Sbeall

I've read a lot of people saying that the OEM S02's are horrible in the rain. When I first got my S, with over 12,000 miles on it, I had to drive it home in a pretty good downpour and was fairly nervous to drive it over 60 mph because of the already accumulated tread wear and all the negative posts I've already read here about them.

Well, it's a month later and it hasn't done anything but rain here in the northeast, and I haven't had a problem at all with these tires in the rain. I cruise at 75 normally in any rain, take ramps normally and only slow down when there is extreme puddling and flooding in my path.

These tires are about 80% worn and still handle better than I ever would have expected from a high-performance tire on wet roads and I'll probably get another pair, or maybe the S03's when these are gone.

I think anyone who knows how to drive in the rain shouldn't have problems and I'm sure not going to downgrade dry performance with a better rain/wear tire just to drive 100 mph in the rain. Am I the only one who thinks the S02's are a capable tire in the rain, or did the tire fairy give me better tires than everyone else?

koala

Yeah I don't know why anyone says they're bad in the rain. I've had no problems at all. As a matter of fact I was expecting them to suck so bad that I was TRYING to fish tail around corners and it wasn't working very easily...

bottom line is if you drive responsibly, these tires will be fine.

Sure, if they're bald, you're going to have issues, but you would with ANY tire.

S2kRob

S02's are great in the rain. In fact, they are a great tire, period.

SECRET AP1

I find them to be poor when it comes to handling a small puddle or saturated highway at 65mph. Of course in light to mild rain, these issues are non-existent. If you're comfortable with your worn S02s driving 75mph in "any" rain, then more power to you. But if you look at your tires, you'll notice there is no place for water to go as there is no central gutter or rain tread. Personally, I don't see why you would drive at that speed knowing you have only 20% tread...

Sbeall

Secret, I would definately slow down if the tire ever gave me one clue that they were slipping, so far, they haven't given me the slightest indication of that.

But then again, I grew up driving rear wheel drive cars with bald tires on snow covered mountain roads in western PA. Maybe rain doesn't give me the troubles it may give others. To me a snow tire was any tire that had tread on it.

Jim@tirerack

When they are new they are very good in the rain. The tread design is made to throw water away from the car. In this way the rear tires come through on a clean surfafce. Once the tread is down the tire can't handle the standing water and will get skiddish in the wet.

Jim

speeeding

I also think they are fantastic in the rain. I use them as wet tires on the track.

mas

The rear OEM SO2 is a very unique tire. If you look at other similar tires you'd notice that the wider the tire the wider the grooves for water channels. This is not true for the OEM S02s. The front tires, while narrower than the rears, have wider water channels compared to the rears! The rear tires have very narrow water channels that do not run too deep. This means these tires cannot do the same job of preventiing you from hydroplaning as other tires with wider/deeper water channels, given the same speed and water depth. Other than the issue of hydroplaning, the tires are fine in the rain - it's not that they have bad traction on wet surfaces or anything.

speeeding

The front tires might have wider grooves because they are the "leading edge" of the car, and would need to evacuate most of the water. The rears would then probably track across the surface that the fronts have run over already. Just a theory.

xviper

Why would anyone even consider driving at 65 mph where there is a possibility of going through a small puddle or saturated highway?
I'm sorry, but this is NOT a valid statement. It's like saying that most domestic private aircraft are "poor" for doing aerobatics. Or, Railroad locomotives are "poor" for going where there are no tracks. Or, palmtrees grow "poorly" outdoors in southern Alberta. Or, snowmobiles perform very "poorly" as commuter vehicles in downtown Los Angeles. Wouldn't you think a tennis racket would perform "poorly" as fly swatter? All of these are examples of things that CAN be done but they all do them VERY POORLY!
There is NOTHING wrong with these tires in the rain or going through puddles or driving down saturated highways IF the driver uses common sense and SLOW DOWN to a speed commensurate with their performance under those conditions. And if you "gun it" while on a wet surface going around a slight curve or while on a high crown road and have no clue as to what might happen and how to correct it, then that driver is kind of a DUFUS, ain't he?