes is bound to make the problem worse. Better to steer into the direction of the of the slide and gently apply a small amount of throttle, hoping that the wheels will start rolling as opposed to sliding. It's a hard thing to do, as every fiber in your body wants the car to stop, but when you get to a point where the car is going sideways there's really not much hope for recovery using brakes.

True, true. I've replayed the scenario in my head several times today and realized that braking probably wasn't the answer. I did steer toward the curb in attempt to correct the drift. I think that helped a bit. I just had to act quick as I was sliding out of control and braking was unfortunately my first instinct :(