Federals?

[dcanna]

i had ku31 on my fronts then replaced with 595ss when they wore. SHITE! very soft side wall, no turn in grip, squeel as soon as you break hard or turn in hard. i much prefer the ku31 on the front stiffer side wall by a mile AND i took them to the track and they were alright. spend the extra $ get ku31 for street if you can find your size

[R31Nismoid]

Not true at all. Whilst driver skill always has an effect the difference between good tyres and bad tyres and how well the tyre provides feedback to the driver is paramount to car control.

Tyres are the point of contact between the car and the ground they are the most important factor in car handling, grip and performance for both wet and dry conditions not just holding your rims off the ground or how much throttle you can use on boost whilst going through a puddel.

Tyres are often understated and in particular the value of what a great set of tyres are worth well after the purchase price is forgotten.

Agreed.

My RE001's, for a full street tyre, are excellent even with 280rwkw on my HR31 for wet weather driving.

I know exactly what's going on and when. Not the best grip, nothing ever will be with that power in the wet, but I'm a big fan of them if you want a good tyre that doesnt absolutely bust the bank.

[Downforce]

RE001's for the win. Decent in the wet and the dry, good directional tread and nice feedback through corners... and the best bit for me in low road noise!

[Cowboy1600]

Not true at all. Whilst driver skill always has an effect the difference between good tyres and bad tyres and how well the tyre provides feedback to the driver is paramount to car control.

Tyres are the point of contact between the car and the ground they are the most important factor in car handling, grip and performance for both wet and dry conditions not just holding your rims off the ground or how much throttle you can use on boost whilst going through a puddel.

Tyres are often understated and in particular the value of what a great set of tyres are worth well after the purchase price is forgotten.

I'm not one to understate tyres, and what you say is accurate on the racetrack, but on the street, driving somewhat appropriately for the street in the wet, you're way off. If you are pushing, in the wet, around town, then you're an idiot and no manner of sticky tyre is going to help. If you are taking heed of the conditions, and realising that wet + residential streets do not add up to race time, then the difference between a good wet tyre and an average one is irrelevant.

Buy a tyre suitable for 90% of your driving and don't drive like a f**k stick the other 10%.

[Peter89]

that's like saying there's no difference between the cheapest chinese shit vs the top range wet weather tyre.

sure power and rwd setup aren't great for traction in the wet but choosing the right tyre is the difference between taking off at a reasonable time vs spinning wheels before boost. last time i bought the cheapest shit i could get to pass rwc and in the wet i could barely take off, with stock power. this time ill be going for some wider and better tyres.

[Downforce]

...then the difference between a good wet tyre and an average one is irrelevant.

NO. Tires that have limited grip in the wet are simply dangerous. It's not "irrelevant" to have a tire with better wet road performance under normal driving conditions. Your ignorance is beyond me.

[fiend.]

Why the need for wet weather grip?

Realistically, you spend maybe a dozen days a year driving in the wet. The other 300 days it's dry. So long as you are careful, a "good" wet tyre vs a "bad" wet tyre isn't going to matter a pinch of shizen. It's not likely that the "good" tyre will ever save you from a sticky situation, so why aim for that? You're more likely to stack when having a fang in the dry.

Get a tyre which best suits the 99% of driving you actually do.

Not true at all. Whilst driver skill always has an effect the difference between good tyres and bad tyres and how well the tyre provides feedback to the driver is paramount to car control.

Tyres are the point of contact between the car and the ground they are the most important factor in car handling, grip and performance for both wet and dry conditions not just holding your rims off the ground or how much throttle you can use on boost whilst going through a puddel.

Tyres are often understated and in particular the value of what a great set of tyres are worth well after the purchase price is forgotten.

Whoever only drives their car ~12 days a year in the wet obviously doesn't live in Melbourne like I do. I drive my car at least twice a week in the rain, as it's my DAILY, and in winter, this can translate to 4 days a week in the rain.

Grippier tyres up front really help in the wet. Have had two pairs of Federal SS595's on the front and would not recommend them. Only stuck with them because I managed to get splits in the front inner sidewalls somehow and Federal Motorsport were champs and replaced em for me for free. I used to work at tyre shops and found so much variance in wet weather performance between brands. If you're cashed up, I don't think you can do better than Continental ContiSportContact 2 (they now released CSC 3) personally, and you will thank yourself in the wet.

But for performance with budgets in mind, personally I would recommend Kumho Ecsta KU31 on the front. I've heard very good things about the Bridgestone RE001's as well. But since you plan to go locker, I think the ss595 will be great for the rear.

[Cowboy1600]

Whoever only drives their car ~12 days a year in the wet obviously doesn't live in Melbourne like I do. I drive my car at least twice a week in the rain, as it's my DAILY, and in winter, this can translate to 4 days a week in the rain.

WTF are you talking about? We've been in severe drought for 12 friggin' years. There are on average, long term, 120 wet days per year in Victoria. This has been nearly halved over the past 12 years, ie. we've been getting more like 60-80 a year.

Yes, it's been wet recently but that's going against the recent norm.

[Cowboy1600]

that's like saying there's no difference between the cheapest chinese shit vs the top range wet weather tyre.

sure power and rwd setup aren't great for traction in the wet but choosing the right tyre is the difference between taking off at a reasonable time vs spinning wheels before boost. last time i bought the cheapest shit i could get to pass rwc and in the wet i could barely take off, with stock power. this time ill be going for some wider and better tyres.

Wide rubber is less than ideal for wet roads. The wider the rubber the more likelyhood of aquaplaning as the tyre will glide over the water rather than push through it.

And I've had cheap tyres and I've had expensive tyres. In the wet they are essentially identical unless you are trying to do more than just get yourself from A to B. If you are trying to give it any welly, then there can be a small difference, but if this is the case, then you drive appropriately to the tyres you have on your car. If you go the tyres with less wet weather performance, don't give it so much.

Again, buy the best tyre you can afford for how you do the majority of your driving. Don't buy a tyre for the other 10%.

[Cowboy1600]

NO. Tires that have limited grip in the wet are simply dangerous. It's not "irrelevant" to have a tire with better wet road performance under normal driving conditions. Your ignorance is beyond me.

How much difference do you honestly believe there is going to be between two ~$150 tyres?

Like, really. We're comparing Golden Delicious and Granny Smith's here, not friggin' oranges and Ferraris.

The difference between the two would be slim at most. Ergo, buying one over the other in order to have ever so slightly better performance for the 10% of driving you do in the wet is silly.

Your inability to actually think about this astounds me.

And if you think a tyre can be "simply dangerous" then your ignorance is also astounding. A responsible driver should always drive to the prevailing conditions. If your tyres are shit, you slow down. It's really simple. If you don't and you crash, it's not your tyres fault, it's yours.

As someone who spends 90% of his time on the road on only two wheels, I'm going to bet I have a greater understanding of the importance of good rubber and driving to suit conditions than anyone who spends all their time in a car.

[Downforce]

Grippier tyres up front really help in the wet. Have had two pairs of Federal SS595's on the front and would not recommend them. Only stuck with them because I managed to get splits in the front inner sidewalls somehow and Federal Motorsport were champs and replaced em for me for free. I used to work at tyre shops and found so much variance in wet weather performance between brands. If you're cashed up, I don't think you can do better than Continental ContiSportContact 2 (they now released CSC 3) personally, and you will thank yourself in the wet.

+1 Yes!! I use to have the SportCompact Conti's and they are awesome in the wet.

[ghostflameR33]

ive been running 265/35 18 federal rs-r 595 on an r32 gtr all around with over 350 kw, dry grip is good, wet tends to slip a bit, i just dont give it that much in the wet anymore... and for $214 per tyre cant get any better...

[frozenpod]

I'm not one to understate tyres, and what you say is accurate on the racetrack, but on the street, driving somewhat appropriately for the street in the wet, you're way off. If you are pushing, in the wet, around town, then you're an idiot and no manner of sticky tyre is going to help. If you are taking heed of the conditions, and realising that wet + residential streets do not add up to race time, then the difference between a good wet tyre and an average one is irrelevant.

Buy a tyre suitable for 90% of your driving and don't drive like a f**k stick the other 10%.

When did I say you should be driving like you are on a racetrack on a public road or pushing in the wet, when I have suggested you should be doing so even in the dry???

"difference between a good wet tyre and an average one is irrelevant."

Sorry I believe you are 100% wrong and I stand by my orignal statement.

As I said before feedback is paramount to car control. Even my wife has commented on how much better and easier to drive her car is with Michelin's fitted in wet conditions compared with the previous tyres dunlops which were perfectly fine in the dry but provided very poor feedback in the wet.

You don't have to be driving like a f**k stick for a momentary laps in concentration or an unexpected event to happen that wasn't your fault to land you in a sticky situation.

It is in these situations even more so in wet conditions where often your average tyres don't cut it but great tyres do.

[Cowboy1600]

What utter rubbish.

The wet weather performance difference between two tyres of a comparable quality is negligible and I reiterate, if you crash in the wet and blame the performance of your tyres, you are an idiot and should catch the bus. If the marginal difference between these two tyres is the difference between crashing and not, then please hand in your license ASAP.

[frozenpod]

What utter rubbish.

The wet weather performance difference between two tyres of a comparable quality is negligible and I reiterate, if you crash in the wet and blame the performance of your tyres, you are an idiot and should catch the bus. If the marginal difference between these two tyres is the difference between crashing and not, then please hand in your license ASAP.

When did I suggest that if you crash you should blame your tyres.

Bad tyres don't cause you to crash but good tyres can help prevent one which might of otherwise with bad tyres be unavoidable.

The difference in feedback and driver control is not marginal between compariable tyres and it can be quite considerable. Think about NS2, KU36 ect vs RE001's, F1's AD08's RE11R's ect.

The KU36's and NS2's are both classic examples of tyres which perform poorly in the wet and offer terrible feedback. Where as the AD08's and RE11R's comparible to the KU36's offer good feedback in wet conditions and they are very easy to control with the KU36's lacking feedback and very hard to control.

Further to my previous posts it isn't you that is the problem, I know for a fact that I can drive safetly regardless of the conditions even with tyres that are terrible in wet conditions ie KU36's and whilst they are harder to control due to the lack of feedback I can still drive on them safely but this requires extensive concentration on just the tyres feedback alone, this is something other lesser skilled drivers average joe cant.

To further add to this there is very little margin for error even when traveling at slow speeds, something that on a daily basis in unpredictable traffic conditions I choose to avoid and opted for a better performing easy to control wet weather tyre keeping in mind I am not on a race track and there are many other things going on that require concentration such as intersections not to mention other drivers which are often unpredictable and do make mistakes.

My RE001's, for a full street tyre, are excellent even with 280rwkw on my HR31 for wet weather driving.

I know exactly what's going on and when. Not the best grip, nothing ever will be with that power in the wet, but I'm a big fan of them if you want a good tyre that doesnt absolutely bust the bank.

As per this post does the driver need to be driving like they are on a racetrack or an idiot to have feedback and know what is going on no they don't but they need to know what is going on at all times. Again good tyre feedback is paramount to driver control and driver control is paramount to safe driving.

Edited November 1, 2010 by frozenpod

[R31Nismoid]

^ I've got some more to add now

I actually appreciate the RE001’s more than I did previously after the past few days.

Read on below to see...

Having driven my GTR the past week and a bit daily (which rides on Semi comps), 4 days in the epic rain, I was driving everywhere @ 50km/h – no bullsh|t - and simply because it was jumping around that much it was fking dangerous even for someone with my level of experience, which whilst not worldy, I'm certainly no noobie to such conditions.

My HR31 with RWD in the belting rain and RE001s was more leagues more sane in the wet than my GTR on Semis.

Its impossible to describe the effort required to pilot the GTR the past week in the bucketing rain.

I was hugely more cautious as the car was aqua'in all over the place, sliding, tramlining...

Was an interesting experience none the less. All I can say is god help someone on their Ps trying to do the same or someone that doesn't know what to expect.

I was actually tired after doing about 200km's in the rain/GTR lol, too much concentration required - but i'd do it again regardless - experience is priceless

Interestingly, the semi's (AD06s/032R which I realise are superseded now) and RE001s cost around the same.

New price there was around a $250 a set if my numbers serve me correctly

The difference between a good & bad wet weather tyre is huge

Horses for courses really. Tyres have never been a simple thing to decide upon

[Downforce]

And if you think a tyre can be "simply dangerous" then your ignorance is also astounding. A responsible driver should always drive to the prevailing conditions. If your tyres are shit, you slow down. It's really simple. If you don't and you crash, it's not your tyres fault, it's yours.

Oh dear, break out the roflcopter. Your failed logic is amusement for all. How about you just don't buy/drive on shit tyres in the first place? Per R31Nismoid and frozenpod's comments, there is a difference between tyres when it comes to how well they behave in wet conditions. It's not about driving to the limit in the wet, it's about the ability for a tyre to provide safe grip levels in such conditions. That is all.

:) :bunny:

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

The KU36's and NS2's are both classic examples of tyres which perform poorly in the wet and offer terrible feedback. Where as the AD08's and RE11R's comparible to the KU36's offer good feedback in wet conditions and they are very easy to control with the KU36's lacking feedback and very hard to control.

have you ever driven on KU36's ?

or have you just regurgitated shit you have read on the forums from retards that drive @ 101% in the wet?

just this weekend i drove up mt buller road in the wet (hours of hard rain) with KU36's in my gtst. from bottom to top the car was pushed hard, rarely dropping below 5k in second and 3rd gear and seeing a lot of redline with 285rwkw and 6/8kg greddy coilovers set to maximum damper and slammed. traction was not even close to an issue.

along with me were 3 or 4 other cars with 250+rwkw and KU36's, NONE of which had issues

[frozenpod]

have you ever driven on KU36's ?

or have you just regurgitated shit you have read on the forums from retards that drive @ 101% in the wet?

just this weekend i drove up mt buller road in the wet (hours of hard rain) with KU36's in my gtst. from bottom to top the car was pushed hard, rarely dropping below 5k in second and 3rd gear and seeing a lot of redline with 285rwkw and 6/8kg greddy coilovers set to maximum damper and slammed. traction was not even close to an issue.

along with me were 3 or 4 other cars with 250+rwkw and KU36's, NONE of which had issues

Did you read my first post which is on the first page of this thread and I have copied below but incase you missed it I OWN A SET OF KU36's fitted to my weekend car.

It also appears you haven't had a set of decent tyres before, if you did you would realise that KU36's are terrible wet weather tyres. Dispite my comments which you clearly will not accept as fact perhaps the test I quoted the first time which exactly matches how they perform in my experience and the test below might show you otherwise.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartD...ay.jsp?ttid=118

From personal experience I made comments regarding KU36's not made up bull shit and just to repeat it for the last time they are terrible wet weather tyres offering lower levels of grip than alternatives but most importantly very poor feedback.

Whilst I agree with your perspective it depends on the how often you drive the car and how bad the wet weather performance is.

For my daily driver I chose tyres which offered exceptional all round performance, drive brilliantly and cost a fortune (Michelins). I don't use these tyres on my weekend car which I tend to drive the car roughly 1-2 times per month were I use KU36's.

Whilst the KU36's are ok and they are exactly what I expected (great dry grip, slightly stiffer side walls with a little higher NVH) in every way except wet performance. There wet performance is below what I would have expected with little to no feedback and being highly unpredictable.

For someone who drives there car daily I would suggest not using KU36's.

Here is a review which I agree with, particularly in terms of the vauge feedback and how the car suddenly and unexpectedly looses traction.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/compar...omparison_tests

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

actually KU36's are nowhere near the best tyre i have had fitted to my car, they are just what's on there at the moment.

sound's to me like you cars setup leaves a lot to be desired, but there's no point arguing with you, as you can never be wrong.

they are not a death trap in the wet... and that's all there is to it