Suggestions for 'wet' tyres, please

[JohnD]

I think I can afford another set of wheels and some 'wet' tyres, for my Triumph racing. I've used road tyres for wets and last year, new, in a downpour, they gave me confidence. But after a year and about 2K miles of general road use, the same tyres were almost lethal on a damp Silverstone track. Car the same, except for new stiffer front springs and new shockers (set soft), but the back end was all over the place.

I normally use medium soft Yoko A045s for dry racing, and those were much much better on the same, damp track later that day.

Advice please?

John

[GORDON STREETER]

The old saying "if its wet soft is best" that includes tyres springs and shocks.
even disconnect anti roll bars (if you can ) This is all well and good if the conditions don't alter . If they are allowed ,buy the best "proper" wet tyres you can as the advantage is amazing. Racing in the serious rain isn't a joy and is dangerous if you can't see where you're going, so anything to get you ahead of the car in front spraying up water is a bonus. If possible try and get some wet practice in , a track day is good value and you can play around with settings to your hearts content. Or buy a Mini !!!!

[Al Weyman]

Silverstone can be a mare in the wet what ever you are on. We were there the other week and just one corner was wet but man was it slippery, everyone was going off or spinning. I dont think it drains particularly well either.

[terence]

Yokohama do the AO21s,but they need to be wet constantly,Avon ZZs are fantastic in the wet and dry.

[AU N EGL]

Any WET tire will loose its grip if used on dry or damp pavement too much.

Unshaven Toyo RA1s make good wet tires I hear. I use Hooser Rain ( Wet ) tires.

[MGDavid]

what series do you race in - surely you are limited in some way by series regulations, what choice do you have? hard to give specific advice without the info....

[zefarelly]

Dunlop CR65's wet or dry, marvellous!!!!!!

Soft is definitely best . . . Brands in May, torrential rain and I was 6 second a lap quicker on full soft dampers in the race than I was on halfway settings, same tyres with 2 psi less, in the wet for practice, that was worth 10 places to me

[Chris Y]

Yoko A539 unscrubbed also have plenty of tread and are soft.

[JohnD]

Thanks, guys!
All suggestions gratefully received.
Watch out for me next time it rains!

John

[Jeff 8]

I used to use old wets and hesitated buying new ones as I thought they would get hard if I went two years without a wet race. I finally bit the bullet and bought new wets, and the difference was phenomenal, we would have won the first wet race if I knew how hard I could push.

I keep my wets wrapped in cling wrap in black plastic covers and do not leave them in my trailer but store them in a cool dry place. Three years later they are ok but not like new anymore unfortunately.

Jeff

[dtype38]

I bought a set of full wets and took them round the country to race meetings for two years before eventually there was a meeting wet enough to consider using them instead of my usual Yoko 032s. It was at Brands Hatch and the heavens opened just before my race, so with great delight that I had taken such precautions to bring full wets, I went out and got soaked putting them on the car. Then the CoC declared the track undriveable and suspended the meeting until most of the rivers and standing water had cleared. By the time racing restarted I had to put the 32s back on because the track wasn't wet enough any more. After another year without standing water I sold the full wets, complete with mould wax and pimples...!

Guess some might call me just lucky with the weather!

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Jeff 8

I used to use old wets and hesitated buying new ones as I thought they would get hard if I went two years without a wet race. I finally bit the bullet and bought new wets, and the difference was phenomenal, we would have won the first wet race if I knew how hard I could push.

I keep my wets wrapped in cling wrap in black plastic covers and do not leave them in my trailer but store them in a cool dry place. Three years later they are ok but not like new anymore unfortunately.

Jeff

Jeff that is always a challange with Wets. or any tire will leach out the gripping coumpounds out of the rubber with time. Even keeping them wrapped does not do much good.

Use them twice, then sell them as used tires and buy new WETs

[Jeff 8]

Originally Posted by AU N EGL

Jeff that is always a challange with Wets.

Use them twice, then sell them as used tires and buy new WETs

If only I could afford to do that, we really only have one or two wet races a year and most other teams are in the same boat.

Jeff

[Chris Y]

Originally Posted by Jeff 8

If only I could afford to do that, we really only have one or two wet races a year and most other teams are in the same boat

So you don't need tyres really, then?

[dtype38]

I wish most of the teams I race against were in the same boat. They'd be really easy to beat on a race track.

[rcarr]

I swear by Yokohama A038Rs, I ran them on my Fiesta for 2 seasons come rain, snow or shine, it was Knockhill after all! In the 2nd season, they did start going off after I pushed them hard for 8 laps or so but 3 or 4 laps later they were sweet again.

[jonners]

lokking out of the window right now i reckon it's time to put this year's dry tyres on ebay - not that anybody is going to be interested in dry tyres anymore...

wets are the new slicks...get used to it...

[jonners]

...infact gonna need some wets just to do the shopping this weekend...

[GORDON STREETER]

If you have to use a control tyre keep a spare brand new set on wheels just for the serious rain. As has been said new tyres, especially dedicated wets are a different world to drive on, and whats the sense on loosing speed going sideways it might look good but you wont win against somebodys well set up car. I don't think anybody really "enjoys" racing in the rain especially the torrential stuff !

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I don't think anybody really "enjoys" racing in the rain especially the torrential stuff !

Some ppl claim the best rain is straight into the trailer

[Turby]

What do/would people run for a List 1B wet tyre ?

[Al Weyman]

Yep i think I agree!

[greenamex2]

I run on full race wets and, providing I can see where I am going, actually look forward to wet races.

However, when I raced on Toyo T1-R's I used really dread it. Replacing the wet tyres every year or so certainly helped but it was still no fun.

This led me to look for what was the 'best' wet weather tyre.

As a result of hours of scouring the internet I came to the conclusion that most tyre 'tests' were just an excuse for journalists to mess around for day. They were all totally subjective.

The only two measured tests I found came to the following conclusions -

A normal road tyre is measurably better than all the 'dry' track day specials. We are talking differences of 10%+ on cornering G, braking distance etc.

The best road tyre in the wet was the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, and by a measurable margin.

The above assumes a 'very' wet road, obviously the less wet it is the less difference there would be between road and track day tyres.

Links -

http://www.kumhotire.de/motorsport/AutoBild_0205.pdf
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...ad-page13.html