>From my own experience during monsoon rain storms here in Florida, the stock 13" steelies did an "okay" job keeping the car planted on the road. After I lowered the suspension on Eibach Pro Kit springs and put the 205/50 R-15 Koenig rims on, the car had a horrible time driving through any slicks of water at high speed- felt like a crazy crabwalk.
Willy- you're right on the money 'cause it turned out to be the alignment. Once I had a 4-wheel alignment done, the car now tracks straighter than ever, *but* if I fly through standing water at speeds above 55mph (not that I ever go faster than 55mph :P) the car loses traction like it's floating on the wider tires and starts going diagonally towards the lower shoulder. Here's the interesting point- all I have to do to recover is a series of quick tap-tap-tap's on the brake pedal and the car corrects back to a straight path almost instantly. This is George's home-brew anti-lock brakes :). George '89 DX-Hybrid-D16Z6, 128k miles "Sweeeeeeet to drive" > > Actually, the tire/wheel "size" does matter a little. The WIDER the tire's foot print, the more it dissapates the weight, just Kuhn said. So you wouldn't really need a taller wheel/tire, but maybe a more narrow one, so that less weight is distributed, and the tire 'cuts' through the water faster. This is much more apparent in mud and snow conditions, but does pertain to wet conditions as well. So take that into consideration, and then that tread information is also vital as well... > I had a 93 MR2, that was TERRIBLE on ANY kind of adverse conditions. I finally realized that it was HORRIBLY out of alignment..You could get that checked. Once adjusted, it was a champ! > The stock size should be just fine. Your tires are probably very worn, or just have poor weather handling condition. You can check out ratings for different tires at http://www.tirerack.com. When you go through the whole picking tires routine, and you are looking at the list of PICTURED tires, the name just to the right of the tires picture should be a link that you can click on, to view the individual area's rating: > Dry traction, WET TRACTION, hydro resistance, snow traction, cornering ability, steering response, ride comfort, noise comfort, and tread wear. It's very easy to read and understand. > That way you can find the tire that best suits your needs, not just what the shop has that they are trying to push, and tell you they are the BEST out there. > > Willy > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now
