v8srfun

Who ever has trouble driving in the rain in a c5 needs a driver mod. I drove a 2700 pound car that made 360 horses at the wheels with 411 gears and a welded diff with no issues daily. If you can't handle your c5 in the rain you are the problem not your tires.

Forcedvert

Some can't handle it on dry roads goosing at around the corner. i'm not going to post that link to the green Corvette convertible again
Got to know your limitations as well as the cars.

msandym

Did you get one yet ?

grampi50

When I do, everyone on this site will know about it...

captaineddie

v8srfun

Scylla

I daily my 2001 coupe, or did until I broke my hand last week... Driving a stick shift with only your left hand is rough... So no fun for me for a few weeks. Anyway if you leave traction control on, your C5 is perfectly safe in the rain. The TC kills power whenever tires start to spin, so while I wouldn't say its especially fun to drive in the rain, you wont have any unusual problems. I commute Highway 17 in northern CA, so I would definitely know if it was dangerous, it was a very rainy winter. My C5 feels boring and planted and automated with TC on in the rain.

ErikwithAK01

Take pictures in the rain

BigBossMY03Z

I hardly think you have enough info to make an assessment about me or how I drive. I merely asked the question because my preference is to punch it a few times while driving, that doesn't even mean a high speed run or going all the way through a gear. I short shift fairly early, so I'm not building up that much speed.

I used to drive a Mustang GT in the rain, I was always pretty easy on the gas. It was my only car and I still had issues with the back end sliding around in slippery conditions when I absolutely was not making any effort to accelerate that quickly. Some here say "it's just a Corvette" but at least they're a tier higher than anything like a Mustang, which I cared for but not so much that I wouldn't drive it in the rain. It was also far cheaper, so much easier to not obsess over.

Not sure when in the world it changed where people always go to the extremes when someone makes any comment that someone can extrapolate whatever they want out of it. I drive my car reasonably even in prime weather, I'm not hitting triple digits on a busy highway or doing anything irresponsible that endangers myself or anyone else on the road. I guess if I'm not granny shifting and in 5th gear at 35 mph I'm some punk tearing up the road...

ErikwithAK01

Yeah, if I drive like a commuter in my econo box, why the f%$& would I want to drive that way in my street machine? How else am I going to feed my hedonistic tendencies

The Corvette community is unusual in the fact that we have such a disproportionately large number of show only cars, garage queens, and old folks that are done with the crazy stuff anyways, so people's opinions are all over the map. Just because most people drive their Vette like a Corolla, doesn't mean I don't drive mine the way it was designed to be driven. We are all part of the same enthusiast community here afterall. Community goes both ways too; if you are nice to me, I will return the sentiment. If you're a judgemental dick, you better believe you're gonna get it in return. So just leave it at the door, yeah?

Don't hate, congratulate

chasboy

I love my car. I "superclean" it for a couple of shows each season, but the true enjoyment is driving. It will be beautiful and no matter the level of detail. In addition, wet driving provides a different learning environment for how the car behaves.

dbgoodwin

The point is that you shouldn't be having these issues with traction, even with spirited driving in the rain. Driving in the rain should be pretty similar with good tires, the issue comes when you don't have good tires, or have tires that aren't suited for the rain. If your car makes big power and you put a tire on designed for MAX traction and grip in the dry, then you may have issues in the rain. If your car is stock or anywhere under 500 horsepower you probably don't need a tire like that, which means you shouldn't have a car that wants to only kick the back end out in the rain.

Flat out, if your car is struggling to keep the back end in check when not accelerating hard in the wet, your tires are a problem, your driving is a problem, or you have some other vehicle related PROBLEM. Emphasis on the word PROBLEM.

hdrider1

Your comment about suitable tires was exactly the point I was making about both of my former stock C5's being dangerous to drive in the rain. The stock Goodyear Runflats offered very little traction on wet roads, however the stock Michelin Runflats on my Stock C-6 do a very capable job on wet roads. I suspect if I would have switched the Goodyears to Michelins on my C-5's that they no longer would feel like a Deathwish driving in the rain. It's unfortunate that GM chose such a poor tire to put on the C-5.

BigBossMY03Z

The question was more hypothetical than in practice, since as a practice I don't go driving it in the rain. I was hoping to possibly change that in some manner, but regardless of judgement here I don't see a good enough reason to drive it over my truck when it's nasty out. I have brand new Continental ExtremeContact DW tires on it, but sometimes tires aren't everything. My truck has a good set of Goodyears on it and it very readily tries to scoot the back end out in the rain, but I do have 4WD to mitigate it when the rain is especially heavy.

dbgoodwin

The DW's are awesome in the wet, that's been my favorite tire on any vehicle i've ever owned. You will have absolutely no problems in the rain on those tires, my car has seen many 6000 rpm shifts in the wet using those tires, and still can see heavy throttle in the wet even after 30,000 miles without being a safety liability or causing the rear end to get loose.

dbgoodwin

Also, a truck is a bad comparison. I have a 22re toyota pickup with maybe 100 foot pounds of torque. I just put on a new set of tires, and I can still light up the rears without much effort in the rain. Its never bad enough that I need to use 4wd on wet pavement, but the weight balance of trucks make them pretty bad for wet pavement.

I promise your corvette will do 10 times better on wet pavement than your truck.

jackthelad

Mine were very good wet or dry when new (talking OEM run flats here) but after a couple of years and 20k miles or so they were "slippery when wet", and noticeably noisier, so they went.

BigBossMY03Z

I kinda don't doubt you, but I don't mind the truck getting a bit dirty. I'm less OCD about cleaning it the way I am the Vette (Even though my truck was much pricier for me to buy than my Z06 was). Go figure...I have so much torque that the truck (another 20 lb ft than the Z06) that it does very easily break loose, so I have to have a very judicious foot to keep it under control. It's what made me think the Vette would be even worse, but to think on it the better weight balance probably helps even though the fatter tires are a bit more prone to hydroplaning.

ArtClassShank

Hydroplaning is an issue for sure. On the bright side, in some torrential downpours, with maxed out stock bolts, the front air dam starts to plow water. Breaking that surface tension must be doing something, right?

SG Lou

Not true....your comment There are pages of threads where C5s get wet and it leads to major problems. Not the best rain car. is just your opinion. As long as the INTERIOR on the passenger side doesn't get soaked you'll be fine and the only way it will get wet is if you have leaks, which can easily be addressed and repaired.