Hydroplaning with my Nitto Motivo

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We are having three big storms hit the Northwest this weekend. It's been raining pretty hard. The Motivo's isn't doing the job cutting through the water on the highway. This is the first tire on this car, that I have to drive with my guard up, while driving in the rain. They are unpredictable. The oem Pirelli P-Zero's were great in the rain. They lasted 20,000 miles. The Kumho 4X I had on my car for 8,000 miles before they were bought back were great in the rain. So far, I have 8,000 miles on the Motivo's. This weekend isn't the first time I have hydroplaned with these tires.

I have to drive 9 months in the rain here. I need a good solid rain tire. If these keep losing grip in the rain. I will have to fork out some money for a different tire. Discount's Black Friday sale is just around the corner.

motivo.jpg
 
Michelin Pilot Super Sport. SteveSRT8 and myself are both running them and they are AWESOME in the wet, they stick like epoxy.
 
If you want great wet performance you need summer tires and winter or all season for winter.
Acording to CR PSS are very good at wet braking and excellent in wet handling and hydroplanning. There are better wet tires out there:
F1 Asymmetric, P-Zero, Nokian zLine got excellent in all three wet categories.

Krzys
 
How is the cars alignment? Maybe the alignment was knocked out of spec when the previous tires were on the car. Many shops check alignment for no charge when adjustments are not needed.
 
Originally Posted By: jorton
How is the cars alignment? Maybe the alignment was knocked out of spec when the previous tires were on the car. Many shops check alignment for no charge when adjustments are not needed.


I get my car aligned after I get a new set of tires.
 
Originally Posted By: krzyss
If you want great wet performance you need summer tires and winter or all season for winter.
Acording to CR PSS are very good at wet braking and excellent in wet handling and hydroplanning. There are better wet tires out there:
F1 Asymmetric, P-Zero, Nokian zLine got excellent in all three wet categories.

Krzys


Tirerack lists the PSS as the best tire overall in the segment for the ones they tested:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/TireTestServlet?tireMake=Toyo_1

(they also have some good break-down graphs of their ratings here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/chartDisplay.jsp?ttid=162 )

My experience with them (previously had Toyo T1R's on the car) agrees.

Steve also has posted his experience with a few other tires in the segment and his opinion aligns with my own.

I'm sure the testing is also a bit vehicle dependant. What vehicle does CR use to test their tires? I don't have a subscription so I can't view the data. TR uses a 2012 BMW F30 328i Sedan.

It would appear as though their closest competitor would be the F1 (as you've noted as a good choice too). But I believe the nod goes to the PSS for the best tire overall. And yeah, I'm a bit biased because I'm running them, LOL
wink.gif
But they are the best UHP tires I've ever owned at this point.
 
Originally Posted By: Finklejag
We are having three big storms hit the Northwest this weekend. It's been raining pretty hard. The Motivo's isn't doing the job cutting through the water on the highway. This is the first tire on this car, that I have to drive with my guard up, while driving in the rain. They are unpredictable.

The Motivo is an all-season tire, right? As others pointed out, you're likely to get better wet performance out of a summer tire like the PSS.

But if you want to stick with an all-season tire, I highly recommend B-stone RE970. No hydroplaning issues at all. The previous RE960 that I had were good in that aspect as well. However, they don't last much longer than most summer tires, so you might as well just get a proper summer tire, unless you have no choice but to run them during winter.
 
We had to have guard up in the wet with our OE contis. Maybe not the kind of tires you want, but we drove through some substantial rainstorms right after (enough water to pop manhole covers), and we're really at ease.

Slowing down for the conditions also helps.
 
Interesting that both tires you previously had on the car were rated as having the best hydroplaning resistance by CR. Nitto was rated above average in this category, howevever,since this factor is so important to you I would choose one of the other tires that CR rated tops in this category: Nexen N7000, Hankook Ventus S1, Continental Ext. Contact DWS. Or put Pirelli's back on. They look like the best overall choice. FWIW I'm running the Cooper Zeon RS3-A and have not had any Hydroplaning issues.
 
CR uses a pair of Toyobaru ;-)
BRZ and FR-S.

When I visited their facility I was given a ride, sometimes sideways, over their track.

Krzys
 
Originally Posted By: Finklejag
Originally Posted By: jorton
How is the cars alignment? Maybe the alignment was knocked out of spec when the previous tires were on the car. Many shops check alignment for no charge when adjustments are not needed.


I get my car aligned after I get a new set of tires.


Detect a pattern here. Tires may still be OK. Hydroplaning issue came up after the current alignment was done.
 
FWIW, in CR's most recent tire tests, the Motivo was rated "fair" for wet braking, "good" for wet handling, and "very good" for hydroplaning.
 
Originally Posted By: krzyss
CR uses a pair of Toyobaru ;-)
BRZ and FR-S.

When I visited their facility I was given a ride, sometimes sideways, over their track.

Krzys


LOL! Sounds like a blast
cheers3.gif
 
I actually run the Motivo on the BMW. I agree, they are unpredictable in the rain.
BY FAR my favorite tires are the Michelin Pilot Super Sport (which I run on the Mercedes 300 Sport and the Jaguar XF) AND/OR Continental Extreeme Contact DW (Which I run on the Supercharged Jaguar SV8) Both these brands stick to the pavement like glue. I actually got 56,000 miles out of the last set of Super Sport (on the Benz), but the manager at Discount Tire assures me that is unusually high mileage for that brand.
The ONLY issue I have is how "hard riding" the Super Sport is in comparison to the Continental. They both offer great traction, but the Continental definately has a slightly quieter and "smoother" ride.
My 2 cents worth.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Finklejag
We are having three big storms hit the Northwest this weekend. It's been raining pretty hard. The Motivo's isn't doing the job cutting through the water on the highway. This is the first tire on this car, that I have to drive with my guard up, while driving in the rain. They are unpredictable.

The Motivo is an all-season tire, right? As others pointed out, you're likely to get better wet performance out of a summer tire like the PSS.

But if you want to stick with an all-season tire, I highly recommend B-stone RE970. No hydroplaning issues at all. The previous RE960 that I had were good in that aspect as well. However, they don't last much longer than most summer tires, so you might as well just get a proper summer tire, unless you have no choice but to run them during winter.



The last set of tires that felt this unpredictable were the Firestone's that came oem on my 05 Sentra. I actually got rid of them one month after I bought the car.

I have always ran all-seasons. I never had a problem until these Motivos. I had the RE960's on another car. They were great in the rain! The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 are getting good reviews. I don't really have $800+ for a new set. If these tires keep hyroplaning, then my safety will trump putting a set of tires on my credit card.
 
If the op wants amazing traction AND life from a summer formula, the PSS by Michelin is by far the most amazing tire I have ever driven on. It is almost as if the road is dry, the tire simply clings to the street!

Pricey, but if they last 30k miles they will DOUBLE the mileage of the last set I had from Hankook (Ventus V12).
 
Best tire in heavy, torrential, downpours that I have experienced, Goodyear Triple Treds. But only for the 1st 1/2 of tread life, and in that regard they were poor at best IME.
 
^^^me too^^^. pair of GY TTs on our van right now and they are scary good in the rain. They are about a year old.
 
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