I have been thinking about this for a while now and have searched around, but haven't really found a solid answer. Many of you know that I live in Florida - as we should all know Florida gets a lot of rain during the summer time. I have found that the G coupe just doesn't seem to like the rain very much and seems very unstable and very prone to hydroplaning.

I was just wondering for some of the guys on here that race...what allows a car to excel in rainy conditions? Would you want a stiff or soft suspension set up, less or more camber...things like that. I know tires obviously have a huge roll in wet performance as well as weight, but most race cars are pretty damn light and can fly through the rain.

Any information would be awesome!

-Sean

 

Tires are the single most important thing. If they can't channel the water out then it won't matter what kind of car it is, it'll hydroplane. skiny tires in general are also better in the wet, the narrower contact patch allows more pressure so the tire has better contact with the ground and will cut through the water. A fat tire will have less surface pressure for the same vehicle and will tend to skim on top of the water.

Other then that, a good balance front to rear is important. Think of a pickup truck with an empty bed, in the rain those things a scary.

 

Not really actually - i have a gmc sierra extended cab and the thing will plow through the rain - im pretty sure due to the heavy weight. Cornering ability in the rain is a different story though it will go sideways faster than you can think. As for interstate driving the thing is great compared to the G. The G seems to want to hydroplan hardcore as soon as i get above 60.

-Sean

 

that's what I was talking about, taking a turn in a truck on a wet road is scary, you really need to be easy on the throttle. Even going straight from a standstill, if you punch it in a truck it'll break the tires loose.

What are the condition of your tires? In my G rain doesn't seem to affect it's handling at all. I can nail a puddle of water that will create a spash big enough to douse someones windshield and it'll stay straight as an arrow and not pull to one side. I'm running BFG KDW NT tires and they seem to be excellent in the wet.

 

I have 3 day old toyo T1R - 285/30/19 Rear & 245/35/19 front

They seem fine so far, but i haven't had a chance to really drive any faster than 30mph in the rain yet.

-Sean

 

The T1-S were a better tire. Too bad they don't make them anymore. I'm running Goodyear F1's and they have almost the dry stick as the Toyo's. I haven't driven them in the rain yet.

 

That's weird you're having that problem with the G Sean. My sedan does great in rain on the freeway. I've had all kinds of tire's on it, from S0-3's to RE960's, they all drive great and i dont even think about hydroplaning, even going 85.
-GP-

 

the T1-S' were really good tires, but lost a lot of performance as they ware down... the T1-R's performance almost the same through out the entire length of the tread.. it cuts the tires longevity but gives better over-all performance imo..

but as for rain traction... we're running summer performance tires, specially designed for sports car running on dry roads... even though they can performance well in the rain its not really what they're for.. i'd say the higher end tires such as the Bridgestone pole-positions, Michelin PS2, and the Pirelli P-Zero's are better at displacing water and providing a better over all performance in adverse weather conditions

 

I had my oem tires so worn down, you couldn't even tell they were street tires.

THAT was pretty fun to drive in the rain. And by "fun", I mean, it was raining in my pants fun. That thing used to skip from puddle to puddle like a homeless hippy singing sinatra.

 

there is only one explanation to all this, and i am NOT joking.
GOODYEAR EAGLE F1 DSG3 tires.

 

2nd that, my Goodyear F1 DS-G3's are excellent in the wet, and quiet and sticky in the dry and have given my pretty good mileage too.

 

If you're still on stock tires, then there is your problem.

 

I have them on my OEM 17s and use them for long distance driving. I can not tell the difference between them and my toyos.

-Sean

 

Tires, as every one else said, tall and narrow, better wet handling was one of the reasons given in the infiniti propaganda for the stock tire size on the G. i've yet to hydroplane in the g, even with stock tires with 35000km on them, and we've had some heavy rain and lots of standing water. running massively wide tires creates a much broader wave front to lift the car, giving more area for the water to push on, and effectively more leverage, making it easier to hydro plane. you need aggressively designed tread patterns to reduce the cushion of water and to evacuate it from the front of the tire.


(i used to build tires, and needed to learn pretty much everything about tire safety and how construction affected different performance aspects of the tire)

 

in the wet u can not tell the difference? That is wierd because when i replaced the stock bridgestones RE50As on the coupe 19s with my OEM 17 tha had new DSG3s, it was a night and day difference in the rain. The initial grip on dry is the same as the RE50As but when ripping the canyons for 30 minutes strait RE50A tires dont become too soft like the goodyears do.