hydroplaning problem

[GreenWater]

How many people have a problem with hydroplaning? I live in a place that gets little to no rain a year, so I don't notice it very much, but when it does rain here, watch out, my car hydoplanes all over the place. I know tires have something to do with this, since I don't have rain tires, and the 944 is a light car, with wide tires.

Do people that live where it rains alot, and use rain tires, still have hydroplaning problems? Is this a big problems for people?

[Rasta Monsta]

WTF is a "rain tire?"

[Dantilla]

Here in the Seattle area, rain is pretty constant. Tires make a HUGE difference.

I've got wide Michelin Pilot Sports, and they have been nothing less than fantastic in the rain. I can corner harder in the rain with these tires than I could in the dry with the old tires that were on the car when I bought it.

[racer]

Tread depth certainly matters.. If you hydroplane you are going too fast for your tires

The 944 is not a light car (2600-2800lb).. and you don't mention your current tires - size, age, brand, current tread condition/depth either.

[Catamax944]

+1 ,just slow down and make sure you have good tread and that the tires are not too old ,hard rubber becomes like ice skates in contact with water.

[9FF]

The summer tires that I have say they can handle moderate rain but during the South FL summers they cannot handle tropical rain. All season tires won't do it either. I just slow right down until I feel the tires are in control.

[nightheart]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

WTF is a "rain tire?"

aqua treads from Goodyear. I had a pair, awesome in the rain, but worthless in the snow.

[GreenWater]

My tires are less than a year old and have very good amounts of tread. My car will hydroplane at low speeds. It doesn't take very much to get my car to hydroplane. This is not a problem for me, since it doesn't rain here. I wanted to know if other people had a problems with it, and it sounds like some people do.

[Dave Colangelo]

I have sumitomo summer tires on my car right now (on boxster 7's and 8.5 rims) and I can tell feel a big loss of traction in the rain. I get a bit nervous some times as on some roads that are not paved well it can get bad. I knew this going in to getting the tires but it does not rain a ton here so I felt ok with them. They have not given me any issues yet and i DD the car in the rain or shine. My 924S hydro planed once really bad on the tires I had bought it with, got new tires (all seasons) the next day and never had an issue with it again.

Regards
Dave

[Catamax944]

Originally Posted by GreenWater

My tires are less than a year old and have very good amounts of tread. My car will hydroplane at low speeds. It doesn't take very much to get my car to hydroplane. This is not a problem for me, since it doesn't rain here. I wanted to know if other people had a problems with it, and it sounds like some people do.

Probably a bad design for wet traction .What brand are they ? Tires are all unique between them ,they all have good and bad caracteristics ,some are better in dry conditions ,some in wet and some even good allrounders , you just need to find one suited to your needs .
Next time you buy i suggest you read as many reviews and tests as possible and select the best one for you.
These are great handling cars but even so i think selecting the best tires is very important since we also don't have the aded benefits of more modern cars like traction control ,abs and a milion other electronic safety stuff you find on new cars.
I currently still have the winters on ,Dunlop winter sport 4d ,great in snow and wet and pretty decent on dry also .Still pretty cold and wet here right now but i plan on getting a set of summer tires very soon. I want to give the Conti ecocontact 5 a try ,they seem a very good allrounder.

[mikepellegrini]

+1 on the Michelin Pilot Sports . I have the A/S version on my 951 and it does great in all conditions. I'm really really impressed.

[Gawernator]

I too had/have Michelin Pilot Sports, have worked great on my 944(s)

[Rasta Monsta]

I have R-comps on my 931 (Hankook RS3) and haven't had a problem. The racecar has full tread RA1s and they also do fine.

Aquatreads on a Porsche? I just threw up a little.

[89-944NA]

Aqua Treads? Is that something you walk on the bottom of the ocean in? No hydroplaning problem here either, and I'm just up the coast from you GreenWater.

Is your hydroplaning problem primarily within the first hour or so of it starting to rain? If so, it's being caused by the oil, coolant and crap that gets deposited on the road during the dry months, then comes to the surface when it starts raining. Roads are at their slipperiest during the first few hours of rain, and can last even longer during the first rain after a few dry months.

[racer]

Perhaps some of the rain issue is not just the rain, but if a very dry climate, the oils coming to the surface that cause traction issues more than just hydroplaning.

To hydroplane you need to drive through more water than the tires can disperse. Is the water that deep that you experience? Or is it brief showers that slicken the road, bring oils to the surface and make it slippery?

Share the brand and size tires you are running.. Maybe its a brand in general to be avoided.

[white944cup]

Check the arrows on the side of the tire and make sure they are mounted so that they are rotating in the right direction. If they are directional tires and they are mounted backwards, they will push the water ahead of the tire instead of channelling it out and back, which will cause hydroplaning.

[GreenWater]

I have had this problem with more than one set of tires.

It only happens when I hit a puddle of water. I know that the roads get slick after a rain and it isn't that. There will be a puddle of water on the edge of the freeway, or even on a surface street and I will hit that puddle and hydroplane.

I am at work right now and my car is at home, but the tires that I have are a cheap brand. But I have had this problem with the last tires that I had and they were good tires.

Tire direction is a good thing to look at and I will have to check it.

So, it seems like I am the only one with a hydroplaning problem.

I was asking because I had an idea to fix this problem, but since I am the only one with this problem maybe I will just make something for myself.

[Gawernator]

My Michelins were directional, those really were great for the water

[xsbank]

Hydroplaning: about 9 times the square root of the tire pressure for standing water. ergo bingo - 36 pounds of pressure in the rear tire, square root is 6, hydroplaning occurs at about 54 m/hour. On the front, 25 pounds, 5 times 9 = 45 m/h on standing water. Tires can make some difference but on standing water it will get lively at these speeds. Search the internet for those aircraft that "waterski" and you will see a perfect example of the physics.
You are probably not hydroplaning, you are just skidding about in the wet on cheap tires after there has been no rain for a while.

[GreenWater]

What? That doesn't sound right to me, so I googled it and here is what I got. I found this on an aircraft website. There tires are different shape and that would have a big difference on hydroplaning.(my opinion)

The formula that is used to
compute hydroplaning speed is: Minimum total hydroplaning
speed (knots) equals 9 times the square root of tire inflation pressure (psi) or:
V = 9 ÆP

So, according to this formula, 30psi would = about 57mph. So they are saying that if I pump my tires up more my car won't hydroplane. That isn't right. Aircraft tires have a round surface, where a car tire has a flat surface.

I am not the smartest guy in the world, but I am pretty smart. What about the weight of the car, or aircraft, isn't that an issue?(should be) Tire profile, tread depth, and tread pattern are other factors.

More research is needed. I love trying to figure out stuff like this. Lets see what I can come up with.