My buddy often swaps wheels on his street Integra and race Civic. He uses Toyo RA-1's for Solo 1 and road racing, but has no trailer and often drives to the track on his Integra wheels. He doesn't have money for a new set of Toyo's to act as rain tires for the rest of the season and, at the same time, he badly needs street tires for the Integra. He asked me if there was any street tire which could double as a rain tire for the last few events of the season. I didn't know what to tell him because I don't know how the Azenis is in the rain, or any other performance/budget tire. Also, I don't know if the treadwear is of a huge importance when choosing a rain tire, vis-a-vis the importance of tread pattern and depth. These tires would be used only in summer on the street by the way. Thanks all.

 

The S03's I just finished up had wonderful wet traction on track.

 

I'm with Willard. I'd recommend AVS intermediate but they're gone (sniff). I used brandy new ones at the NASA VIR monsoon event in Feb and was one of the very very few that never left the paved surface.

 

Take alook at the Dunlop Sport A2 series. Not necessarily the very best but serviceable.

 

Doesn't SCCA World challenge use Proxes T1-S?

 

I would guess that a full-tread Azenis would do OK, but that's just based on street use.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mph6563 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would guess that a full-tread Azenis would do OK, but that's just based on street use.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Except for standing water. S-O3 much better than Azenis in standing water.

Too bad the RE71 is long gone. That tire ruled in both dry and wet.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd00 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Except for standing water. S-O3 much better than Azenis in standing water.

Too bad the RE71 is long gone. That tire ruled in both dry and wet.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Even though I am prone to rants of how much A032Rs suck, I'd take them any day of the week and twice on the weekends over my RE71s (or any street tire) in the wet. I don't think that any street tire could be good wet race tire. I'd suggest running A032Rs for summer streets (being way easy on them) or RA-1s (full tread) and not try to use a street tire for rains.

 

Best street tire/rain race tire out there is standing right in front of you....toyo RA-1.
Most racers I spoke with in sedan style racing use them as rains exclusively, if they are not already on GY rain slicks.

I've been using the RA-1s for the street and then as my Solo I & II rain setup for over 8 years now. They are like real water pumps in the rain ( when the thread is near new with cross grooves)
In fact , I am mounting my new RA1's on a spare set of ITR wheels to drive down to the Nationals in Topeka, where they will double as wets..............

.......does it rain in Kansas??????

BTW, the Azenis are marginal in the wet and wear twice as fast as the RA-1s.

 

AO32R and Azenis

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Willard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The S03's I just finished up had wonderful wet traction on track.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I used the S03s in dry and wet track and they were great. Certainly not as good as a dedicated racing rain tire but predictable and great hydroplane resistance.

They are, however, a little expensive. i just picked up a set of AVS ES100 s as street tires. They are less than 1/2 the price of the S03. They have all the makings of a good wet-dry tire (tread compound and tread design). I can't recommend them as I have not driven them yet. But I would go with them as a daily street tire before the equally priced Azenis or Kumho 712

 

[QUOTE=bbqman]Best street tire/rain race tire out there is standing right in front of you....toyo RA-1.
QUOTE]

I have tried good wet weather street radials in the rain on track (the ARRC was known for torrents of rain for several years running) and never found anything worth a crap. The problem is that the carcass and tread rubber itself just never built any heat at all to allow stick compounded by the fact that the water on track was constantly trying to cool it. The ability to move water out from under the tire is important but I had underestinated the importance of heat to generate stick. In a lapping situation where real times aren't that big a deal then street tires could be OK but in a race, qualifying, etc. where time is of the essence I just watched other racecars leave me behind.

I have used the unshaved Proxes RA-1 with good success as an intermediate to very wet tire (nothing beats a Hoosier Dirt Stocker in real water) but it is a soft rubber race tire. Although I have not tried it, the A032 should fit that description as well. with soft stuff but also channelling ability.

 

Budget = Yok AVS ES 100
Good tire in the wet

 

I'll go with A032R or full treaded DOT race tires (V700, RA-1). If it's just barely wet.. no standing puddles, stay on the race tires.

 

I had a chance a few months ago to do sa little back-to-back tire testing on a very wet, very puddley track (Shannonville, in Ontario).

Started on shaved Toyo RA-1 tires. Hydroplaned in the standing water, did great where the drainage worked. Switched to 1/2 worn RE-71 tires. Less hydroplaning, but the grip in the wet stuff sucked *****. Switched back to the RA-1 tires and the difference in grip wherever there weren't puddles was amazing compared to the street tire. Unfortunately I didn't get lap times, but I am sure the *shaved* RA-1 tires were faster, despite the total loss of control in the puddles.

Full tread RA-1 = rain tire of choice for me. I have trouble imagining what kind of conditions would really be needed for a dirtstocker to be better. I have a set of dirtstockers now, so maybe someday I can find out!

 

Don't know how good they work but tire racks test said the kumho mx was pretty darn good. "On the track in the wet, the ECSTA MX continued to provide responsive handling, along with good cornering and braking traction. This made the ECSTA MX easier to drive at the limit and allowed it to turn the fastest lap times of the three tires." This is a quote from the tire rack. The other two tires were the yokohama avs sport and the bfg g force ta kd.

 

i would also think the MX would be an excellent choice.......especially for the $$.