wet track tyre

[sambb]

Has anyone got any feedback on how the new federal 595-RSRR fares as a wet track tyre or how it compares in general to the older 595-RSR. I've always stuck with my street tyres on a wet track and this has been RE003's lately, but I need something that will stretch the gap out until semi time on a drying track more so than what the bridgestones can manage.
I'd found the AD08R's to have a bit of a snap breakaway when it gets really wet and they are to $$$'y anyway which is why I'm interested in thoughts on the federals in the wet.

[louis19]

Depending on what tyre sizing your after, you might not be able to get the newer RS-RR. I know some of the sizings they made in the RS-R's were not continued to be made in the newer tyre.

I find the RSR's pretty awesome in the dry, but they certainly aren't anything special in the wet. Last weekend I was at QR and the track was quite damp for the first half of the 90 min session and my polo would wheel spin quite badly even at half throttle in 2nd and happily spin all the way through 3rd if you tried to punch the throttle to hard. To be fair, most tyres probably would've done the same thing in the conditions it was under.

Ive driven other cars with the RS-RR's, I'd say they are much the same in the dry, and maybe marginally better in the wet but not by much really.

[sambb]

hmm yeah your right. The RSRR isn't in a 16 only the RSR and they might be getting rare from now on. There's an Achilles 123S in 205/45/16. wonder how they'd go in the wet? The only other one is the toyo R1R but they are bloody pricey too.
Dunno maybe i'll just have to stick to RE003's as a wet tyre and just get braver and onto the R specs earlier. Last time out I was just outside the top 10 in the bucketing wet but it started to dry out on the last 2 runs and I got clobbered and finished mid pack. I was starting at the bottom of the running order and if I'd known there was going to be a dry line by the time I was up I would have gone to R specs. Kicking myself now - its for situations like that that I want a 'street semi' that's still ok in the wet.

[seangti]

Perhaps the snappy behavior could be overcome with some suspension/geometry changes. Soften the rear up to run in the wet, tyre pressures, etc. I'd have thought the RE003's would be a very good wet track tyre. For a street tyre, I think it was the Dunlop that won last months issue of Motor Magazine tyre test.

[louis19]

As Sean said, I've been told the Re003's are quite good in the wet. I'd put money down there are good chunk better then what my RSR's are.

[sambb]

yeah I have found them to be brilliant in the wet, its just that they fall away big time as things start to dry out. I totally agree with that test. The first set of street tyres I had on the car were Dunlop sport max R/T's and they were awesome. Trouble is they were gone in 15,000km, quicker than the yoko's. They would fit the bill perfectly - a better dry tyre than the RE003, but you can't get them in 205/45/16 anymore. I just wonder if the federals would hang in there in the wet with cold/hot pressures down around 30-32psi.
I've got the pressures sussed for the wet now. You can really feel the RE003's slide progressively at the limit which is really reassuring and gives you the confidence to push bit the AD08R's would hang in there, hang in there, and then you'd be having a big moment - not really reassuring in the wet, but weapons in the dry. I think it'll just be more RE003's.

[Notso Swift]

If you are not racing it doesn't really matter
If you are use A050. Softs if you can

[sambb]

No not door to door racing. I do hillclimbs. My A050's are medium compound - not ideal for hillclimbs I know but they have been pretty impressive (in the dry at least) and I couldn't go past the price I got on them. If I did have softs then yeah I'd be getting onto the semis sooner as it dries. As it is, I'm not too keen on finding out what stone cold mediums feel like when you get offline on a drying track with armco and trees all around. The guys that were using them in the wet had softs on, I would have been the only one on mediums so I was a bit shaky on swapping over.

[Notso Swift]

We run mediums, honestly they are such a good tye un less it is teaming down I think they would be better than most other options, they are a proper time attack tyre. If you are buying new ones get soft, but just use the mediums if you have them

I drove a friends CRX on AD08 last Thrusday at Winton, and there was a littte rain, but mainly patchy, I thought they felt a bit squishy as they over heated but they tread isn't as soft as the A050 in the first place

[kaanage]

I would use full semis as long as there isn't standing water on the track. It's when there's a film of water that semis will break away suddenly - suspension changes can't prevent it. Even if it's quite damp, semis and even slicks work very well