rains/intermediate tire suggestions?
 

Looking to get set up for tires this season. I live in the Pacific NW. It rains, a lot!

With my past race car, I had a wider selection of tires and ended up using Hoosier dirt stockers for a flooded track and then used Kumho victor racers or full tread Toyo Ra1's for an intermediate tire.

With the miata, It looks like it's either Hoosier H2O's or Toyo's R888. I've never run on these. Does anyone have feedback? Do they go away if the rain stops like the dirt stockers would? How does the grip compare to the ones I'd used in the past?

What do you all use for rains on the miata?

I use full tread Toyo R1R's and love them, but I'm rarely trying to be super competitive in the rain for various reasons. I've heard good things about Ho-Ho H20's, but I've also heard they will get destroyed if it dries up.

There's no comparison between Hoosier Wets and, well, anything. The only better rain tire is a hand-grooved Conti radial slick or something similar. If you are serious about running in the rain, get a set - if you're not so serious, go with full-tread RA-1s.

The difference between Wets and RA-1s is like the difference between a Hoosier R80 and a Hankook RS-3.

R1R full thread for now.... Hoosier H2O maybe soon

The new H2O Wets are in a word AMAZING!!!!! The first time you drive on them you will forget everything you ever knew about driving in the rain. There would have to be standing water over a significant portion of the course/track before I would use them. For "damp" conditions I still stick with a "full tread depth" A6. I have heard good things about a full read R1R in the rain but if your class allows you to run the "Purple Crack" DOOO IT!!!!

You make a good point about A6's... the last couple times I've been to the track I brought R6's and full tread R1R's. The problem is when its wet & cool (but no standing water) the R1R's aren't necessary but the R6's wont warm up (being 275's doesn't help). I guess I need to bring A6's as well :/

As a result of testing by others I've found this

H2O > Continental DW (not DWS) > R1R

In a downpour the COnti may be better than the hoosier but that's rare.

What I like about the continental is they are like $450/set shipped in a 205/50-16 :)

The Hoosier H2O is available in "SM" spec in 205/50-15, at a $50 discount per tire than the normal H2O price (same with the SM6 (R6 dry tire)).

This is the Spec Miata discount. I'm not sure how the wets are marked, but the sidewall of the "SM6" has SM6 on it, but is otherwise exactly the same as a 205/50-15 R6.

I would think that 205/50-15 is a great wet-tire size for even high-hp Miatas.

These tires can only be purchased at the track or through one of the tire distributors that provides track-side support at SCCA and/or NASA events.

http://www.hoosiertire.com/specmiata.htm

H20 whets in the rain are just freekin amazing. It is really strange how freakishly good they feel with progressive brake away characteristics while going through standing water. More predictable and easy to control than most dry tires are in the dry.

I recently did an SCCA race in the rain. Watched the SM class where half the class stepped up to the Hoosers and half were still using full tread RA-1. The Hoosier H20 cars with top level drivers were ~ 2 to 3 seconds faster the top level drivers on full tread RA-1’s in full wet conditions.

Full tread they need standing water puddles and rain falling. On a just a fully damp track they start to go off quickly and you have to find puddles to drive through to keep them working good and not destroying themselves. I’m not sure how much good shaving them would help intermediate performance.

Bob

Do you run these 205 on 15x7 or 15x8 ?

8s or 9s.

I run the 225 45 15 H20 Wet on the 15x9 6UL's.
Here is a stack of 225 45 15 H2Os on 15x9's beside a set of 275 35 15 A6's on 15x10's for reference. As stated above...the Hoosier H20's are AMAZINGLY good and a significant upgrade to the previous generation Hoosier WET.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1337211168

And here is an unmounted 225 45 15 H2O beside a 275 35 15 A6.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1337211168

How are the H2O when the track dries up ? I remember seeing guys here destroying the wets on these condition.

R1R are gone, I need another rain set. Browsing between RA-1 and H2O. Hoosier are for sure quicker but I can't afford a set every race if they die when the track isn't damp enough.

No proper rain tire will survive even one race in dry conditions.

What he said. If it were dry to drying, I would bet a H2O would be chunked and worthless before the end of one race.

An H20 will have the knobs flying off before dry patches even start showing up if used for much more than a 30 second run. It needs puddles.

What is interesting is I ran them in a Pro Solo last weekend and they were pretty close to the same level of grip weather it was pouring down rain and splashing through puddles or a drying track. It's almost like they get greasy feeling when the puddles go away.

One thing I do not know however is how well they become intermediats when shaved first. my experiance is with full tread depth.

Bob

Very positive results with R1Rs in 224/45R15 in the rain. I started 23psi cold. When it dries up you don't need to swap right away, although in the dry they do heat up quickly.