Anyone have any experience running the Hoosier A3S03 radial in the wet? I'm trying to decide if one set of tires (new Hoosiers) will be enough for my trip to Ft. Myers next week. The alternative would be a set of the new Kuhmo V700's for wet driving.

Any comments?

Scott

 

Hoosier's dont have enough tread depth or tread blocks to channel water effectively away from underneath the tire - the result is you'll get some crappy hydroplaning above 50mph or so. This will be the same with kuhmo's that are really worn down as well (well less than 1/2 worn).

The V700 Victoracer ('old' Kuhmo) is supposed to be better in the wet than the Ecsta V700 ('new' Kuhmo), and if you're looking for the best wet performance, then Hoosier Dirt Stockers are the way to go - except if its only a little wet they may get too hot and start to melt/chunk, and the other downside is you cant use them for anything else other than really wet days - where if you got a set of V700's (or Toyo RA1's) for rain then you can use those for local events and such later in the year. I would go that route, as it will save costs since you can use those tires later on in the year.

-Ryan

 

Since you mentioned A3SO3 and Ft Myers, I'm guessing its for autocross. The hooisers should not be too bad if the surface is damp. But if there is any standing water, then you may run into hydroplaning issues.

I ran almost full tread kumhos on damp surface with small puddles and a slight drizzle and they performed great. I ran my first run with street tires because I thought they would be faster due to the conditions. Wrong. I switched to Kumhos for the 2nd run and dropped over 3 secs on ~38 sec course.

 

Let me clarify.

1) This is for autocross only.
2) This is for the concrete at Ft. Myers.
5) I have the Hoosiers and I have the Kuhmos (Ecsta V700).
6) I do not plan to buy new tires.

hopefully it won't matter, the extended forcast is currently for mid 70's and partly cloudy!

Thanks for the input!
Scott

 

Hoosier does make a rain tire... I highly recommend them.

 

I've have run the Hoosier in the wet at one event and Yoshi nearly beat me on his full tread Kumhos...

I feel the Kumho works much better in the wet and I think it has as much to with the compound as the tread. The Hoosire dirt stocker is the rain tire of choice if you want to spend the money.

Tom Smith


[Modified by 98r410, 7:01 PM 2/17/2002]

 

I am an autocrossing idiot in a rear drive car. In '99 I went to Nationals in a...ta da...Miata. It rained day 1. I was on full tread Kumhos and was 4 SECONDS ahead of defending B-stock champion George Dooganis on Hoosiers.

Hoosiers. Rain. Bad.

 

That's the damn name! I could think of them for the life of me. I ran them at what seemed like a monsoon at Pocono and was passing E46 M3s... in my 185HP 944. People were coming over and asking if it was a turbo. For a referrence point, when it finally dried up on Sunday I went back to my normal Hoosiers and got my *** beat. I hate running in the rain but the tires actually give you an amazing advantage. The rain tires are that good.