which one?? my brother is thinking of getting an S2000, and all the recent crashes and spinouts in the rain (go to the S2000 forums and see what i mean), it is suspected that Bridgestone Potenza S-02 are NOT really good rain tires.

which tires are the undisputed champions for wet weather driving??

 

Supposedly, the Dunlop SP9000. That's what I put on my supercharged Miata for the same reason.

The S-03 is claimed to be a much better wet weather tire.

Rishie

 

Nitto NT555R drag radials....great wet, loss of tractions and random braking patterns. Good for sliding around turns or thru intersections.

OH wait you said best traction....damn i gotta take these tires off my car during winter.

 

I now have S-02's and they are very good in the rain. As far as S-03's I am sure they are as good or better. P Zeros are good. Pirelli's have always been the best rain tires. The Dunlop SP9000 is a decent tire in the rain but I dont think it will stand its groud with Pzero's or S-02, S-03 in any other catagory. Check out Tire racks web site. They have alot of customer feedback thats useful about most of these tires.

 

yes, i have checked tirerack. im not a dumbass. but there is only so much info. actual first hand experience with many different tires is different than someone just giving a tire a rating and saying "oh, ____ tires were much better than ______ tires that i had before."

it seems like the P-Zero Rosso, S-02 Pole Position, and S-03 Pole Position are at the top of the game right now.

 

The S-03 really surprised me with how good they are in the rain. I was driving quickly through heavy rain recently with these on, and I know that I couldn't have done that with any other tire I have used on the car. I was very impressed.

-Max

 

I believe the S-02 was redesigned to get better wet performance ... hence the S-03.

 

Yeah, the SP 9000's are supposed to be excellent in the rain. The Tirerack gives them very good ratings in the rain. I have them, but I've only driven in VERY light rain. I don't want to mess around too much in the rain around here because there are cars EVERYWHERE.

 

nobody's said toyo T1-S. I heard those are great.

and yoko AO32R's are great in the wet as long as you don't hit puddles...

 

The Kuhmo Ecsta Supra 712's are awesome rain tires. For some reason it hasnt rained much in Florida since I got them, but from what I've been in so far, they've really worked great. They're not that bad in the dry either.

 

I've heard that the Bridgestone S03s are fantastic rain tires. The P-Zero Asimmetrics are great rain tires IF they're at least 6 to 7/32nds tread depth. Right now I've worn mine down to the wear bars, and they hydroplane at speeds above 65 mph. I'm fine as long as I'm following another vehicle that's sweeping the water away, preferably an 18-wheeler FWIW I do plan to replace the Pirelli P-Zero Asimmetrics with Bridgestone Potenza S-03s...

 

Today I got a chance to try out my SP 9000's in the rain. I didn't go nuts, but the car went exactly where I wanted it to. I didn't lose traction at all, but then again, I don't think I boosted over a few PSI.

 

I would have say A032 is great as long as you dont go over and inch of standig water

 

I agree, yoko A032R is one of the best or probably the best dot roadrace rain tire with manufacture waranty and also is very good for dry roadracing tire, as well for autocross.

 

would be Hoosier Grand Am wet weather tires. The next best are the hand-grooved Hoosier A3S03s. The Hoosier autocross compound heats up quickly and provides stellar stick in the wet. The extra hand-cut radial grooves help with sweeping the water away. For dry track conditions, the R3S03 Hoosier would be your ideal choice. The R3S03 lasts longer than the A3S03 compound, and holds up better under higher track temps. Hoosier also offers their Motorola Cup compound, which is slightly harder than the normal R3S03 compound. The Motorola compound provides longer, and more consistent performance during Motorola Cup enduro racing events.

As for Yoko A032Rs, I have not been impressed with their rain performance, especially in heavy rain. The Bridgestone Potenza S-02 and S-03 should/will outperform the A032Rs in a deluge.

Yokohama A032Rs are the slowest R-compound tires on the market. They're not particularly fast in the dry, nor are they good rain tires. They're simply expensive low-mileage street tires that make UNACCEPTABLE noise--they sound like tractor tires on the highway! I don't recommend wasting money on Yokohama A032Rs.

If you want an R-Compound tire that performs in both wet and dry conditions, try Toyo Proxes RA-1s. They come with 8/32 tread depth (like the Yokos), for rain use. The RA-1s are priced similarly to the Yoko A032s.

Pirelli P-Zero Cs are also a good choice as R-Compound tires go. They come with 6/32nds tread depth for the rain. They're slighly pricier than Toyos or Yokos, but they deliver longer and more consistent racing performance, dry or wet.

Both the Toyo RA-1s and the Pirelli P-Zero Cs can be shaved to 4/32nds tread depth for dry track conditions.

 

yeah..a friend had a set of those on his Porsche 944 Turbo. he said they kicked ***, but were a little too loud while cruising though.

 

what kinda life would you get out of the Hoosiers on the street?

also I have a set of Dunlops D01J's and Advan A048's on the way.

 

The Hoosiers are meant for track-racing only. Hoosier expressly forbids their racing tires to be used on the street

 

I say the S03 are the best in the rain and overall from experience.

The A032R actually gripped better then the S03 in the rain until u get too much water.

No tires out there will make u rain proof, not even S03. So I kinda wonder if those S2000 guys even know what they are getting into.

It's easy to blame the tires fault for siding off a cliff, ya know.