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Top quality "low, wide" tires do fine in bad weather. I'm running 245/40-19 summer tires on my car and they work wonderfully in the rain. I switch to 255/40-19 winter tires when the weather turns cold and have zero issues on ice or snow.
I applaud your decision to run winter tires. Too many people don't realize that "all-season" really means "no-season".
Yup. While you can find specific summer tires that do not do well in the rain, generally DOT legal race tires basically, the majority of summer tires perform terrific in the rain, far better than either a winter or worse yet an all-season tire will. All-season tires generally perform terribly in the train. What summer tires don't do is cold. It's mild enough here I've run them year round in the past and just been cognizant that for a few months the mornings are often really too cold to be running summer tires.
i never have a problem running all season tires, winter or summer. and i have driven in the winters of pittsburg, and shenandoah national park, and the summers in arizona, as well as the winter in arizona at the grand canyon and flagstaff.
Don't forget that your effective traction will also depend on "when" it started raining - in addition to the depth of the water.
When it first starts raining, the oils accumulated on the road surface will not yet have been washed off and the oil mixed in with the rain will make traction much worse.
My wife hit a big puddle at 45 mph and lost it. She went off the road, hit the edge of a ditch and rolled twice ending up on her side. She missed a telephone pole by a few feet. Nothing but bruises but car was totaled. Michelin tires had 3/32 left on them. Bad thing was that I was going to replace them a week later during my Thanksgiving break. Cop gave her a ticket for going too fast for conditions. It had just finished pouring. Cop said good tires would have ended up with same result because of her speed and depth and width of puddle.
Don't forget that your effective traction will also depend on "when" it started raining - in addition to the depth of the water.
When it first starts raining, the oils accumulated on the road surface will not yet have been washed off and the oil mixed in with the rain will make traction much worse.
This is an excellent point.
I'd never thought about this much, growing up in NE Kansas and Iowa where it rains regularly, but after moving to west Texas I discovered how "greasy" roads get when you mix just a little water with that oil on the road! After a good rain the pavement will again be clean and safe, but that first little sprinkle after a month or more of dry weather can be treacherous.
It was raining and I was in the center lane and was driving under the speed limit, went through a curve and then suddenly hydroplaned and suddenly spun out. The car turned 180 degrees, the front of my car ended up facing traffic as I ended up on the shoulder. Luckily there was nobody behind me...there was a big line of traffic further back. It was a miracle that the car didn't hit the guard rail.
I just recently bought the car and the tires have 35,000 miles on them. I did the Penny test and can see most (but not all) of Lincoln's head. Should I be replacing the tires? Figured I would get 50k out of them but after this I think maybe it would be best to just replace them now. The mechanic who did the PPI didn't recommend changing the tires when I first bought the car. Another mechanic that I know said they should be good for awhile longer. I don't think I was going too fast as I had never done this in decades of driving. I do remember hitting a puddle a month or so ago with the same car. It hydroplaned for a split second but I was able to regain control right away.
I am going to get new tires just to be safe but is it normal for original tires to not last beyond 35k miles?
What are your tire pressures set to? Low pressure makes hydroplaning occur at lower speeds.
Stop messing with Lincoln's head....tread depth is not measured with a penny it is measured with a measuring tool. If you google your tire make and brand you can learn what depth they were new.
Don't forget that your effective traction will also depend on "when" it started raining - in addition to the depth of the water.
When it first starts raining, the oils accumulated on the road surface will not yet have been washed off and the oil mixed in with the rain will make traction much worse.
That happens quite often around toward the end of summer when the rain comes in Sacramento, CA. Since it does not rain for long periods of time during the summer, oil that drops on the roads from leaky engines and other components, make the roads very sleek at the turns as soon as it rains. This was the case in the early '80s when I lived there, so i have no idea if it's still the same these days.
It was raining and I was in the center lane and was driving under the speed limit, went through a curve and then suddenly hydroplaned and suddenly spun out. The car turned 180 degrees, the front of my car ended up facing traffic as I ended up on the shoulder. Luckily there was nobody behind me...there was a big line of traffic further back. It was a miracle that the car didn't hit the guard rail.
I just recently bought the car and the tires have 35,000 miles on them. I did the Penny test and can see most (but not all) of Lincoln's head. Should I be replacing the tires? Figured I would get 50k out of them but after this I think maybe it would be best to just replace them now. The mechanic who did the PPI didn't recommend changing the tires when I first bought the car. Another mechanic that I know said they should be good for awhile longer. I don't think I was going too fast as I had never done this in decades of driving. I do remember hitting a puddle a month or so ago with the same car. It hydroplaned for a split second but I was able to regain control right away.
I am going to get new tires just to be safe but is it normal for original tires to not last beyond 35k miles?
One time that happened to my on I-8 in San Diego. I don't think it's necessarily indicative of bad tires. Once you start hydroplaning, the car can go anywhere. Anyway, I was driving in the rain in the middle lane of I-8. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, my car did a complete 360 and then continued going forward in the same lane. Very weird. There were cars all around me and I could have been killed.
You could also be driving too fast. There may not be anything wrong with the tires.
It's a possibility but I don't think I was, it happened so fast I can't remember though.
I've been driving for decades and haven't had any issues with hydroplaning in the rain until buying car a couple months back.
First time it happened was on a 2 lane highway, went through a puddle, but didn't lose control. This time I lost control and spun out.
Tires still have some tread left (I think 4/32 - I can see almost all of Washington's head when inserting a quarter).
It hasn't been icy enough to test in the ice yet but if it's doing this in the rain then it can be worse in the snow/ice.
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