driving in rain....WOW

[icemang17]

Drove in the rain for the 1st time today...... ummm

Talk about fun.....the balance is amazing....I never experienced it even when I drove on the track...you really need the complete loss of grip to understand how well balanced this car is....

The other thing I REALLY noticed is the traction control.......when driving in the dry even when you try to get sideways, it gives you plenty of leeway so you can catch it....but in the rain it catches it for you......very interesting sensation for a racer like me.... Its hard to explain, but I pitch it in a corner on full traction control, the tail starts to come around.....I pitch the wheel to correct it & right when I do the tail comes back and I end up wobbling all over the road like a fool.....very interesting system....as I have said before its worlds better than my C6 Z06 or E92 M3 ever had....those systems "worked" but not nearly as fast as the FRS....even in sport mode....

I might have to drive my FRS on track in the rain to really get an idea of its true balance....most race cars (mine included) are so biased to the dry that it makes racing in the rain interesting, since you are driving SO much slower your aero is doing SQUAT....

[SkullWorks]

This is the second rain for me and my BRZ and i thought it was interesting that the RS-3's actually improved??? the wet handling....WTF??? I could slide the car readily (i have no TC on the car since it is on AEM at the moment) but it was no where near as slippery as the stock tires WITH traction control on...


As you said, balance is amazing, and the traction control dials everything back in quite nicely, I was just astonished how slippery it wasn't since i upgraded to real tires

(real tires in my world have very little to do with being a dry/wet tire or all season obviously....i keep that stuff on the truck or the Wagon)

[MmmHamSandwich]

Originally Posted by SkullWorks

This is the second rain for me and my BRZ and i thought it was interesting that the RS-3's actually improved??? the wet handling....WTF???

This is a common misconception that personally drives me nuts.

In warm wet weather and ample tread life, summer tires will outperform all seasons handily.

[raul]

@Guff is a very appreciative person.

[travace]

its the month to be thankful

[wheelhaus]

Originally Posted by SkullWorks

This is the second rain for me and my BRZ and i thought it was interesting that the RS-3's actually improved??? the wet handling....WTF???

A tire's wet traction is greatly affected by two factors, tread pattern and compound. Standing water requires a pattern that physically pumps the water away from the contact patch. This is really only to prevent hydroplaning and keep the tire in contact with the road... The actual grip however, comes from the sciency compound mixture of the rubber. You can still get pretty surprising grip from wet roads if the tire compound has good chemical grip to wet surfaces. Motorcycle tires have made huge leaps in wet traction over just the last few years. Race tires are much much more sensetive to temperature, and wet surfaces can over-cool them. F1 for example, the rain tires will melt down and fall apart if they don't stay wet; you'll see drivers hunting for wet patches off the line if the track starts to dry up just to keep the tires at proper temp.

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by MmmHamSandwich

This is a common misconception that personally drives me nuts.

In warm wet weather and ample tread life, summer tires will outperform all seasons handily.

My dad was a Goodyear engineer and this drove him nuts too, always taking the opportunity to educate people, lol.

Originally Posted by wheelhaus

A tire's wet traction is greatly affected by two factors, tread pattern and compound.

Could not have said it better myself. Truth is, "all-season" tires are named so because they are a compromise, able to work in all 4 seasons (ie spring/fall showers, summer heat, winter snow). "Summer" tires, or more appropriately "3-season" tires, are optimized for grip in summer and wet conditions, with a harder compound and thread pattern appropriate for water dispersion.

Here's a good article I usually refer to in other threads: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...summer-9647443

[wheelhaus]

Originally Posted by BigFatFlip

Could not have said it better myself. Truth is, "all-season" tires are named so because they are a compromise, able to work in all 4 seasons (ie spring/fall showers, summer heat, winter snow). "Summer" tires, or more appropriately "3-season" tires, are optimized for grip in summer and wet conditions, with a harder compound and thread pattern appropriate for water dispersion.

Here's a good article I usually refer to in other threads: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...summer-9647443

Great article, sums it up pretty well!

[Texas BRZ]

I absolutely love when the rain is pouring on any track day I attend... So challenging and frustrating... That the reward and feeling of appreciation afterwards is so great from the learning experience to be gained.

I'll never, ever hesitate to sign-up for a rainy track day... Beautiful feeling for me and my sports car.

And yes, traction control is always fully off for me when I'm at the track, no matter what the weather displays.

[celica73]

Rain driving is fun. Easy on the equipment (assuming it's water tight) and really separates the men from the boys. My old '73 Celica with a welded diff was all kinds of fun in the wet. Just touch the gas and it was sideways.