Looking for summer tire recommendations

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

As for the rain, I don't know why this continues to be a topic of discussion, if it's raining so hard you are losing grip the appropriate course of action is to SLOW DOWN and drive to the conditions.

We never had problems doing track days on RComps in the rain and wet. But obviously the lap times weren't as fast.

I think wet weather use is a fair concern for a street driven vehicle. It's easy enough to say, "Just slow down," but when you find yourself in a sudden torrential downpour on the highway, and are surrounded by trucks that don't need to be concerned about hydroplaning, and are flying past you at 80 MPH, slowing down to 50 is a great way to die... as is pulling onto the shoulder.

I, for one, have yet to experience a 200TW tire that could offer anything close to the kind of wet weather traction (especially through deeper sheeting water) that I get from my Pilot Sport 4S. I simply have no interest in tossing 200TW tires onto a vehicle I am going to drive in all sorts of conditions on public roads - specifically because I don't want to worry about how they'll deal with an unexpected encounter with that annoying wet stuff.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

I think wet weather use is a fair concern for a street driven vehicle. It's easy enough to say, "Just slow down," but when you find yourself in a sudden torrential downpour on the highway, and are surrounded by trucks that don't need to be concerned about hydroplaning, and are flying past you at 80 MPH, slowing down to 50 is a great way to die... as is pulling onto the shoulder.

I, for one, have yet to experience a 200TW tire that could offer anything close to the kind of wet weather traction (especially through deeper sheeting water) that I get from my Pilot Sport 4S. I simply have no interest in tossing 200TW tires onto a vehicle I am going to drive in all sorts of conditions on public roads - specifically because I don't want to worry about how they'll deal with an unexpected encounter with that annoying wet stuff.

Having been caught in an Illinois rainstorm in August at a White vs Red Sox game where puddles were over a foot deep by the time I got to the car, I understand where you're coming from.

Given my local climate a 200TW tire will outperform PS4S or ECS 99.999% of the time here. The 0.001% is the singular deep puddle I might hit during a rainstorm 2-3x per year, and I can usually avoid it by changing lanes and driving slower solves the hydroplaning 'out of control' issue. It all varies.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Having been caught in an Illinois rainstorm in August at a White vs Red Sox game where puddles were over a foot deep by the time I got to the car, I understand where you're coming from.

Given my local climate a 200TW tire will outperform PS4S or ECS 99.999% of the time here. The 0.001% is the singular deep puddle I might hit during a rainstorm 2-3x per year, and I can usually avoid it by changing lanes and driving slower solves the hydroplaning 'out of control' issue. It all varies.

Definitely nice to live in such a dry climate. I live in IL, so I don't have the luxury of being able to more or less ignore wet performance, lol. Here we switch from 200TW to PS4S for autocross if it's a particularly rainy day, as the PS4S will actually allow you to complete an autocross run without taking out entire walls of cones, lol.

[foshjowler]

The worst tire I've driven in the rain were the Rival S1.5. Those were straight up terrifying. They're known to be so, but I didn't expect it as bad is it was. Got caught out in a quick rainstorm a couple of times and was doing 35 mph on the highway when everyone else was able to do 65-70. Any more and the car was floating.

That was not my experience with other 200 tw tires. I've owned 5 different 200 tw tires and the others have all been fine in the wet. At full tread depth they're acceptable at hydroplaning resistance, I find myself with more confidence on them than the stock Primacys in the wet. As long as you keep in mind that they are not the best and stick to the speed of traffic, they're fine. In damp conditions, they seem to offer more grip than the max summer tires I've owned.

[alex87f]

I recently switched to Goodyear Eagle F1s, which you may or may not also consider.

They're a more comfortable tyre, a bit quieter than the Primacies, with higher grip levels and good tread life. I found them to make the car a tad numb around dead center, especially at higher speeds (and being that there's a german Autobahn 10 miles from home, that matters somewhat).

Good grip though, and not too expensive. Lighter than the Primacies, too. But I miss the stock ability to feel the car move around at reasonable speeds.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

I think wet weather use is a fair concern for a street driven vehicle. It's easy enough to say, "Just slow down," but when you find yourself in a sudden torrential downpour on the highway, and are surrounded by trucks that don't need to be concerned about hydroplaning, and are flying past you at 80 MPH, slowing down to 50 is a great way to die... as is pulling onto the shoulder.

I, for one, have yet to experience a 200TW tire that could offer anything close to the kind of wet weather traction (especially through deeper sheeting water) that I get from my Pilot Sport 4S. I simply have no interest in tossing 200TW tires onto a vehicle I am going to drive in all sorts of conditions on public roads - specifically because I don't want to worry about how they'll deal with an unexpected encounter with that annoying wet stuff.

Conti ECS's aren't a 200TW tire. They are 340TW with excellent wet weather reviews.

You're being incredibly hyperbolic.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Conti ECS's aren't a 200TW tire. They are 340TW with excellent wet weather reviews.

You're being incredibly hyperbolic.

I never said the Conti ECS was a 200TW tire. I should have omitted your first sentence from my quote. I had no issue with that recommendation.

Really, I only took issue with this part of your response:

As for the rain, I don't know why this continues to be a topic of discussion, if it's raining so hard you are losing grip the appropriate course of action is to SLOW DOWN and drive to the conditions.

OP in this thread was asking about a daily tire. The blanket response of, "If rain is an issue, just slow down," is a rather ignorant statement to make to someone who is actually being smart and considering ALL of their potential use cases. It's a LOT easier to deal with poor weather conditions on a race track than it is on public roads. My statements about wet weather use aren't hyperbolic in ANY way.

I have quite literally, been in the exact situation I described. I-81 in the mountains of Virginia, a 2-lane highway with narrow shoulders, a sudden absolutely TORRENTIAL downpour out of nowhere, but surrounded by trucks that were literally still doing 70+ MPH. It was genuinely butt-clenching, and of course there were several miles with no exit. I have never been as impressed with a tire as I was with what, at the time I think were Pilot Super Sports, doing their utmost to deal with the deluge of water running across the road until I made it to the next exit, where I actually DID pull over to get gas before I wound up in the guardrail.

Also, I've autocrossed back-to-back at the same, extremely wet event in a vehicle with A052s (my dumb-ass who was too lazy to swap tires), and a vehicle with MPSS (a similarly-classed Miata), and the difference was that the steering wheel in the Miata actually did things anywhere where there was standing water, whereas mine was useless around half the course. So yes, you certainly can do track days on RComps, as you stated, in the rain. Similarly, there are people who insist that they've driven through snow storms on summer tires without issue. That doesn't mean, "Just slow down and summer tires are fine in the snow," is an intelligent statement to make.

TL;DR "SLOW DOWN" is definitely good advice in the wet, but simply slowing down still won't fix the fact that some tires are arguably not nearly as well-suited for a vehicle that may be driven in inclement weather on public roads with any regularity.

[ZDan]

Originally Posted by alex87f

I recently switched to Goodyear Eagle F1s, which you may or may not also consider.

There's a *wide* range of different Goodyear Eagle F1 tires, ranging from 500tw all-seasons to 100tw track tires. Which ones are you on?

[alex87f]

Asymmetric 3s

[CedN]

Originally Posted by alex87f

Asymmetric 3s

I have those on my car, works well on the roads, but Sidewalls are very soft for track driving, though they hold up surprisingly well there. Ive been looking at assymetric 6 as a replacement all round tyre, seems like a much much better tyre, the 3s are a Pretty old design by now.

[alex87f]

Originally Posted by CedN

I have those on my car, works well on the roads, but Sidewalls are very soft for track driving, though they hold up surprisingly well there. Ive been looking at assymetric 6 as a replacement all round tyre, seems like a much much better tyre, the 3s are a Pretty old design by now.

It must depend on the load rating as well. Mine are 87s, being the lightest ones, but 91s may have a stiffer sidewall.

I went with 3s as the 5s didn't have such great reviews and the 6s weren't out yet.

[CedN]

Originally Posted by alex87f

It must depend on the load rating as well. Mine are 87s, being the lightest ones, but 91s may have a stiffer sidewall.

I went with 3s as the 5s didn't have such great reviews and the 6s weren't out yet.

I have the 91s, they have wear marks on the side wall half way down to the rim edge, though thats from very hard track driving. If they would ever die it would be nice so I finally could change tyres , the 6s have had some.stellar reviews.