Rain Tires

[ncc1701]

I am in the process of deciding on street tires for my Z. I was wondering who has an opinion on the best performing street tires which could be used on the track in heavy rain events?

Thanks,

Mike

[xstar]

I am in the process of deciding on street tires for my Z. I was wondering who has an opinion on the best performing street tires which could be used on the track in heavy rain events?

Thanks,

Mike

Toyo RA-1s

(seriously!)

[Don P]

Consider the Bridgestone SO3 Pole Position......

[dinoracer]

Mike

Last two events, I did the time trial on the RA-1's. Heard they were not as grippy as kumhos, but lasted a lot longer, so i bought them full depth to try and save some budget $. Ended up running them in both dry, (where grip was OK but not great) and wet, where I ended up 2nd in last two TT...

So, I'm with Xstar on this, I'd buy a set of these ...

[offcamber09]

Mike, I know we talked on the phone, but I thought I'd post to clarify. You stated to me that you wanted something for the street that would also function as your "standing water" wet track tires. The RA1s are not for the street obviously. Don you are right on with the Pole Positions- the other I would consider is the Michelin Pilot (Sport, PS2 or standard) They are all excellent rain tires and incredible dry street tires. The Pole Positions and Pilot Sports are OE on some very serious road cars.
We talked about the Kuhmo Ecsta MX- which I have very little feedback on- I looked at the tread pattern last night and although it is directional, does not look to me like it would be the best performer in the rain. Tread blocks are too tightly spaced together.
In general I have had far better luck with directional tread patterns in the rain as opposed to a tire with only wide circumfrential grooves. Ideally you will have 1 or 2 very wide groves towards the center and then v-shaped directional sipes and grooves leading to the edge of the tire.
As I proved last weekend, it also helps if your tires are not 7 years old.


From a tire guy,

[mtc13]

I have the Yok. ES100s for the street, a comparitively cheap tire, and used them at NHIS for the rainy Day Two of the September event. I could barely get my nearly stock '02 GTI to turn, in the dry (w/ Kumho V-710s). In the rain, with the ES100s and trail braking, I could point the car anywhere I wanted it to go. Probably not the fastest way through a corner, sideways, but my point is that they were confidence inspiring and predictable no matter how much oversteer I had. On the street, if you go, say, 50mph through a 2 inch deep puddle (on one side of the car) you don't even feel a tug on the steering wheel.
Nothing.
I wouldn't say the wet traction is so great for acceleration, though. But I have nothing to compare it to - I haven't used other "modern" performance tires.
Hope this helps-
Michael

[ncc1701]

Thanks for the input guys.

What about the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3?
Any experience with these?

They have the best wet traction rating on Tire Rack's survey results.

A little less expensive than S03s and Pilot Sports.

I think I am down to the following choices.

1. Eagle F1 GS-D3
2. S03s
3. Pilot Sport

Any additional input would be welcome.

As far as RA-1's go, I can't really run those on the street, although I may have today.

Thanks,

Mike

[kfoote]

Thanks for the input guys.

What about the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3?
Any experience with these?

They have the best wet traction rating on Tire Rack's survey results.

A little less expensive than S03s and Pilot Sports.

I think I am down to the following choices.

1. Eagle F1 GS-D3
2. S03s
3. Pilot Sport

Any additional input would be welcome.

As far as RA-1's go, I can't really run those on the street, although I may have today.

Thanks,

Mike

In a recent tire test, the Goodyears were the best rain tire of all the tires tested, with the Kumhos 2nd and the Bridgestone's 3rd. They are all good choices.

[brucesallen]

I have these on my M5. On the street they seem to have great wet grip and no hydroplaning at 100 mph. I tried them on the track when dry and boy did they howl!

[ncc1701]

Thanks for all of the input.

I think I am going to try out the Goodyears.

Since I only need them on the track for really wet weather they seem to be a good choice.

Mike

[nateh]

Don't plan on getting a lot of benefit from running street tires on the track in the rain. Street tires (even "high performance" ones like the Ecsta MX) are so hard that their grip is bad in the rain. Worse, they have harsh breakaway characteristics.

So unless you are hydroplaning a lot on your worn-out track tires, don't bother with swapping on the street tires. (To calibrate - it never got wet enough at the last NHIS event to be worth switching to street tires, though unshaved RA-1s would have been better than shaved ones for the early timed runs.)

RA-1s sound like a great choice to me. They wear pretty well, and though unshaved they don't have the grip that shaved ones have, they would be a great compromise.

- Nate

[cfossum]

Yes that is true, I agree with Nate. I ran street tires (Azenis) at NHIS last weekend and I immediately knew that I made a mistake. My times were way off those from just last month on bald RA1s in wetter weather. I have also run RA1s on the street with no problems in the past.
-Carl

[enjoythemusic]

Must agree about street tires. Used Mich Pilot PS2 and my front end never REALLY got good grip in the rain at speeds. Tried varying tire pressure with little, but some, improvements. Had to apex wide at turn 2 as well, but i believe everyone was having problems at NHIS last weekend in the rain on Sunday at that turn.

The car is balanced/corner weighted so i know, well... Anyway, PS2 were passable on the setup on the car here but they were not impressive as when hot (130F) and happy in the dry... but what tire setup is?

FYI: Was comparing my videos of dry/warm August NHIS track day to the NHIS rain laps last weekend and i was off about 10 seconds a lap. The difference WAS NOT subtle. So the PS2 must also hate being cold. For a street tire when hot, they grip quite well (for a street tire). Next year i hope to start using more proper R compounds.

[brucesallen]

Many racers have hit the wall in the rain when exiting the South Chicane at 2B. Very slick track finish there. Only solution is brake more at 2A, late apex 2B and point and shoot down the straight to turn 3.

[JackFFR1846]

Consider also the size of your tires in the rain and the weight of the car in tire choice. Unlike Carl's experience, I ran 215-45-16 Azenis back when I had my 2700 pound Subaru 2.5RS and it was great in the rain at both NHIS and LRP. I used the same type tire on an S4 and they sucked even in the dry. My present rain tires are significantly narrower than my dry tires on the CRX. I'm not using street tires now, however.

I'd love to hear more views on rain tires as the 185 Ecsta V700's aren't great when it gets wet.

jack