The new RS3 Version 2 is much much MUCH better in the wet than the old ones. I just got new rears the other day, and in the rain last night at ~50F I found that the Version 2's give very good grip. Even when the older ones were newish, they had next to no grip in the wet in cool conditions. New ones are quite good, I really didn't expect such a big improvement.

BUT, I'm getting crazy noise now with the new tires. Sounds like both rear bearings, but it's more of a drone than a grinding noise (though I've been getting that too from the left rear since before new tires). Don't know if a tire is defective or if this new noise is just a "feature". Weird...

 

FWIW when I was headed to sebring back in june I had just put on new rs3 v2's. It happened to downpour for most of the trip (about 3 hours on interstate) and I was scared to see how they'd do after the stories of the old ones and they didn't skip a beat. Very happy with them.

 

comparing new tires in the wet wont be a good as test as slightly worn down tires in the wet.

Take 3/32nds off all of them and the numbers will probably look like this for placement

1.) RE11A
2.) Advan AD08R
3.) ZII
4.) RS3
5.) Rival


I have the RE11A and I've driven them in the rain with 4-5/32nds accross the tread and they were not scary. I think it's due to the greater amount of voids the tires has towards the inside of the contact patch which is stressed the most on a car that is carrying more than factory camber.

I wouldn't even consider the RS3 or Rival if I was going to do rain events. They just wont have enough tread void as they wear down.

 

For wet grip, as opposed to hydroplaning resistance, shouldn't make much difference. Any tire will have greater hydroplaning resistance when new, and next to none left when down to 2/32".

I was talking about wet grip and not hydroplaning resistance in comparing the RS3 V2 vs. the old RS3. New ones are in a totally different league.

Since hydroplaning resistance is purely a function of void ratio and circumferential grooves, I wouldn't put the RS3 behind the ZII. Probably more similar to the RE11A.

The two main circumferential grooves are a little smaller than the RE11A's, but it has two additional circumferential grooves. Not as many lateral grooves on the shoulders, though.

I've driven the older RS3s at the track in the rain and they were fine. The only weird thing was that they seemed to give up longitudinal drive grip more so than lateral grip when they broke loose on corner exit, which was appreciated That is, the car didn't break sideways as much as you'd expect when they did lose drive grip.

I DD'd on the old RS3s all the way down to the treadwear indicators, and never had any hydroplaning issues in the rain. The lack of grip from the compound was the major weak point. New ones are orders of magnitude better in that regard.

 

Agreed, definitely not ideal but in a state where it rains without warning or even a cloud in the sky, I want to make sure I'm prepared or can at least crawl my way home or to a place to wait out the rain.


When you say wet, do you mean wet track conditions or wet road (highway/street) conditions?

 

Wet road. The old ones had very little grip in the wet in coolish conditions on the street. At the track I didn't have a problem with them even in ~40ish temperatures in the rain. I was on RS3 rears with Z1 StarSpecs up front, and the car's handling was balanced (a surprise).

The new ones seem to have quite a lot of grip on the street at 50F ambient in the rain, where the old ones had very little grip in the same conditions.