I need to replace my tires on the 'vert. I currently have 225's all around. I'm wondering if I should revert to 205's, since I don't like the way the car becomes unpredictable on wet roads. My theory is that wider tires don't push the water away from the center of the tread fast enough, causing more hydroplaning. And since there is less weight bearing down per square inch of contact surface with a wider tire, a narrower one might grip the road better in the wet. Can anyone confirm or refute this?

 

I would think wider tires would be better. Wider tires= more surface area.. I dunno though..

 

SAiam, that is the exact reason why wider tires aren't quite as good in the rain. The weight of the car is spread out over a larger area so it doesn't push as much rain away from the tire. Same reason why rally race cars use very narrow tires in the snow.

 

Ever see the tires the Formula 1 cars use in the rain. They aren't too narrow, and the cars are super light. Stick with the 225's, but get a tread design that will move the water out from under the tread, rather than the car riding up on the water.
Tread design is everything.

 

even a smaller tire of the same design will have better wet handling characteristics because the same psi will result in a longer footprint and therefor more tread behind the leading tread that has to push the water away.

if your're realy concerned go with a smaller tire, otherwise just switch to one with better wet handling design.

 

Turbonut, they also use a LOT more downforce on rain races, hell the rear wing on a formula 1 car generates more pounds of downforce than the car weighs.
There is now comparing a formula 1 car to a street car, even if its a Super car.

 

the tire sizes in F1 are also for wear. smaller tire would get much hoter and wear way faster. causing too many pit stops to change tires.

 

When I purchased my '89TII new I couldn't take it over 45mph in the rain. I had no problem with the '88. Both GY 205 55 x16. I spoke with Jim Mederer at Racing Beat and he said it was the tires. Spoke with GY and in '89 they make different designed tires Mazda, Chrysler, and I forget the other mfg. GY stated the manufacturer designs the tread while GY supplies the carcass. GY brought in 4 new (different tead design-a little more open) tires and installed them for $0 at 1800 miles. No problems after that.

 

How is F1 even vaguely relevant...?

In the dry, wider is best. In the wet you need a narrower tyre, because the larger surface area the larger the lifting force from the water. Look at a race car's wet tyres, they're always narrower.

 

I have 265 18inch with 35 series pzeros on the back and all I can say is it sucks for rain, I feel the back slip all the time. In the dry it kicks *** though

 

Get S03s... I had 235s in front and 275s in back when I had my Supra, and they rocked in rain as well as dry.

 

Give me a break. It's just a statement indicating the width of the tires. Do you see bicycle tires on the cars? No!

Amazing. Both my Grand Cherokees are great in rain and snow with the stock size Michelin tires. No need to go smaller on a passenger car, just need to get the right tire.
There was just an article in AutoWeek where the all wheel drive Audi couldn't move in a Michigan snow with "All Weather" tires. Audi stipulates that snow tires must be used if condition require.

I'm finished.

 

you grand cherokees are probly 4x4, assuming that they are, that is the reason for that. narrower is better, come to Canada, and find out why.

 

sometimes whenim drivign my car in the rian i think i dont have tiress and then i saw taht I didnt and i wasnt gonig NEwear i dnot know has ne1 had dis prolbem B4?

 

But we're not talking about tyre type or compound, we're talking about size. Two similar but different sized tires will behave exactly as I said. The wider one will be better in the dry, the narrower in the wet. Simple physics.

 

turbonut, there is a large depth of information out there that says you're wrong.

The standard 205's will be better in the wet than 225's, all other things being equal. I don't know how drastic the difference would be, I suspect if you had some good quality, new, 225's, it would be fine also.

 

I went to 225's (17") on my vert a few years ago. So far, my feeling is that any increase in handling (I don't notice any) cannot offset the fact that the car now wanders all over the road, that every rut takes it off course, and the road noise is much greater.

When it is time to replace my tires again, I think I will go back to 205s.

However, I have never had trouble with either the 205 or the 225 size in the rain. They both stick well enough that I can run the highways at 80 mph in the pouring rain without sliding or hydroplaning - that is as long as they have good tread.

BTW, Both sets are Bridgestone RE-71.

 

narrower tires work better in the same way a sharp knife does, by taking the wieght and directing it at a focused point.

 

Uh, I always thought that the reason wider tires are more dangerous in the rain is because of hydroplaning.

Think about it this way. Water skis are wide, snow boards are wider.

Does anyone strap samuri swords to their feet and then try to water sword?

But to add to what turbonut said, the type of tread and width would mean that you should get the right tires for your application.

I suppose that's why goodyear made the aquatread.

But whatever.

I say wider tires make it easier to hydroplane if you're not paying attention.

 

It has as much to do with the tire tread pattern, as it does with the width, with a tire designed to push water from the centre out, it will outperform a skinnier, tire that doesn't or w isn't designed to push water out..
I have k-104's on my TII, the have water channelling, that the old hankook nexus's did not, even though the k-104's are 275's in the rear, they are superior to the 225's in the wet, just by tread design, also same results when I went to a520's in 225 sizing from 195 all seasons on my n/a, but I know what people are trying to say when wider tires are worse, but really you have to consider the design and purpose of the tire, before making a blanket statement.. Yes on my truck, my 35x12.5 16.5 are worse in the wet than teh original 255's the truck came with, however the larger tires are not siped, nor are they pattered for water pushing..
You can have your dry traction, and your wet handling with wide tires, you just have to pic the right tire..Max

 

lots of good points made here. im not gonna argue tire width as it is far more complicated than narrow is better in rain. the math would probably be impossible to do. and im assuming u dont have access to like 5 different tire sizes of the same tire so that u could try them all out.

anyways, i think its safe to say that u dont want anything wider than 245 in the rain. i mean, the fc is a light little car. but, i can recommend that u get bridgestone potenza so-3's, as someone said earlier. Me and my friends run them on the track, street, and rain. they are absolutely the best all-around tire i have ever tried. on the track, they grip well, last long, and like getting somewhat hot. they do lose some traction when they are too hot, but not much. they also give very predictabel handling in a slide or drift, rather than just letting go like an r-compound tire. on the street, they have an extremely long life, and are rather quiet. in the rain, they are probably the next best thing from a rain tire. with full thread, i dont think u could get them to hydroplane. also, if u live in the states, i believe they are relatively innexpensive compared to tires of their performance. absolutely great tire. give em a shot.

 

execpt simple pyhsics says that surface area has nothing to do with frictional forces only u does

 

Exactly, wider tires will hydroplane better because the weight of the car is distributed over a larger area. Usually this is overcome with the design of the tread. Thats why summer tires have a different looking tread than winter tires....summer tires try and redirect the water to the sides, whereas winter tires try and have as many deep pocketed grooves so that something will penetrate through the snow, and contact the asphalt.

Theres also an issue of pressure here..where, if you're going fast enough, the force of the flow of the water will push the tire up. The advantage of a thinner tire is that it has a higher pressure (force per area), which can overcome more force from the water (hence you being able to go faster in the rain). But, again, a good tread design can also have a significant contribution here.

 

That only works for non-sticky materials (tires are ever so slightly sticky, and moreso when they're warm)

-Manolis

 

And yet wider tires grip better...