Best Rain Tires
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
From: St. Cloud Florda
Best Rain Tires
Just got my dream Corvette and I drove it to Virginia for vacation to cure my fever but on my way back I encountered heavy rain and almost had to stop because the stock tires would not handle well in the rain.
I had to grab the steering wheel with my two hands and still I could not keep it on a straight line. The stock tires are Goodyear and I think they don't have good water displacement on them.
Can someone tell me the best tires to use. BTW, they are Run Flat tires.
I had to grab the steering wheel with my two hands and still I could not keep it on a straight line. The stock tires are Goodyear and I think they don't have good water displacement on them.
Can someone tell me the best tires to use. BTW, they are Run Flat tires.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,492
Likes: 808
From: West coast CA
Just got my dream Corvette and I drove it to Virginia for vacation to cure my fever but on my way back I encountered heavy rain and almost had to stop because the stock tires would not handle well in the rain.
I had to grab the steering wheel with my two hands and still I could not keep it on a straight line. The stock tires are Goodyear and I think they don't have good water displacement on them.
Can someone tell me the best tires to use. BTW, they are Run Flat tires.
I had to grab the steering wheel with my two hands and still I could not keep it on a straight line. The stock tires are Goodyear and I think they don't have good water displacement on them.
Can someone tell me the best tires to use. BTW, they are Run Flat tires.
The Goodyear Eagle GS-D3 is made specifically for rain, and it's available as a run-flat in Corvette sizes. However, it's getting on in years and it's unremarkable in the dry. I replaced mine with Michelin PS2 ZPs, which are great in both conditions.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 16,557
Likes: 2,108
From: Peoria/Phoenix AZ
C6 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
I've had OEM GY, Invos, and Mich A/S and none were great, but none were bad either. I recently got Bridgestone S-04 tires and while it hasn't rained in Phoenix since then, the tread design appears to be excellent as a rain tire.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
I live down in south Florida and my vette is a DD so lots of driving through the rain. On my last vette invos. Probably 30k miles on invos (not all in the rain) but they worked great. I have Michelin ps2 on this car(went from vert to coupe). They are also very nice in the rain but expensive. I would recommend either of the two but I'm buying some invos soon
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,220
Likes: 16
From: Sugarhill Ga
wide body or skinny
depends on what is available. A/s tires tend to have better wet traction, but the wider the tire the better chance for hydroplaing. Mich A/S are good but the get noisy. F-stone is the best value in the thin body, I run Bst Re11. On wide bodies you may want to look at mich PS2 or Bstn Re050
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
From: St. Cloud Florda
Thanks everyone for your quick reply. Although the tire I have right now only have 5,000 miles I think I'm going to replaced them with one of your recommendations.
Again, thanks
Again, thanks
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 14,999
Likes: 200
From: Bay Area Ca.
Last edited by Boomer111; Sep 21, 2013 at 08:36 PM.
Pro
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 670
Likes: 19
I was driving in the rain yesterday and today and these worked really good. don't know about the price as they were on the car when I bought it last month.
Tolero Apto Victum
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 9,669
Likes: 37
From: Woodlands TX
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 11,351
Likes: 2,445
From: Eastern
When I buy tires, I look at how wide the grooves are between the threads, and how wide the groves are leaving the threads on the edges of the tires.
We do a lot of road trips, and get caught in the occasional downpour and very wet roads.
I do know that the GY F1 Supercar tires with 1/2 worn threads were dangerous in the wet conditions. I run the firestone Firehawk WO tires, and they are an excellent rain tire, even when the thread is down to 1/3.
I wore out my first set of Firestones, and bought the exact same tire again.
BTW, I run the Non runflats Indy 500's instead of the RF Firestones.
We do a lot of road trips, and get caught in the occasional downpour and very wet roads.
I do know that the GY F1 Supercar tires with 1/2 worn threads were dangerous in the wet conditions. I run the firestone Firehawk WO tires, and they are an excellent rain tire, even when the thread is down to 1/3.
I wore out my first set of Firestones, and bought the exact same tire again.
BTW, I run the Non runflats Indy 500's instead of the RF Firestones.
Pro
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 532
Likes: 7
From: north vancouver british columbia
I have Toyo Proxes TR1's 345's in back and they hook even in heavy rain so hard the car actually lifts the front a bit, I dont understand it.
About 4X better grip off line than stock tires, it doesn't make any sense. I live in Vancouver, BC which is like Seattle for rain, so always raining, it's as I type this.
Example it could be raining so hard that I have my wiper on full speed and the tires still grip like as if it were dry outside unless I give it way too much from being silly then they let go and spin, but until they let go they grip like crazy.
best rain tire by far, and pretty good summer tire, summer not that amazing but rain they are.
About 4X better grip off line than stock tires, it doesn't make any sense. I live in Vancouver, BC which is like Seattle for rain, so always raining, it's as I type this.
Example it could be raining so hard that I have my wiper on full speed and the tires still grip like as if it were dry outside unless I give it way too much from being silly then they let go and spin, but until they let go they grip like crazy.
best rain tire by far, and pretty good summer tire, summer not that amazing but rain they are.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 41,732
Likes: 1,718
From: Springfield MO
Difficult to give recommendation so a tire if we don't know what model C6 you have. Base C6? Base C6 with Z51?. Grand Sport/Z06? 427 Convertible? ZR1?
They all use different size tires, which, in some cases, limits tire selection.
They all use different size tires, which, in some cases, limits tire selection.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,537
Likes: 1,404
From: Bethesda MD
I agree. I have invos and they are ok in the rain, but my vette will hydroplane much easier than any other car I've owned. Part of it may be do the fact that I have 275/325 on my car, which are wider than the base C6 tires.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,019
Likes: 2,712
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
On our previous C6 (2006, Z51) I had recently installed the Michelin PS2 runflats and then went to an autocross. At the beginning, it was raining and the course was wet with some puddles. I was really cleaning up on everyone, posting the quickest lap times in my class.
Then the rain stopped, the track dried out, and I was back to my normal middle-of-the-pack performance.
So the PS2 runflats work very well (for a wide sports car tire) in rain when new, but I don't have any data on how much of that wet grip they lose as the tread wears down.
Then the rain stopped, the track dried out, and I was back to my normal middle-of-the-pack performance.
So the PS2 runflats work very well (for a wide sports car tire) in rain when new, but I don't have any data on how much of that wet grip they lose as the tread wears down.