Interestingly enough I was out driving on Saturday when it was raining none stop in the Hudson Valley (we must have gotten 7 inches of rain) anyway my car felt absolutely solid in the rain, too solid as a matter of fact. I felt like I was driving the car 75% and the car was in control 25% of the time. To me it seemed that all sorts of electronics was kicking in to wrestle away control from. Dont know if anyone else has experienced this.

 

Yeah, neat stuff until the laws of physics step in and crush your skull against a telephone pole.

 

most interesting is everyone commenting on how well there tires hold up, or not, but only 1 person mentioned the brand and type.. how about what kind of tire you have and whether they are good in the rain or not? that would be more useful.

 

It's easy to tell if the car looses control in wet. Mainly there are 3 reasons:

1. The car acts unpredictible (little wobble, sudden steer change...little stuff, non dangerous most of the time).

2.Hydroplanes:- when the speed is waaaay too high for the conditions (normal wet road). Also very hard to achive.
-when the speed is too high for a small but deep pot. Then the rubber looses contact with the tarmac and water gets infiltrated on the tire overwhelming it.
-and also when the tires are worn out and aquaplaning is very common.

Note also than when hydroplaning try not to step on the brakes as the instinct tells u. Just lift of the throttle and countersteer if necessary. The brakes are quite useless for that tenth's of a second because there is simply too much water on the discs/pads. Also, in the worst case can unbalance the car if only one side of the tires are hydroplaning by flooring the brake pedal.

and 3rd when the road is a bit slippery (maybe oil spots...even leaves that have fallen off the trees can produce unballance if the road is wet and u floor the accelerator). In this case be prepared to lift off and countersteer if dsc is off, if it's on no need to worry.

The last one happend to me many times. Tryed to overtake a car, jumped on the left lane, floored it, and the dsc light constantly showed up keeping me on course but also cutting away some power. Happend also with dsc off, when fish taling in the worst way, had to back off alot and countersteer gently.

BTW sudden loose of grip can be achived also when rollin say at 40-50km/h and pedal to the metal can cause after the kick down , an acceleration full of fish talin. I like it more on dry tarmac. Of course again dsc off.

 

Sorry if i went a little off topic with that last post! I ahev goodyear nct5, and except the awfull ride the tires hold up nicely. They are also quite new 4000km. In the wet more than ok, in dry could have been better (at the limit).

 

two things: tyres and physics...that car is as good as any other in the rain

 

Sorry forgot to mention but I od have dunlops runflats. Of course bald tires mean lousy traction. However, my car has had lousy traction since day one in the rain. my previous cars have been AWD SUV's. Of course I know they would have much better traction but I never realized there would be so much difference between and AWD SUV and my RWD 545...

 

I have the Conti 17" and have never had any problems in the rain, but of course, I do drive at a reason rate of speed in inclement weather. The car handles great, but I also only have 13K on my tires.

 

Now that explians it. No car that is sending 320HP to the rear tires will handle in the rain like an AWD vehicle. The 545 is heavier than the 530 and is very easy to throttle steer in the bestof conditions because of its torque. Change your tires and drive carefully.

 

Dunlop is not good in the rain, my friend have a E46 with Dunlop and he said dry weather is exceptional but rain :thumbsdown:

I currently have Pirelli P7 on mine and is great, but soon changing to Bridgestone with the new rim.