Is it ME, or do the original tires that come with the G('04 5speed auto), feel like they hydro plane very easily. i noticed this shortly after i got the car. It seems to be getting worse, i only have 13K miles on the car! there could be a light rain and i still feel a looseness over the wet pavement. I don't have much confidence, i find myself going less than the speed limit.
Any input would be nice.......

art

 

Ok, do you have a coupe or sedan?

I have the '04 coupe with 18'' factory tire/wheel setup
and about 10k on the car. Not a hint of hydroplane activity.

Heck, I am in Ohio, and didn't even put winter tires on it.
Much easier to drive the G in the snow than my ole '76 Camaro automatic

 

If you have the Pilot Sports you have to remember that they are summer performance tires, not all weather tires.

 

Hydroplaning is when the tire goes through (somewhat) deep standing water and ends up "gliding" over the water instead of cutting through it. It comes from not having sufficient tread depth, or the right tread pattern to move the water away from the tire surface. Slipping on wet roads (without standing water) is more of an issue with the tire compound, which is very different from hydroplaning. A softer tire compound will actually grip better (unless it's below 40-45 degrees out) in the wet than an all season, because it is stickier. However, as your tires age, they tend to get a bit harder and the compound wears out, reducing grip. That's probably a big factor in the reduced grip in the wet. But are you on the all-seasons or the Pilots? Because I'm surprised that you would be losing grip on all seasons after only 13K miles unless you are really driving them hard.

Anyway, a high powered RWD car is also more likely to slip on wet pavement just because you have so much more torque available, and less weight over the rear. This is simply a fact of driving this kind of car.

 

I have the pilot tires, it just feels like i'm loosing the grip on the road, it's like the above post said, the tires are not all season tires.. i wasn't aware of that, it thought that they were...
thanks to all that replied, shed some light!!!

 

I think Sherwooa described it very well. It seems unlikely that what your're feeling is actually hydroplaning, and is rather an issue with tire grip. I have the Pilot Sports as well, and living in Oregon I have the, um, opportunity to drive in the rain on a regular basis. I find the Pilot Sports to be quite predictable in the wet, as long as the temperature isn't below 45 degrees or so.

Another thought -- the Pilot Sports are directional tires, so make sure they're mounted correctly and rotating in the right direction or you might notice a small decrease in wet performance.

 

Isn't this posted somewhere else TOO????

 

By 13,000 miles tires have hardened significantly. Once they get below half tread depth all bets are off.........half worn directionals are out of the optimized range.

Hydroplane speed is a function of inflation pressure, the higher the better as that reduces the area of the contact patch and increases the pounds per square inch of weight on the road. This increases adhesion.

 

My stock 18" Pilots started doing that around 13000 miles in heavy rain. At one trip from New York back to Boston, my coupe was about 20 degrees sideways for appx 5 seconds. (which felt like forever) Thread depth was at around 50%, which was surprising to me. I got new wheels shortly after. My feeling is that overall the Pilot Sport are not very good in the rain, but it is not too shabby for a summer tire.

 

Brand new Pilots are probably as good as it gets comparing equal sizes in equal conditions.

Even Tire Rack [web site] warns about Rain and half worn tires in general.........not as much the tread depth as the compound changes..........the wet braking test [and wet track handling time] from 50 mph [gives you clues] about the prowness of BRAND NEW TIRES.

Half worn used worn out tires are just that.

Maintaining as new WET performance requires new tires [constantly] or at least every 8,000-10,000 miles ................few want to pay for as new WET performance.


"My brand new brand X tires are so much better [and quieter] than my old worn out Brand Y tires" is a constant post theme on web sites........they dont even realize what they are saying yet they type it anway.

99% change tires based on tread depth not measuring the changes in friction [durometer hardness testers]. One good sustained Summer overheat and tires are toast in WET.
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/acc4b.htm
http://www.ioportracing.com/instructions/durometer.htm

The following explains tire aging and worh 50% tires.
http://www.bridgestone-usa.com/technology/unit_aq.asp

http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/pubs/cro...easurement.pdf