wet weather tyres

[Luegonigel]

hi, I did a quick search of tyre postings and found most to be pretty old, not sure whether that is to do with moving to the new site or not. Is there a way of sorting searched postings by date?

The real question is, what is the current view of the best wet/dry tyre?

I spoke to Demon Tweeks this morning and they said Toyo T1R. Any other views?

I have Sigma 150, as a result of a fence pulling out on me in my old car in the damp, and live in Scotland hence the bias towards the wet performance. I also spent an unhappy Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago aqua planing down the side of Loch Ness with my current CR500s......stayed on the black stuff fortunately?

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Recent discussion in this thread. Jonathan

[Golf Juliet Tango]

I use T1R on the 21 and they behave perfectly well in the rain. They don't seem to wear, iirc they have been on the car for three years and there is lots of tread left.

I am probably wrong but I expect tyres with better grip to wear faster.

[SM25T]

T1R for me too. Great in the wet.

[6speedmanual]

Aquaplaning with CR500...? Either very worn tread or just going too fast!. T1R clears water well but lack grip on damp surfaces. Make for uncertainty whe trying to be spot-on with braking. R1R might be better on a 7. Depending what size wheels you have you could also get something biased much more in wet direction such as Avon CR28 or Uniroyal Rainexpert. Peter

[Luegonigel]

Maybe I should have quantified the weather by quoting a Hsig (significant wave height) for the amount of water on the road.

[6speedmanual]

I have had CR28 aquaplane too if hitting deeper puddles. In a recent trip to Scotland we had a MAJOR downpour. ZZR shod 7 (other end of spectrum regarding rain) had no trouble staying with M3, Megane Cup and 7 on CR500. Eventually it is very much down to driver and adjusting to the conditions. If I lived in Scotland I'd probably run CR28 my tyre of choice for Springtime excursions North. Peter

[MacP]

Another suggestion.
http://www.uniroyal-tyres.com/www/uniroyal_tires_de_en/themes/summertires/fd_rainsport-3/rainsport-3.html

I had Rainsport 2s on a Clio and they were superb in the wet, and generally similar in character to the T1R.  Rainsport 3s are supposed to be marginally better in the wet but better in the dry.

Like GJT I have T1Rs on my 21 and I also have them on my 3.5 litre Alfetta GTV6.  They tend to come mid-table in tests but they are very progressive and tuned Alfa 75 TS on 185/55R14s generating up to 1.3g at Nurburgring (anecdotally) suggests they have adequate grip.  http://www.alfagtv6.com/discus/messages/114/3575.html?1097842262

Reviews of the Rainsport 3 here:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Uniroyal/Rainsport-3.htm

Wet grip looks very good.  You have to adjust for comments from people driving Audi and BMW diesel HGVs complaining about soft sidewalls.

[Mankee]

I'm going to be trying some of those Rainsport 3s on my Octavia vRS after reading the reviews and seeing their low price. However, as it uses hooj 225/45R17s compared to relatively small Caterham-sized tyres and weighs nearly three times as much, it might be an entirely different kettle of fish trying when comparing the two.

[Shaun_E]

In a 7 you can aquaplane on the best wet weather tyres - the car is too light. CR500 would get my vote for pure road use with Yokohama AO21R coming second (if wet weather is the overriding factor) - I've tried most "R" tyres over the years.

That said I drove to L2B on Sunday in torrential rain/standing water on a set of knackered hillclimb spec Kumho V70As and it didn't spit me off (although the M3 was a bit sketchy at times).

CR28s are one of the few tyres I havn't tried but, by all accounts, they give a pretty "old school" driving experience when it isn't bucketing it down. Some roadgoing class hilllcimbers I know fit them for standing water but if it's merely wet then Kumho V70A/Avon ZZR go back on.

I really can't see how tyres designed for a 1500kg car are going to work well on a 500kg 7 so wouldn't fancy trying any of the mainstream car tyres.

[MacP]

The weight a tyre is designed to take is reflected in its load rating.

With the exception of the ultra light CR500 all of the tyres you mention are similar, with 80 or 82 load ratings.  While designed for heavier cars than a 7 they're not intended for 1.5 ton cars either.  Only the CR500 was specifically designed for the 7.  Kumho V70s aren't especially light either.

See below:

A021R: 185/60R14 82H  and 185/60R13 80H (not wet rated and will cease being available for road use)

V70A: 185/55R14 80V E rated (7.8 kg)

CR28: 185/60R14 82H

Rainsport 3: 185/55R14 80V and 195/55R15 82V and 195/50R15 82V A rated

T1R: 185/55R14 82V (7.3 kg) and 195/50R15 82V E rated and 185/55R15 82V C rated (7.3 kg)

It would be interesting to see a proper side by side test using a 7.  But the Rainsport 3's measured wet grip is higher than the others.

[David aka Blue7]

>>Luegonigel said: Maybe I should have quantified the weather by quoting a Hsig (significant wave height) for the amount of water on the road.

Nigel, your problem was that you probably didn't have surficient tread depth  

I suggest you fit Dunlop Puroforts here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dunlop-Purofort-Thermo-Safety-Wellies-Welly-Wellington-Boots-Insulated-5-12-/160791034834

and then you can give it as much welly as you like

Seriously, I suggest you swap your CR500's for water skis and if you do stray off the road then you can always go Monster hunting on Loch Ness

[cj247]

I have Toyo TR1 Rs on the 7 having used them on an Impreza. Good balance between grip (both dry & wet) & wear

[elie boone]

I run CR28 Sport tyres for road use and they performed perfect in last Sunday's very wet drive home.