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tires in rain

Joined
19 December 2001
Messages
1,065
Location
lee's summit mo 64064
seems like ive read several times that the oem yokos are very slippery when wet??

i got caught in the rain last night and logged 120miles, much of the time in a heavy donpour. i pushed the car as i wanted to explore the traction characteristics, not in maneuvering just straight line mostly. i experienced absolutely no problems. the car stuck really well, at speeds between 65-100mph. (much to my surprise)

please advise re your experiences...
 
Don't know about OEMs - too narrow for my taste - but two tires that perform excellently in the rain are the Yokohama A520 and the Toyo Proxes T1-S.
 
Some of my driving friends are probably waiting for me to reply to this one...

I am a HUGE fan of the OEM Yoks in the rain. I took them to a track event that saw rain on the second day, causing just about everybody to drive home and forfeit their money. I was way too cheap to leave so I thought I'd see if I couldn't twist up some body panels instead.

I started slow that day, determined to keep the shiny side up and the body damage to a minimum, but gradually increased my speed and I was very surprised to find that, by the end of the day, I was able to push the car awfully hard on the OEM Yoks. The surprising part was that I had just read on this forum that many people were spinning out for no apparent reason on these tires in wet street situations. I was able to brake hard from triple-digit speeds, sometimes dipping into ABS, and accelerate quickly, and turn with confidence in heavy rain on the Yoks.

It wasn't too long after that that the local Pantera club invited some of us for a drive with them. It rained that day too sending everyone but the NSXers and two mustangs running home to the garage. I had the P-club leader in my car for the day as his Panty was still in the shop (like most Pantys} and he just couldn't believe the handeling of the NSX in the rain. One Panty owner brought his new Mustang Cobra SVT with IRS and couldn't hit speeds over 45 mph. He complained bitterly all day and vowed to sell the new car.

I LOVE THE OEM'S!! (and I hate my SP9000s)
 
Originally posted by huckster:
i got caught in the rain last night and logged 120miles, much of the time in a heavy donpour.

I'm one of those wackos who loves to drive fast in the wet - to the point that I use wet handling as my prime criteria in selecting tires - and there are a few things that come to mind beyond the tire itself. It has been my experience that:
1. Wet weather magnifies any alignment issues.
2. Tire pressure is critical.
3. Hardness is a bigger factor than most people think - tires become "work hardened" and a tire with good tread remaining can have lousy grip after becoming hardened.
4. Road surface/materials - I had a 100 mile trip the other night in pouring rain. The first half of the trip I was uncomfortable even at 50mph. The second half, on a different highway, I was very comfortable at 70 and even higher.
The speed of a lot of drivers in heavy rain scares the daylights out of me - makes me think that most of them won't understand what hydroplaning is until the guardrail bites them.



------------------
Andrew Henderson
The NSX Model List Page

"We have long acknowledged that enthusiasm for things automotive is a sure
sign of emotional instability if not outright dementia"
- Brock Yates
 
wow, so im not alone in my experience...

actually, i underestimated the numbers. i took it up to 125 and the damn thing was still on rails. couldnt believe it. i wonder why everyone complains about rain traction. of EVERYTHING ive driven this stuck as good and mostly better.

my only concern at the end was getting my car rained on. she was a wet virgin....oh well
 
The OEM tires are good in the rain as long as they have decent tread left. Once they get close to the wear bars they can be a bit skittish in heavy rain.
 
I think lemansnsx is very correct in stating wet traction depends greatly on the surface as well. A part of hwy i drive has many trucks that go on it and has a few lights. This part of hwy has large ruts in the road and once wet is horrible. On a good surface, a tire with a decent amount of tread should perform well even in the rain.

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92 Red/Blk
 
Yup. When I bought my car it had OEM Yokes with poor tread life on the rears and I was all over the place in the rain over about 30MPH. Now with new Yokes, it's solid.
smile.gif


Dave
'94 Brooklands Green Pearl
 
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