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2019 Base GT350 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s in the Rain?

19GT350

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Hi Everyone,

I know the Cup 2s are best suited for the track, but does anyone here have any experience with them in the rain that you can share? I’m looking to buy a new set of wheels with Michelin Pilot Super Sports for my daily driving, so I’m just trying to gauge how urgent this is with the start of our 'rainy season' possibly a month or two off.

Thank you in advance!

Don
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db252

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Not a tire you want to trust in the rain or standing water even in our weaker rains compared to many other states. I keep my cup2’s for track only and have run Conti’s and now have a set of ps4s waiting to go on after those wear out a bit more for the daily duty.
 

03reptile

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I had the Cup 2's on my 19 for just under 1000 miles. Replaced them with all season tires. Drove it in the rain several times. I was surprised that they are quite good in the rain! Played with it a little in corners and it stuck very well. The rain events were pretty substantial and I really had no hydro-plane indications. I think they would be fine in rainy conditions, just not when it gets colder.
 

IronSooner

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I drove on them in the rain. I was cautious and didn’t take the highway, side streets only. Had zero issues. If there was pooling water you might hit at speed, I’d caution against it, not just due to the tires but the undercarriage aero bits as well. A light rain with no standing water, you’re probably good.
 

firestarter2

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Hi Everyone,

I know the Cup 2s are best suited for the track, but does anyone here have any experience with them in the rain that you can share? I’m looking to buy a new set of wheels with Michelin Pilot Super Sports for my daily driving, so I’m just trying to gauge how urgent this is with the start of our 'rainy season' possibly a month or two off.

Thank you in advance!

Don
They will kill you in standing water.
 

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JAJ

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I was reading some track performance tire tests from the UK a while back and one of the tests was hydroplaning. Basically, by 80 MPH, they all do it. Most were somewhere in the 70's but some were as low as 65 MPH.
 

Demonic

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It's difficult to answer since everyone will have a different definition of "ok" in the rain. I've gotten caught in rain numerous times in my R cup 2's (which if I recall have even less tread depth than the standard GT350 Cup 2's), including torrential down pour a couple times. I would never advocate driving in the rain on them, but it is possible to get home safely. The thing is you can't drive on them like normal tires. They hydroplane constantly, and you learn to read the water on the road and counter-steer as you go over large puddles. The couple times I was on a highway in a heavy rain I had my hazard flashers on and was going 40mph in the slow lane. Again, not a situation you ever want to be in, but it is driveable. I wouldn't stress over immediately switching out the tires just so you can enjoy the car, but just be smart about checking the weather forecast before you leave and realizing that the farther away from home you'll be driving the farther you have to drive back if it rains. In my case I was driving my car 1600 miles home from the dealership, so I didn't have much of a choice.
 

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I was driving on a main highway from Montana to Washington state this last weekend and hit a storm. The tires I thought were doing fine and I hit a spot where there was just a bit of standing water and damn I felt it :) I slowed down a bit after that and kept it under 70 watching carefully for any sign of standing water. My experience was that any standing water can present problems, quickly.
 

firestarter2

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I was reading some track performance tire tests from the UK a while back and one of the tests was hydroplaning. Basically, by 80 MPH, they all do it. Most were somewhere in the 70's but some were as low as 65 MPH.
What do you mean they all do it??? Hes not comparing them to other track tires he's comparing them to MPSS which are much better

I had the Cup 2's on my 19 for just under 1000 miles. Replaced them with all season tires. Drove it in the rain several times. I was surprised that they are quite good in the rain! Played with it a little in corners and it stuck very well. The rain events were pretty substantial and I really had no hydro-plane indications. I think they would be fine in rainy conditions, just not when it gets colder.
No offense but this is reckless advice on Cup 2s.
 

JAJ

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What do you mean they all do it??? Hes not comparing them to other track tires he's comparing them to MPSS which are much better...
My comments were specifically about how tires like MPSC2's behave. Yes, MPSS's are better - at a track day two weeks ago I was doing 91MPH in the rain on my MPSS's and all was well. As the rain got heavier, I backed it off to about 80 - 85. I wouldn't do that even on new MPSC2's.
 

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NOT ALL CUP 2 TIRES ARE THE SAME !!!!

The bespoke 2019 GT350 Cup 2 is designed to be more in line with the 2015-18 bespoke GT350 Pilot Super Sport in terms of wet grip and hydroplane resistance than the more track-focused GT350R's Cup 2.

Meanwhile, a Corvette C7 Z06 Cup 2 has a very shallow tread depth and aggressive compounding and tread design that has very poor cold, wet, and hydroplaning resistance.

Think of the 2019 GT350 Cup 2 like the old bespoke PSS. If that tire is not offer enough in terms of wet performance or daily-driveablility, you can look at an off the shelf PS4S or Continental ExtremeContact Sport if you want to give up dry performance, feel and handling for an increase in wet performance. You won't get much better than the PS4S or ECS in terms of deep water wet performance. You'll also probably get worse wet performance than the factory Cup 2 by going with a 'summer tire' that's not a PS4S or ECS.

For most people, the factory 2019 Cup 2 is perfectly fine for a daily driver since that's what it was designed for. Do not be afraid of driving on them because you think they are equivalent to a Z06 or GT350R Cup 2. FWIW I drive a GT350R on it's more aggressive Cup 2s in the rain here in FL. It's not ideal, but you're far better off in a 2019 GT350 with it's street focused Cup 2 tires.
 

Bulldogs22

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NOT ALL CUP 2 TIRES ARE THE SAME !!!!

The bespoke 2019 GT350 Cup 2 is designed to be more in line with the 2015-18 bespoke GT350 Pilot Super Sport in terms of wet grip and hydroplane resistance than the more track-focused GT350R's Cup 2.

Meanwhile, a Corvette C7 Z06 Cup 2 has a very shallow tread depth and aggressive compounding and tread design that has very poor cold, wet, and hydroplaning resistance.

Think of the 2019 GT350 Cup 2 like the old bespoke PSS. If that tire is not offer enough in terms of wet performance or daily-driveablility, you can look at an off the shelf PS4S or Continental ExtremeContact Sport if you want to give up dry performance, feel and handling for an increase in wet performance. You won't get much better than the PS4S or ECS in terms of deep water wet performance. You'll also probably get worse wet performance than the factory Cup 2 by going with a 'summer tire' that's not a PS4S or ECS.

For most people, the factory 2019 Cup 2 is perfectly fine for a daily driver since that's what it was designed for. Do not be afraid of driving on them because you think they are equivalent to a Z06 or GT350R Cup 2. FWIW I drive a GT350R on it's more aggressive Cup 2s in the rain here in FL. It's not ideal, but you're far better off in a 2019 GT350 with it's street focused Cup 2 tires.
Thank you for posting this again. Ive made several posts as well about this and people should realize the factory cup 2 indeed has the same rain rating from Michelin as the previous PSS but with more grip.
 

03reptile

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What do you mean they all do it??? Hes not comparing them to other track tires he's comparing them to MPSS which are much better


No offense but this is reckless advice on Cup 2s.
Read post #11. The Cup 2's rubber compound for the GT350 (only) was designed by Michelin to have acceptable and safe wet weather characteristics. And as said in a previous post, all tires have susceptibility to hydroplaning given certain circumstances or water depth on the surface of the wet pavement. I hardly call my wet weather experiences with the Cup 2's "reckless advise"! Theses tires are OEM tires for all 2019 MY GT350's. Do you think FMC's legal responsibility staff would agree with providing a tire that was dangerous to the customer in wet weather?
 

firestarter2

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NOT ALL CUP 2 TIRES ARE THE SAME !!!!

The bespoke 2019 GT350 Cup 2 is designed to be more in line with the 2015-18 bespoke GT350 Pilot Super Sport in terms of wet grip and hydroplane resistance than the more track-focused GT350R's Cup 2.

Meanwhile, a Corvette C7 Z06 Cup 2 has a very shallow tread depth and aggressive compounding and tread design that has very poor cold, wet, and hydroplaning resistance.

Think of the 2019 GT350 Cup 2 like the old bespoke PSS. If that tire is not offer enough in terms of wet performance or daily-driveablility, you can look at an off the shelf PS4S or Continental ExtremeContact Sport if you want to give up dry performance, feel and handling for an increase in wet performance. You won't get much better than the PS4S or ECS in terms of deep water wet performance. You'll also probably get worse wet performance than the factory Cup 2 by going with a 'summer tire' that's not a PS4S or ECS.

For most people, the factory 2019 Cup 2 is perfectly fine for a daily driver since that's what it was designed for. Do not be afraid of driving on them because you think they are equivalent to a Z06 or GT350R Cup 2. FWIW I drive a GT350R on it's more aggressive Cup 2s in the rain here in FL. It's not ideal, but you're far better off in a 2019 GT350 with it's street focused Cup 2 tires.
Performance in rain is about tread depth and the tread pattern. The compounding has less to do with it. A better SC2 is still not a good wet tire. If you want push your car in the rain and ball it up go ahead.
 

NoXiDe

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Good day everyone,

According to tirerack.com, it's still a 305/35ZR19. The 2019 GT350 do show an option for Pilot Sport Cup 2 and that their FP Specs. Interestingly enough, these tires are 40 dollars more expensive on the front and 10 dollars cheaper on the rear than the Cups from the 350R. I assume it's because of the wet compound support that are in these tires. According to the article there stating it handles the same as the PSS in the wet and offer the same hydroplaning prevention results. I'd say at this point, you'd be dummy to give these tires away.
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