Better in the wet?

[Moosehead]

Assuming a full wet race, which would be better, an R rated tyre such as Yoko A048R or a 'road' tyre with full water drainage grooves?

[AU N EGL]

Unless your using a Rain R compound, park it. slicks dont have or even normal street tires dont hav enough grip for racing in the wet, lety alone any grip.

[GORDON STREETER]

Depending what you're allowed. 48s are not too bad when new, but I would doubt if they are as good as a decent road tyre in the wet. If you can afford them (and if they are allowed) buy some proper racing wets as the difference is unbelievable. AS LONG AS IT KEEPS RAINING !

[KAM]

I used to trackday a 205 with the ao48's at coombe and it was very well behaved in reasonably heavy rain and some standing water, certainly better than road tyres on that car at least. I think it is a case of on some cars it will work and others it wont..

[dtype38]

Originally Posted by Moosehead

Assuming a full wet race, which would be better, an R rated tyre such as Yoko A048R or a 'road' tyre with full water drainage grooves?

I picked out a set of deep groove road tyres for "full wet" racing and carried them around as backup to my Yoko A032Rs for two years. The only two times it actually got too wet for the 32s, the organisers closed the track until some of the water had drained away. I sold them unused. Moral - just pick a good track day tyre.

[AU N EGL]

Some times the best wet tire are trailer tires. If its raining that hard, and it is not the National Championships, it may not be worth going out so put the car on the trailer.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by AU N EGL

Some times the best wet tire are trailer tires. If its raining that hard, and it is not the National Championships, it may not be worth going out so put the car on the trailer.

Yes but unlike America we do go out in the wet, otherwise we may never race.

[Moosehead]

Originally Posted by falcemob

Yes but unlike America we do go out in the wet, otherwise we may never race.

Haha, I was gonna say something familiar after the first reply

Think I'll go for the cheap option then......................stick with what I've got and make do

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by falcemob

Yes but unlike America we do go out in the wet, otherwise we may never race.

phew. I deserved that one. :lol:

What tires do you use then?

[terence]

Originally Posted by AU N EGL

phew. I deserved that one. :lol:

What tires do you use then?

Its OK,its a well known fact that at some stage of our season,we will get a wet race,where-as over where you are,rain is not so much a problem.
Moral of the story?We HAVE to,you dont!

[Tim Falce]

I just use my dry tyres, Yoko 032s (quite scary) or Toyo888s. Last year I did do a practice session in another car on a set of Avon single seater wet tyres and I couldn't beleive how grippy they were, I have never been out on proper wet weather tyres before so it was a pleasant surpirse. I just need to find a set to fit my car.

[terence]

You can get Avon ZZs to fit your rims Falcie,they dont look much but the DO work.

[Tim Falce]

Aren't they just ordinary car tyres?

[terence]

Originally Posted by falcemob

Aren't they just ordinary car tyres?

Not really,they first became "The Tyre" with the rally boys,they are totally legal on the road and you can also get the Sport version ,which is for wet use but they are still excellent in dry use. Not so much of a problem should a wet race dry out.

[dtype38]

In an amazing coincidence falcy, the full wet set I had were Avon ZZRs on D-type rims! Shame they didn't fit your car, or you could have carried them round for a couple of years without using them just like I did :-))

[Al Weyman]

You are stuffed for choice when you are running a control tyre, either a new one for the wet or a worn one for the dry thats it, or pull off as I must confess I have done before and will do again if conditions bad enough and I am not enjoying it out there. Of course if I did not have to pay for and repair the car myself if I damaged it I may be more brave.

Actually on this subject I think when we are obliged to run a certain one make tyre in a championship like I am (Historic Dunlops in one and Toyo 888's which I have yet to try in the other) the manufacture should avail a wet version to us as well or we should be able to run one from an alternate manufacturer to a compound and pattern of our choice provided the race was declared a wet one by the stewards.

[terence]

As for the Dunlop Histos,there is nothing wrong with them in the wet,just blow them up a few extra pounds,if there are mandatory for the series,it is the same for everyone.

[Al Weyman]

I know its the same for everyone Terry only thing is everyone goes off or goes so slow tippy toeing around its boring and certainly is no fun. I was out at Combe last year on the Dunlops in the wet along with Dave Howard in an XJ12 and Pete in the fast Camaro and we all had to tippy toe around in qually as one touch slightly too much on the throttle even in top gear in a straight line and you was off and were actually beaten by some not so quick Mini's, come the race it was dry and it was pandamonium (spelling??) on the first lap with us all closing down the Minis by the first corner and me nearly taking two of them out! I think if we had the choice of a wet cover it would have been less fraught.

BTW thats an interesting observation to blow them up, I thought conventional thinking was to let them down to let the side walls flex and get more heat into the tyre, is that genuinely what you do or a red herring?

[Chris Y]

The other school of thought Al, is that by increasing the pressure, it 'separates' the treads, allowing them to flow more water through the tread patterns.

Don't know how well that works either, but at a track on a wet day, you'll find people doing one or the other, each swearing by their technique

[CNHSS1]

think it really depends on the tyres construction, especailly sidewall stiffness. on some tyres a couple of pounds lower makes the whole tyre a bit more compliant, hence more mechanical grip from the tyre, but most performance/race tyres if you drop the pressures you lose the tread surface shape and end up running on the shoulders of the tyre not the full tread width. putting a bit more pressure in 'cold' just brings the tyre shape to where it would be in the dry after a couple of laps anyway.

[greenamex2]

I did a 'test' at Brands and was luck enough to check tyres in wet conditions back to back.

New full depth Toyo T1's were 1.7s a lap quicker than buffed down 6 race old Toyo T1's.

In the last year of Mod Prods we had peope running on both Toyo T1-R's and R888's and until there was standing water there wasn't a lot between them. When there was standing water the T1-R's were a lot safer and quicker.

I now race in the wet of HARD compound full wet's, set the same time as Toyo T1-R's in the dry and have a fantastic enjoyable race. I have even done a mixed wet/dry race on them on they are still OK if you are sensible.

It was the choice of full wets that made me decide to move away from road based tyres.

Not looking forward to my first 'caught out on slicks in the wet' race though!

[terence]

Al,Its not a red herring,its something I've always done,it does ,as has been said,keep the tread open. It does seem odd but I promise it works,also seems to heat the tyres quicker as well.

Falcie,one thing I should have mentioned about the Avons,especialy on a car like yours,is that if they are not mounted correctly they can chunk the treads.The trick is the the marking on the sidewalls on[I think]the left hand side of the car ,should be mounted facing inwards. It sound absolute b-------s but it is true.

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

BTW thats an interesting observation to blow them up, I thought conventional thinking was to let them down to let the side walls flex and get more heat into the tyre, is that genuinely what you do or a red herring?

Al for a big arz muscle car let the tire pressure out. You put more air in you will sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidddddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeee all over the place. Tread is to remove water and you still want the rubber on the pavement.

Different width tires respond well differently to air pressure. Plus your cars wt and HP.

Not sure what size tires you run, or your normal air pressures are. or even if you measure in atms or psi? May want to go to that tire ( Dunlap ) and look for their recommendations. Or send them an email to ask.

[JohnD]

If it's just wet, stick to Yoko48's.
If it's POURING, the road tyres will be better.
Just my experience.

John

[Moosehead]

Right then, that seems to have answered my question.......................

Next wet meeting I'll put extra pressure in to open up the treads, so the sidewall can run on the shoulder (having made sure its on the inside on the left) (is that for clockwise tracks, if so do I put them on the right for anti-clockwise tracks?)......................however it might be wise to change to another tyre having first made sure whether there is standing water or not and then lower the pressure to give more mechanical grip.....................
.............or, I'll move to the US where they don't race in
the wet