Quote:
Originally Posted by JAJ
I agree completely with your comment on compounds and rain. I had a relatively unpleasant trip last weekend to Portland International Raceway (Oregon) and what messed it up was a poor choice of tires for the conditions.
I have to drive 300 miles to get there, so tire choices are tricky. My original plan was to take my new Nitto NT-01's (on a set of 4 OEM 18" rears) with me in the back seat and trunk and drive down on a stock set of 19" PS2's that I'd run on if it rained. Well, my wife (for the first time ever) decided to come along, so I decided to leave the Nitto's behind to make room for luggage. Because I didn't want to run on stock PS2's if the day was dry, I compromised and put on my older set of Bridgestone 265/35 RE-01R's on 9.5" rims. BIG mistake.
I don't know whether it was the heat cycling (two full seasons of 6 outings each on them already) or what, but the tire choice turned the driving experience into a clusterf**k.
First, on the 300 mile drive through Washington State it poured rain the whole way from the US border to Portland, so much that we had to slow down to 40MPH at times. It was Easter Sunday so the road (I5) was packed. I was getting major tramlining and wander from the standing water. White knuckles the whole way.
Monday, track day, dawned overcast and cold. The track was damp and on my first outing I had no grip at all. It was embarrassing - I've spend hours on that track and know my way around, but I couldn't keep up even a little bit.
The second run was better and I got a bit of pace back although I couldn't get back to a normal pace. At the end of the lunch break the sky opened up and we had a torrential downpour. I did one more part-session run through the standing water and then gave up and left for home. I just didn't see the point in spending twenty minutes keeping out of other people's way and trying to avoid an accident on tires I didn't trust.
On the drive home, it rained off and on, then we went through the heaviest hailstorm I've ever seen just south of Tacoma. Finally, north of Seattle, the day warmed up a bit and the road was dry. Suddenly I was driving a different car. Stable, solid and tracked like a charm.
It was a long two days of driving in nasty conditions on tires that don't work at all in the cold and wet. They have about 5/32 tread on them, but they just won't stick. Bridgestone ended RE-01R production recently and they're not available any more - I suspect that my experience is not the only case where the compound hardens up below 40 degrees and handling goes away.
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re01r's are TERRIBLE in the rain. that's the common feedback that most people give, including myself. a few months ago when norcal was getting hammered by rain non-stop, it was just a mess to drive anywhere. major hydroplaning while on the freeway, especially if you hit standing water.
i love the performance in the dry, but once the roads get slick... it's a whole 'nother story.
i have heard that the new nt05's from nitto offer similar dry performance and better wet performance than the re01r's... i'm looking to try them out as my next set of tires.