[HCS200sx97]

How do low profile tires handle in the rain? I live in Florida, and in a city with terrible drainage on the roads. I have brand name rain tires and i can still hydroplane on bad rainstorms. We have places where 1-2" of rain sit. Any words of wisdom on tire brands and how they handle? Tires are definitely not my strong suite.

 

[LIUSPEED]

with that kind of rain i dont know if any of the tires would be better. but i heard that the Yokohoma Parada and the Falkens are really good in water esp the Yokohoma Parada Spec 2.

 

[Teknokid]

I have Falkens. I have 17" enkei's wrapped in 205-40-17's and they handle good in the rain. But still, dont drive so fast when it rains especially in 1- 2" of rain. Dont want to risk hurting yourself but especially anyone else.

 

[samo]

My 205-width Kumhos handle significantly better than my 175-width Firestones in the rain, and we get some heavy rain here in the PNW.

 

[wickedsr20de]

Well depends on how wide your tires are gonna be and how tall. See the low profile tires will give you better handling and response. In the rain it depends on how wide and what type of tires. Wider is yes better but to a point. Go too wide and it takes longer for the water to escape the treads---especially some high performance directional tires like the Faulkens 502s and the kumhos. they have only one transverse grove which means you have one groove to move water out the back or to shoot out the back. The rest kinda of goes out the sides. I have had the faulken 502s and I notice that because of the larger solid tread blocks on them makes them handle really well in dry weather but in the rain I must admit the GY RSA that came with me se-r handled better. Now I have the kumho tires on and they are great in both dry and wet weather. The smaller tread blocks and the sipes(small cuts) in the tread breaks the surface tension of the water on the road which gives you better traction in the rain. I hope this helps----in my opinion it all depends on the type of tire and how wide it is.

 

[sentrapower93]

I have some Falken ZE-502 tires on my car in a 195/50/15 size, and i must say i'm very happy. They perform really good on both wet & dry roads, i like them. The new Falken ZE-512 tires looks like they are even better in the rain, they have plenty of sipes and much smaller tread blocks...

 

[1CLNB14]

My new Kumho's are much better than my old Falken's in the rain...

 

[samo]

Yeah! Kumhos own yuo!

 

[1CLNB14]

yea. $600.00 later, they sure did own me!

 

[samo]

Dang, I paid $400. Of course, my wheels are a lot smaller ...

 

[1CLNB14]

One more drawback of having 17's , but the judges sure do love em'

 

[john200sx]

I have Yokohama Parada Spec-2's and they handle great... my car used to hydroplane all the time with the stock shitty tires, but now my car got more handles than Iverson....(and less felony charges) HAHAHAHAHAH

 

[LIUSPEED]

lol @ john..

sweet deal that makes me wanna get me some spec 2's =P

 

[john200sx]

I ordered my set of Parada Spec 2's from tirerack and a few days after my tires came, I got a Model Honda Civic in the mail. I usually dont like Hondas but this one was really really nice...
I guess giving me a model car was the least they could do after i spent $597.00 on four rubber bands
btw. my tires are 215/35/18 and the handling difference in my car is incredible, and i didnt notice the loss in acceleration b/c my car has always been slow...

 

[sethwas]

Hey,
I've read that Dunlop SP9000's are the best 'maximum' performance tire for the wet. That's above 'ultra high performance'. (I.e maximum is like factory viper tires or Michelim MXXX3). However they are like $170 a tire. Good luck finding them in a size that will fit.

Seth