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Contingencies aside, which tires would make your top 3 list of best rain tires that can also be driven on the street in your opinions?  There are so many new tires out there, opinions might change throughout the season... 

I have an 07 Miata and will need to make my street tires my rain tires as well since I won't have room in the trailer for a dedicated set of rain's.

I ran Kumho SPT's last season on the Mini and used them only once during a heavy down pour at HPT during the Ankeny T&T.  They worked very well in heavy rain, but, I'd like to know opinions of others who have had success on rain tires.

thanks for any input

 

I have an older set of Hoosier radial wets as my street tires right now. Should be great in the wet, not so sure I would recommend them as a street tire, . Some people have done very well on the Kumho SPT, McWho put away the SS guys that were on Hoosier wets at Atwater last year with his AS C4 on the SPT. I had a set of these as my previous street tires, got about 30k miles out of them, I thought they were great.

I am sure there may be better stuff out there. 

 

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Jason Isley
2005-2006-2007-2008 B Stock National Champion

I currently have some Toyo T1Rs but I don't think are nearly as good as my old Goodyear GSD3s...I loved those street tires for the rain.  Not sure about sizes for you though.

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Ted

2004 Z16/Z06 SS

The Eagle F1-GSD3 is probably still the best wet weather street tire made, but the SPT is supposedly a close 2nd.....maybe 3-5 tenths slower.

Problem is the size options for your car. If you're on 16s still, I'd lean toward the 214/40-16 GSD3. If it's 17s, both have good sizes. Also, the SPT is available for about 40% less $$$. :)

The Kumho has the edge because of contingency.

I have a set on my 3 just in case. I plan on buying in pairs. I will rotate the rears to the front when the fronts are toast then put new ones out back. That way I'll have the most tread available if I need it in competition. :)
 

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David Hedderick
Pearland (Houston), TX
01 CRG YZ125 (FOR SALE! $2500)
08 Mazda 3s
02 Mazda Protege (automatic tow vehicle)
92 Miata SE - Fun half-arsed STS2 Car

The Toyo R1R is the best rain tire that I have ever driven on.  They grip crazy good in the cold, and in rain.

I would imagine that they are close as you could get to Hoosier wets, if you are in an ST class.

Just over a week ago, we had a T&T and I drove cars on Bridgestones, Azenis and the Toyos in the damp conditions, and there was a ton more grip on the Toyos.

 

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89/189 STS/STX '89 Civic Si

We also ran that rainy day (and same run group) at Atwater on the Hankook RS-2, I really really like them for rains!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaKjxQj05o0

 

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*Banned Again* Permanently

STS3gCivicSi:

We also ran that rainy day (and same run group) at Atwater on the Hankook RS-2, I really really like them for rains!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaKjxQj05o0

This is the route I'm going for daily driving/rain autocrossing. I've run both SPT's and RS-2's and like both, but only one of those are available in 14". Easy decision for me.

Van

 

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1986 Trueno GT-S (DSP), 1989 Honda Civic Si (HS)
Autocrossing on the cheap.

I'm happy with my Hankooks on the street.  (not fun in the snow though - it is snowing as I type) 

We'll see how they work on the  autox course.  My guess is it won't be the tires holding me back...

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"Most amateur drivers go too fast in slow corners and too slow in fast
corners"
Emerson Fittipaldi

The SPTs were incredible last year at Atwater in a C4, in heavy rain, pooled on concrete.  Most amazing tire I've ever driven in wet!

A few years ago at Fontana (asphalt) Pro, I saw a certain west coast STS driver spank the (normally close) field by a few seconds, and he was only car on SPTs.

I didn't feel the F1 GSD3s on my ZHP were as good as the SPTs, and the GSD3s cost a lot more.

I have the SPT now, excellent rain tire and a couple years ago I missed FTOD by .00? on a set of Yokohama ES100's in standing water with a Subaru Legacy automatic, the only mod was swaybars. I think the SPT has a little higher grip but the ES100 has the best transitional stability of any tire I've ever driven (very stiff sidewalls).

I ran the SPT's during intermediate conditions this past weekend at STL for the MIDIV event #2 with several puddles(some puddles in key areas) but with most areas that were simply wet but with no puddling.  I really liked them in the puddles but was wishing I had a bit more grip on the sweepers/transitions.  I am sure the SPT would be great during downpour conditions but I am now looking for a better intermediate tire.  I ended up running the Hoosier A6 for runs 2 and 3 since it was clear the SPT's were going to be a bit off pace since I suffered a bit in the several sweepers and transition areas where grip was lacking compared to R-comps.  Luckily I was able to simply take the corners with the puddles a bit slower and avoid the puddles in other areas on course.  Then, on the damp area's, I simply pushed the limit as usual since the A6's like damp area's with no puddles.   Maybe a Toyo RA1 or a Kumho V700 full tread would work better for intermediate conditions where there are several puddles in key areas on course?   I realize, it may take years to get the correct conditions to test which tire is best in certain situations.  ;-)

OasisTan:

I ran the SPT's during intermediate conditions this past weekend at STL for the MIDIV event #2 with several puddles(some puddles in key areas) but with most areas that were simply wet but with no puddling.  I really liked them in the puddles but was wishing I had a bit more grip on the sweepers/transitions.  I am sure the SPT would be great during downpour conditions but I am now looking for a better intermediate tire.  I ended up running the Hoosier A6 for runs 2 and 3 since it was clear the SPT's were going to be a bit off pace since I suffered a bit in the several sweepers and transition areas where grip was lacking compared to R-comps.  Luckily I was able to simply take the corners with the puddles a bit slower and avoid the puddles in other areas on course.  Then, on the damp area's, I simply pushed the limit as usual since the A6's like damp area's with no puddles.   Maybe a Toyo RA1 or a Kumho V700 full tread would work better for intermediate conditions where there are several puddles in key areas on course?   I realize, it may take years to get the correct conditions to test which tire is best in certain situations.  ;-)

Craig, it appears you've found an answer that you like on this point.  For your reference however, you might be interested in this data - http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2197477&postcount=28 .

Cheers,

Charlie

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Charlie Thompson
'04 JCW Cooper [STX]
NER Cannon Fodder

OasisTan:

I ran the SPT's during intermediate conditions this past weekend at STL for the MIDIV event #2 with several puddles(some puddles in key areas) but with most areas that were simply wet but with no puddling.  I really liked them in the puddles but was wishing I had a bit more grip on the sweepers/transitions.  I am sure the SPT would be great during downpour conditions but I am now looking for a better intermediate tire.  I ended up running the Hoosier A6 for runs 2 and 3 since it was clear the SPT's were going to be a bit off pace since I suffered a bit in the several sweepers and transition areas where grip was lacking compared to R-comps.  Luckily I was able to simply take the corners with the puddles a bit slower and avoid the puddles in other areas on course.  Then, on the damp area's, I simply pushed the limit as usual since the A6's like damp area's with no puddles.   Maybe a Toyo RA1 or a Kumho V700 full tread would work better for intermediate conditions where there are several puddles in key areas on course?   I realize, it may take years to get the correct conditions to test which tire is best in certain situations.  ;-)

The V700's are some of the best.  I think the old Victo's were the best, but the newer Ecsta's are decent too.  Remember when Tim and I had the fastest wet times in CS in '05?  We were both on the Ecsta's.  The only time a street tire like the SPT's will be faster is in a downpour, but how often does that happen for all 3 runs?

The downside is if you're actually going to drive these on the street, both V700's only have about 3/32nd's of full tread.  As they wear down they turn in to a 2 grooved slick.

Dave G.
 

It was raining and cold at a fairly recent local event.  One of my competitors was on Hankook Ventus R-S2's while I was still on my A6's.  I was greatly impressed with his results as we were neck and neck.... especially with him being so new at autocrossing... That is up until my last run where the surface dried up enough to have some kinda traction... then I pulled pretty far away from him. 

With this being said... if I were on Z214' C71s and going for Hankook's contengency, I would not hesitate putting on R-S2's for the rain, and daily driving.

-Dave

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best intermediate tire is a Hoosier Wet radial shaved to half depth

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"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you." --Anonymous

TeamRX8:

best intermediate tire is a Hoosier Wet radial shaved to half depth

 

How do they hold up as a street tire though? If you continued to run them as a street tire in the dry wouldn't they heat cycle out?

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www.jjsons.com

I said best, not cheapest

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"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you." --Anonymous

the Kumho V700 Yechsta makes an excellent street tire, just remembered I put almost 20k on a set many years ago and they didn't seem to wear much

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"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you." --Anonymous