More info:

I guess there are just too many factors in figuring out a speed for hydroplaning, like:
water depth,
tire width,
tire inflation,
tread depth,
vehicle weight,
vehicle speed,
surface texture,

Wiki says that a car will generally hydroplane at about 53mph with very little water. Maybe I do need to slow down just a little. ha ha

Never!

Since we get so little rain here, I guess I don't really need to slow down.

I wouldn't put too much faith in what Wiki says, F1 cars with rain tires stick extremely well at 150+ mph on a rain soaked track.

True, I don't always trust what wiki or any website says, but I found many websites that say the same thing.

F1 cars do stick very well in the rain, but that still follows with the things that I said.

F1 cars will use rain tires, or tires that have larger groves in them, this will allow for more vehicle weight on a smaller surface area.(pushes water away easier)

F1 cars also have a very large amount of down force, which also makes for a heavier vehicle.

So an F1 car will cut through the water much easier than a regular car will, and stick much better without hydroplaning because of all the down force and the correct tires.

"Round surface vs flat" surface? You're kidding, right? Rain tires will also hydroplane, they reach a point at which they cannot push the water out of the way then they float on top of the water. Think water-skiing (in bare feet, if you will) or running a Skidoo on a lake.

Its just physics. You are confusing wet with hydroplaning.

Watch this:
Harvard Aircraft Ski on water - YouTube

One last - its also the reason they groove runways.

flat vs round? I was talking about the profile of the tires. Aircraft tires are round.(see picture) This will put more pressure in a smaller area, and will be able to push a little more water than a flat profile tire would.

Yeah, runways are grooved for this reason and more and more roads are grooved for water runoff.

http://www.2aps.com/images/Tire.gif

Physics would say that if I am having a problems with hydroplaning then others should be too.(if they are under the same conditions as me) That's why I am confused a little, because I seem to be the only person.


That was a cool video! I just got stuck on youtube watching jet videos, and other cool stuff. Thanks

When you go a long time between showers or substantial rain squalls the oil and rubber on the road will induce as much slippin and slidin as a typical hydroplane loss of traction. Best bet to prepare for this in an area where it rains a lot is find tires that have good proven rain tread designs. Second, proper inflation always. Third, tread depth. If you're getting kinda low on that, your tires become closer to road slicks than rain tires. I got blown across 3 lanes of traffic on the Oakland Bay bridge in a windy, heavy rain shower because I let my tires get thin on tread (michelins) and they hydroplaned like a monther. I put new Pirellis on my little 240z the next morning, after I stopped shaking. :P

I recently put new rubber on my 17 Cayman wheels after researching tires on TireRack. I selected BF Goodrich, G-force radials. They had the rain handling qualities, road noise and handling that met my needs and also the proper diameter and tread width so they fit like my OEM tires. The next time you want to find the right set of new shoes, I recommend Tirerack's website. They'll also ship to a locally recommended shop near you and you just have to show up and have them mounted.

In UK the minimum legally permitted tread depth is 1.6mm(about 1/16th inch)anywhere but the recommended minimum is 3mm because below that wet braking peformance degrades rapidly.

have the same issue....my 85.5, while ok on wet pavement with no standing water, hydroplanes at the drop of a hat with the least bit of standing water. My tires are 15 in Khumo Ecsta Platinums - with an 8.1 (very good) hydroplaning resistance rating from Tire Rack. What gives?

My 2005 Saab 9-3, on the other hand, feels rock solid on extremely wet (with puddles) pavement at highway speeds. I purchased this Saab last fall - and its "Master-Craft" tires (never heard of them) I don't think are anything special.

Perhaps the Saab's front-heavy, front wheel drive configuration actually helps here?

Then again, I've been running the 944's tire pressure in the low 30's...and perhaps I'll firm them up a bit and try again.

hydroplaning is a complex problem. it can be due to a number of factors, and varies widely from car to car.

as an example, the conti sport contacts i have on the SL550 are slicker than deer guts on a doorknob in the wet. the same size tire, on a much lighter car, but in an ADVAN AD08 is much better, even though the tread pattern is not conducive to wet traction, and the conti is.

pressure can make a huge difference too. i know they all tell you to increase pressure to cause the tire to "round out" and thereby decrease the contact patch. that idea works great on narrower tires, but does not seem to work well on the 255s, 285s and 305s i have on my cars. i think the profile is so low on those that it does not allow adequate deformation of the tire, and only results in the tire skating across things it would absorb more if it had less pressure. perhaps if i added more pressure it would cause the tire to deform and do what they say, but i would have to add so much that then it would ride like a rock.

as a rule, a good wet tire has large longitudinal grooves. unfortunately this also is usually found on the noisier patterns. here in california we are allowed to get down to 1/16" of tread, but that is not enough to adequately disperse the water. i have found than anything less than 1/16" above the wear bar results in a serious reduction in wet traction. this generally means 3/32"-1/8".

I'm not convinced some of you are actually hydroplaning. . .more likely just experiencing poor wet traction.

lol - on the SL550 i have both. lucky me. when the car independently changes lanes after hitting a puddle, i'd say that was hydroplaning. when i step on the gas and the silly thing goes into wheel spin, that's just poor wet traction. i have had those danged contis on 3 cars now, all with the same results. i will never buy them. i got stuck with them from the dealer all 3 times. i can't wait to buy new tires and finally get rid of them.

the reason you are having the problem and not everyone else around you is that you probably have some kind summer performance tire, which is all about maximizing the contact with teh road. this makes them hydroplane

that's a rather general answer. i have summer tires on all of my cars. i do not have a hydroplaning problem on all of them.

that being said, every car i have ever had has experienced hydroplaning at one time or another. it really depended on a lot of things.

there really is no quick or universal answer to the issue of hydroplaning. you can try to use the formula (9 times the square root of the pressure) to determine the speed at which your particular tire will hydroplane, but it is only a rough guess, and things like depth of the water, width of the tire, and weight of the car, etc will all factor in.

Also, don't haul ass through visible puddles.

lol - i love seeing the idiots the decide to drive through water every year. here in socal it seems like an olympic event