Are directional tires mostly hype?

[Q45tech]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...g.jsp

In soft compounds probably as up to certain speeds - the normal hydroplane threshold is much more a function of tread softnesss than tread design.............at the ragged edge on wheels that steer directionals probably help a little when new.

How did the industry get in this mess? At what point in wear does the harder compound out weigh any benefit derived from directionality........ When the tread is half worn.

From tirerack site: "NOTE: Since we test new tires, the Potenza S-03 Pole Position’s feature that our testing didn’t evaluate was the tire’s ability to retain a greater percentage of its wet traction as its tread wears down.".............they are warning you that their test are only valid with BRAND NEW TIRES not tires with any wear!

[SmithSR]

Q45Tech, a while back, did you mention that directional tires are a benefit only up to a certain depth of water...something like 10% depth greater than the tire's tread depth?.... a degree probably too minute for the regular driver to detect and benefit from... And then after that point, there was no hydroplane-stability benefit. I may be wrong...your input is greatly appreciated:bowdown

[Q45tech]

That was my point as they wear over half way the benefits are greatly diminished............now in extremely wide tread tires the only thing you can do to alleviate some of the lifting is use direction grooves to try to get some water out from under faster.

But thru any normal reasonable speed in RAIN [say 55-60-65 mph] a softer compound on a narrow [65/60/55 series] tire will probably work better than a harder 320-450 tread wear index with directional treads half worn. Predictability should be the main concern.

A special serious problem is summer tires in a cold rain [failure to remove them when the temps drop below 45-50F....as the cold water reduces any heat build up from rolling friction......letting them reach the plasticization cliff temperature earlier than they would in dry. This sudden loss of friction coefficient can lead to the same serious results one gets at the freezing point.

I don't believe that members understand that Ultra High performance tires are tweaked so much for hot performance that they may be deadly in cold or chilly rain!

All seasons may be 10% worse on peak numbers but they don't usually surprise you like many summer tires do.

Study the test results on Bridgestone newer LSH touring tire [vs Michelin MXV4 plus] and others wet vs dry.Not everyone demands an 82.4 vs 93 feet [LSH] stopping superiority of the 225/60/15 Fstone SZ50EP.

But I sure don't want to own tires that take over 100 [or 110 feet]feet to stop from 50 mph when I know 17-20-27 feet shorter is possible.