Hydroplaning

[HijackTheLeft]

I've done some research, and nobody's come right and said that hydroplaning is a common issue, but it seems to be. I have all-season Kumhos with about 10k miles on them on my stock wheels and it hydroplanes like crazy. It did it on the tires I had before these too. Up to about 40mph, I'm fine, but after that it gets pretty squirrelly. I don't even have to hit a puddle, it can just be the thin sheet of standing water on the road. I either have to tailgate an 18-wheeler or just go real slow in the far right lane.

Does anybody else have this problem? The tread is fine on my tires. Is there any other thing that could cause this besides my tires??

I'll also say that I've never hydroplaned out of control before, so it might not be that, but I'm definitely feeling some lateral floating and noticing that the steering wheel isn't terribly responsive during those times.

[Florida240sx]

How's your suspension components? Really it's just your tires. I have problems down here everytime it rains. I had some falkens that were horrible, and had some kumhos that we are awesome and cheaper. Had them on my sportmax 15x8 when I was ka-t falkens were on 17's when I was stock....

[Florida240sx]

http://www.roadtripamerica.com...9.htm

My tail end in my car is very loose since I removed my sound system. You have anything in your trunk area?

[HijackTheLeft]

The suspension is good. Tein springs and tokico blues both in seemingly good condition.

and I know what you mean. I'm from Florida, and I hated driving in the rain there even worse than here. We've been getting midsummer style rains here the last couple days. I've been creeping down 95 at like 40-45mph.

I guess I'll do more research before I buy my next set of tires.

[HijackTheLeft]

nothing in my trunk... and that seems to be where the looseness is at. maybe i'll use hydroplaning as an excuse to justify getting a ridiculous stereo system. haha

[Emperor_Tha]

I got nitto neogen 215/45/17 with j30 rear. I never hydroplane. Matter of fact, I can full throttle on full boost and it doesn't spin tires in the rain.

[AE240SX]

I have 225/50 16 kuhmo ecsta asx which have 6k miles on them and they do wonderfully in the rain. You say your tires are "fine" but what is the tread depth? i know my tires are at least 7/32nd's still which helps alot. Also, have you had an alingment(i mean a real 4 wheel multi axis alingment)? If your rear end is loose sounds like you got a lot of toe in the back. Some stuff to think about.

[simmode1]

I got nitto neogen 215/45/17 with j30 rear. I never hydroplane. Matter of fact, I can full throttle on full boost and it doesn't spin tires in the rain.

I also vouch for the No Gens and Esta ASX's... they worked great for me...

[ThuG LyFe]

do you have any kind of lsd? i have factory vlsd and i never slipped in rain before. in fact i have once but it was a hugeeeeeee puddle but even then i didnt hydroplane that bad. snow is a different story tho.

oh and im on some getto gillette brand tires i dono if thas the same company that makes the razors and even if it is wtf they make tires?

if you dont have lsd maybe you should invest in one.

[donjuanmon]

No hydroplaning problems in my neck of the woods. I use toyo tires and have deep dish motegi touge rims on the rear so the stability is definitely there. You may want to do what others have suggested by checking the thread patten on your tires, investing in an lsd, checking the suspension or/and going with wider wheels. Hope that helps.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Not much you can do about Hydroplanning. Maybe get tires that shed off water better. But when up to a certain speed they all will hydroplan. I used to live in FL. That first rain or two on roads full of oil and greese make it even worse. Best advice, buy a more agressive tread design. It may make it better, but there is not much you can do to stop it except slow down. In FL......let it rain a few hours to wash the junk off the the road. Two months of no rain in FL and then a rain storm makes hydroplanning a serious issue. I've done it at 30-40mph until the roads got a little cleaning.

[HijackTheLeft]

I actually just measured and they're at about 3/16" They've done it since brand new though, and so did the ones before. I haven't had a real deal alignment in a while, and with all the potholes here, it's probably well overdue for one. Any recommendations on that? Is any local mechanic usually a good bet for something like that? Or should I take it somewhere more well-known?

I'm also going to look into getting better rain tires next time I get some.

Also, it seems like an lsd might hinder wet weather performance more than help? I'm not an expert, but it seems like if one side of the car hits a puddle, such as in wear grooves on the interstate, wouldn't it be better to let the tire that's not in the puddle continue on at the same speed while letting the one that hit the water slow a little so that it stops hydroplaning enough to break the surface of the water?

[Morph]

I actually just measured and they're at about 3/16" They've done it since brand new though, and so did the ones before. I haven't had a real deal alignment in a while, and with all the potholes here, it's probably well overdue for one. Any recommendations on that? Is any local mechanic usually a good bet for something like that? Or should I take it somewhere more well-known?

I'm also going to look into getting better rain tires next time I get some.

Also, it seems like an lsd might hinder wet weather performance more than help? I'm not an expert, but it seems like if one side of the car hits a puddle, such as in wear grooves on the interstate, wouldn't it be better to let the tire that's not in the puddle continue on at the same speed while letting the one that hit the water slow a little so that it stops hydroplaning enough to break the surface of the water?

I just got the lifetime thing from firestone 130 bucks and bang every one after free.

[HijackTheLeft]

Oh wow... I've never heard of that. I'm gonna have to go check that out.