E9 In The Rain

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BimRLuvR

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Hey Gang!

So today I got caught driving home in the rain. The car was all over the place slip sliding and scaring the crap out of me! I really struggled to keep it pointing straight! I have Michelin Pilot All Weather tires that car came with the car from Paul with plenty of tread on them. How do your cars fair in the rain? My first experience was a true code brown ride!

Thanks!
 
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That seems unusual. What is the date code on the tires? Maybe the rubber is hard as a rock. I’ve driven many miles in the rain over the years on Goodyears, Michelins, Bridgestones, and Pirelles. The only scary thing was if my wiper arms would fly off.
 
Well I think we have the answer, these tires have 2018 date codes. I was wrong about Michelins, they are Pirelli PZero Rosso all weather tires. Add another item to the sort the car out list I think. What tires do you guys like best? I think many of you like the Conti Extreme Contact. My care has 7X16 front 9 X16 rear for what its worth. Thanks for your words of wisdom! PS: The wiper arms stayed today! :)
 
I agree with checking tires, but regardless, driving in low grip can uncover some bad “handling habits” that you normally don’t notice. I assume by slipping and sliding you mean oversteer, where the rear “fishtails” or tries to swing around and get ahead of the front? Was it doing that when:

you were on the gas? That is just a characteristic of RWD handling, especially if you have a LSD it will want to oversteer with power.

you were turning and coasting, when not on brakes or gas? That could be a suspension setup issue. Disconnected front sway bar, or too thick a rear bar could lead to steady state oversteer.

you were braking? Braking while turning will definitely provoke oversteer, because the weight shifts to the front and the rear loses grip. Racing schools always teach braking in a straight line. If it tried to pull to one side or slide when braking in a straight line, that could mean one of your calipers is not braking well - bad pads, or a clogged line could do this.
 
Heya Minivan, appreciate your feedback. Yeah, I have been a 30 year PCA club racer and high performance Driver Education instructor, for a very long time. I know weird when i feel it. I suspect two culprits: hard tires on old date codes and non optimized rear suspension (which I know about). Its headed to the set up dude as soon as all the parts are in! What the car was doing was just skating across the camber in the road while driving straight, not while braking or accelerating. It just did it! Freaking scary!! I will not drive this car again in the rain until its gets new boots and the optimized suspension set up. And I avoid the rain in these things anyways as we all do I believe. . They tend to last longer that way LOL!

Thanks guys for your feedback. I am glad to hear its just my ride, and not a more global this car sucks in the rain kinda thing!

JL
 
BimRLuvR said:
Heya Minivan, appreciate your feedback. Yeah, I have been a 30 year PCA club racer and high performance Driver Education instructor, for a very long time. I know weird when i feel it. I suspect two culprits: hard tires on old date codes and non optimized rear suspension (which I know about). Its headed to the set up dude as soon as all the parts are in! What the car was doing was just skating across the camber in the road while driving straight, not while braking or accelerating. It just did it! Freaking scary!! I will not drive this car again in the rain until its gets new boots and the optimized suspension set up. And I avoid the rain in these things anyways as we all do I believe. . They tend to last longer that way LOL!

Thanks guys for your feedback. I am glad to hear its just my ride, and not a more global this car sucks in the rain kinda thing!

JL
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Aaah yes I’m not surprised there are people here with more racing experience than me!

Yeah that sounds like just globally decreased grip if it couldn’t even stay straight on a cambered road.

Out of curiosity, what rear suspension tweaks do you have planned?
 
Ha! Yeah, we have quite a crew here it seems! :)

As I understand it, the installer swapped the adjusters on the rear trailing arm mounts, and we can't dial in negative camber accordingly. If you look carefully at my rear wheels, they have positive camber, which is a huge no no as we know. The rain today made the poor setup very noticeable. I just never imagined being so frightened of losing the car! So the shop will swap them in to the proper positions, lower the car a bit, put in a larger front sway bar, and re-align it. Should make a huge difference! Can't wait! :)

Thanks!
 
with 16" tires, i have heard a couple of favorites

all weather tires
conti - extreme contact DWS 06
michelin - pilot sport all season 4

summer tires
conti - extreme contact sport 02
michelin - pilot sport 4s (don't see the size on tire rack now)
 
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