Performance tire for rain?

[curbsurfer253]

I'm in need of some tires and i live in washington state. What tire do you reccommend for rainy conditions?

[SmithSR]

I've used the Toyo T1-S in WA weather with great success. What vehicle have you got, what size are you looking for, and how much do you plan on spending?

[Dori Dori]

It's funny you say that smith, I actually don't like my T1-S's in the rain. Maybe I'm just spoiled from the SO3's I used to run which I thought had excellent wet weather traction.

[SmithSR]

here's a good link about the T1-S compared to a couple other tires.http://www.geocities.com/Motor....html and since nobody reads the content that people take the time to post, here's some cliff notes:

"These tires have a remarkable amount of grip, wet or dry. They have large, v-shaped grooves that allow water to disperse to the outside of the contact patch, preventing hydroplaning. There is also a solid ridge of rubber down the centre of the tread, and large, solid tread blocks at the edges/shoulders of the tread that together resist the squrim normally associated with a tire with such large grooves. These factors, combined with a sticky but long-ish wearing silica tread compound, result in a tire that is great in both wet and dry conditions. There are several other tires on the market that take advantage of a similar "v-shaped groove with solid centre tread block" design, including the Dunlop SP9000, Goodyear Eagle F1, Yokohama AVS Sport, and the Michelin Pilot Sport (all pictured below). However, price-wise, the T1-Ss are typically $20 to $60 less per tire than these other premium name brand models."

you must read this link and save it for future reference. read the reviews:http://www.1010tires.com/Toyo_....html

Tech info about silica compounds used in Toyo T1-S(among others)http://www.toyo.com.au/tech_info2.html

And here's some love for Bridgestones and the SO-3, which is a super tire, demonstrated by price. http://www.miata.net/products/...l#S03

[Dystopia]

BF goodrich TA KDW are great for the the rain

[Nismo_Freak]

Kumho MX's work well.

[D-UNIT]

I love my 205/50R15 Toyo T1-S tires. Especially in the rain. Everyone goes slow when it rains , but I can easily cruise at 90 mph in the pouring rain. My friend also has 18inch ones on his two door Chevy Tahoe. We all run them now. He used to have nitto 555's. He says the nitto's grab hard in the dry , but the toyo's kill in the rain. My T1-S's are great at the drag strip too. I get consistent 1.8 - 2.1 sec 60 ft. times. Just got to heat um' up a little bit and drop the psi to 25 - 28.

It also doesn't hurt that my friend is a Toyota tech. and he can get me my size for 80 bucks each. HAHA. Biased? maybe , but for that price -- IT'S THE BEST!!!

[Q45tech]

Understand that tire compounds work well only in narrow temperature ranges............lots of difference between 35-45F rain and 80-90F rain.In Washington State unfortunately you will need a A/S tire compound to get down to the just ABOVE ice temperature. Before switching to real performance snow tires...........unless you are comfortable using 3 sets of tires in a year to match temperatures.But summers are so coolish that a Summer temperature tire might be a waste?

More than anything treadwear index is the indicator of dry and wet friction.........as a very fast wearing tire will be better than a say 320-400 index tire.

Most don't want to deal with the cost that a 10-20 foot shorter WET stopping distance requires.

[Dori Dori]

That's why I got the Toyo's...price. I got a great deal on them. $130 per tire (mounted and balanced) in 225/45/17. Definitely beat the $170+each quotes I was getting for the S03's. The biggest difference between the two is the wear/grip ratio. I feel that I've lost a considerable amount of grip after 20k miles while the s03's gripped well till they needed replacement. The S03's did make more noise though (actually, they were the loudest street tire I've owned).

[Exar-Kun]

you hshould hear my Pzero's now that they're at 4/32"

they handle wondefully(no tread squirm) and raint raction is still good...but damned they're loud

oh well, I dont care

for rain, nothing beats the pilot sport a/s. period.(in performance tires anyway)...wont be as grippy in the dry as a s-03, etc but its flexible enough to be used nearly year-round.-chet

[szh]

I am trying out the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 on my wife's Acura CL based on the wet handling tests at Tire Rack. We have not encountered any rain yet, though (the tires have only been on for a few days ).

Z

[Grant@tirerack]

Did we ever determine what size you are looking for? That would help narrow down the selection to tires actually available in your size.

[vq35de]

the F1 GS-D3 if it comes in a size that fits your car is an excellent rain tire.

I live in a cool climate (-5 with occasional snow in the winter, 95 in the summer) and love mine.

my rain traction is just as good as my dry traction on curves (85 plus around some 30 mph curves IN THE RAIN with 50% tread life gone)

I would say that is pretty goood.

Sean

[ruf-jason]

Did we ever determine what size you are looking for? That would help narrow down the selection to tires actually available in your size.

yah, what size u runnin?

[curbsurfer253]

The tires will be 205/55/16 for stock S14 SE wheels for now. I understand the coment about the narrow temp spectrum that tires work in, but trust me, the only rain we get here what is 30-40 degrees comes in dec-feb. and that's still quite a ways off. I want a tire that can perform decently well for the rest of the mostly dry summer(65-80 degrees) and into the fall. Hopefully by then I'll be running some 17x9's in the back...hopefully:( Anyways, thanks for the help so far guys, I'm still undecided.

[ruf-jason]

I would guide you to either the BFG G-force KDWS or the Continental Extreme contact, I have personal exp. with both and my roommate runs the Extreme Contacts as his snow tires, the reason I am saying max performance all-seasons is cause at 35-40 degrees ambient, your out of the temp range of pretty much all summer only tire, even if there's no snow/ice the tires won't grip worth 5hit.

give grant a call if u do mail order them.

[curbsurfer253]

I think that makes good sense. I am going to start looking into ultra high performance all-seasons like the pilot sport a/s. People seem to highly reccommend these but a couple reviews say that the sidewalls are far too stiff and the ride isn't very confortable. Any other suggestions for performance all-seasons?

[Grant@tirerack]

The Continental would be much better for slush, ice, ride quality and noise. At $78.00 they are hard to beat. Another good choice would be the Sumitomo HTR+ in that size. Those are $59.00 each in that size. Give me a call and I can work up some prices for ya.

[SkylineDriven]

I am using Bridgestone Potenza RE750's. They are WONDERFUL in the rain. All my friends spin their tires in the rain fairly easily. I have no problem so far with rain traction. I can gun it and it still does not slip in first or second gear until i hit 6k rpm (was testing tires). My Toyo T1-S's on the otherhand could even slip in 3rd gear.

Another tire you can try if you want all seasons is the Bridgestone Potenza RE950. Much cheaper than the summer tires I'm using and these are pretty good in the rain too. I don't know if its because I haven't tried other tires or what but once I switched over to using Potenza tires I just refuse to try anything else. Their wet grip is exceptional.

[skydragoness]

I have Potenza RE950's, I went from Dunlop sp 5000's (notorious for poor wet traction) to the Bridgestones and i've never been happier. Very grippy, and the way they designed the layers on the tire is so that wet traction doesn't diminish as it wears. They're weren't too shabby in the snow either. I have a the optional OE fitment: 205/60/15, despite the tall sidewall they're pretty stiff. I plan to get Bridgestones Potenza 750's for my summer/auto-x tire.