A buddy of mine with a '00 black/black with about 6k miles on original SO2 tires, lost it in the rain a few weeks back. Low speed, lots of water on the ground, the back end swung out when it hit a puddle and put him into a telephone pole. Deb, if you guys remember, spun out with her SO2's on 417 in the middle of a rain storm. Has anyone had luck with this tire in the wet or is everyone switching to SO3's?

Be safe!!!!

 

They are ok as long as there is a good bit of tread. Once under 50% they get scary.

 

Thanks for the warning Vincent. It's important for everyone to realize that though the S2000 has amazing handling under dry conditions, you really need to slow down when there's a lot of water on the road.

I have gotten 12-15k miles on my rear tires but some people wear them out in 5k miles! How much tread was actually left? As Keith mentions, OEM SO2s get propressively more slippery in the wet when they are more than 50% worn.

I'm still running OEM tires on the street. They are just fine when the roads are wet, but if water starts accumulating I slow way down. The way I guage water accumulation is if I can see raindrops on the road surface I know that the water is deep enough to hydroplane. Puddles of water are another matter. If you hit the puddle with only one rear wheel and that tire floats, you're going for a spin. I speculate that this occurs because the hydroplaning tire has no grip and the Torsen LSD maintains power to the planted tire. The uneven power application induces yaw.

When you say "low speed" how fast was your friend travelling, and also was he under power at the time? When it's raining hard I slow down to 55-60 mph and even less during our all-too-common-now tropical downpours. Also note that the OEM tires are notoriously worse when it is cold and wet, obviously not a problem in your friend's case.

That said, I've heard from others that the SO3s are the way to go to reduce wet traction problems. Note that the correct rear tire size in the SO3 is 245/45/16; the fronts are the same as OEM - 205/55/16.

 

Actually this is rather interesting... My sis had my car and was at the Doral Ale House... some guy (anyone here??) walked up to her and started talking to her that she should get SO3's because he's lost control 2x's on his SO2's (she thought.. he should learn how to drive) but then she just kept nodding her head and said "OK.. I'll let me sis know".. the guy said he also owned a black one... Oh well...
I did in fact hydroplane on the palmetto and was going about 45MPH already... it was real scarry but i didn't hydroplane soo bad that i lost control.. just lil jerks to the right.... Might consider SO3's now..

 

I recently went to a drive and ride put on by some tire manufactures (thanks to a buddy of mine in the tire business) Bridgestone came out with the S03 due to the problems that the S02 was having in the rain. The tire is not built with a water channel. If you look at it next to a S03 you will immediately see the difference. In fact they no longer produce the S02 except for our car. It is rated as a summer tire. I would be very careful driving on this tire in the rain, definitely the wrong choice for a rear wheel vehicle.

 

Another really good wet tire is the Dunlop SP9000. I really have had great experience with Dunlop tires.

 

I must add to this thread. I love my SO3's. I have pushed them in the rain and feel very safe on them. I picked them over the stock set-up due to Fl. rains and have not been disappointed.

 

I have 245/45/16 S03s on the rear now and can say they are MUCH more stable in the rain than the OEM S02s and seem to be nearly as good in the dry. Do make sure you get the 245/45 size. See the following for my complete tire story: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...8718#post868718

 

that sux, I was traveling home from work last week when it was pooring doing about 55mph on 95, I guess I hit a puddle and it feels like someone is behing you purposely moving your rear end left and right, So I thought it was my imagination, So I kept going 55mph and then I freaking somehow ended up in the other lane... it was very scary... no more 55mph for me when its pooring out. I am at about 40% tire life remaining......

 

My S02's are still pretty new (under 5K miles and good tread). I've gone out behind the local publix in the rain at night and I must say mine still hold well even in the all-out down pours. I have to go way beyond anything I'd do normally to get it to break loose.

It's been my experience that standing water will wreak havoc with any car/tire. Our BMW 330 gets loose in water, so did the Grand Prix, Intrepid, and every other car I've owned. If you hit standing water you will get a tug on the wheel no matter what you're driving. Tread depth makes a huge diff. I could only drive the Intrepid about 35mph in rain on bald tires. It sometimes felt like the steering was disconnected; I had four to six inches of play in the steering with absolutly no response from the car.