>Regarding those A032R's in the rain, were they fully treaded? I think of that
>tire as the ultimate rain tire. I drove a friend's Boxster in a hard driving
>rain at Portland Int'l Raceway with those tires, and was convinced it was a
>miracle. Those tires just siphoned the water off the road. They were still
>the noisiest tire I've ever heard as well. If the tires are shaved, I'd expect
>that capacity to disappear.
They're great in the rain - so long as you trust them and work them hard
A new car like a Boxster will allow tyres to ride flat and gain maximum grip at
all times because the suspension is designed to keep wide tyres flat against
the tarmac
An old car like a Midget is very different. My TR4 is so hard and bumpy that
braking in the wet is a bit of a lottery - if you hit a bump or cross a tarmac
join then a tyre will lock, remain locked & slide. The car also tends to run on
the edges of the tyre a lot when cornering - so losing a lot of grip,
particularly when wet. I imagine any older, light car would be similar
In my experience the 032R is only scary on deep standing water. Then it will
aquaplane like you've never experienced before. It happened to me on the inside
lane of the M25 (which has deep depressions caused by truck tyres) at 50 mph
with 2-month old 032Rs and I can tell you it wasn't nice. We got to the sprint
- where it poured with rain all day - and the tyres were amazing, particularly
under brakes
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