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Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in rain/wet surface losing control? Keep or switch?

blueskies925

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So I have the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires on my PP wheels on my '18 GT, and I almost lost complete control today when I was accelerating some-what hard on a sudden puddle I drove over (began to swing). Is this just a normal phenomenon for any car from going to immediate warm and dry surface, to a semi-long stretch of puddle? I realize I have the summer tires version and am considering getting the Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ since they're all seasons and I have noticed previously these tires aren't the best in rain conditions for me either. Is that the right move to make here? Also since I have 275/40/19 in the rear, what's the greatest tire size width I can move up to on my PP wheels? 285/35?
(Btw I only have around 12-13k miles on these tires)
Thank you for any feedback!
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1 old racer

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I am anal when it comes to tires. I dont depend on my tires in adverse conditions when they are at the end of their service life. and at 12-13k. I replaced mine at that point due to the time of year,(rainy season in SoCal), and tread wear left. I think it is just time. I ran a set of the 4S's as rain tires on my S2000 on the track and they were great. It is just time to let them go , and get a new set.
 
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Soulja4187

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Here in south Florida it rains everyday and I havent had any issues with these tires. I drive about 75 miles everyday. I put the car on rain/snow mode as soon as I see rain, also I don't do any hard acceleration. With any car that has power and a wet road you asking for trouble when you start accelerating hard when the conditions aren't right. Save your hard driving for better conditions.
 

Soulja4187

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I am anal when it comes to tires. I dont depend on my tires in adverse conditions when they are at the end of their service life. and at 12-13k. I replaced mine at that point due to the time of year,(rainy season in SoCal), and tread wear left. I think it is just time. I ran a set of the 4S's as rain tires on my S2000 on the track and they were great. It is just time to let them go , and get a new set.
Thats crazy the only reason you would replace these are 12-13k is if you started driving hard since you got the car. My buddy said that with normal driving and some messing around you can get 20-25k out of the rear tires.
 

m3incorp

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12-13k should be ok with those tires, unless they were track or burn out miles. These cars will spin easily on dry roads, so I wouldn't push it on wet roads. Your tires probably behaved normally. There is a reason the car has rain/snow mode. I hate to say this, but common sense comes in to play also. You can have the best tires in the world and they can not compensate for the lack of common sense.....we have all seen the videos.
 

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shogun32

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the rear end came around on me at 20mph on a wet wood bridge that had raised round-head lag bolts holding the beams when I applied power. On practically new PS4S tires. Time and Place, Time and Place. Drum it thru your skull.
 

Dana Pants

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PS4S is one of the best rain tires out there. If the rubber feels hard or is getting thin, then get new ones or continental extreme contact sports. Otherwise, get better at driving.
 

Mach VII

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Were your tires warmed up? I find that performance tires in general want some heat in them before they perform properly, on cold days I watch pressures and drive reserved until they come up a couple of pounds....
 

NightmareMoon

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13k is aged a bit, you may be at half tread I'm guessing and grip will be less than new tires because of heat cycles hardening the rubber compounds.... but MP4S are top notch warm/wet tires when new. They don't like near freezing+wet as much as some all seasons, but in warmer temps (60+) you won't find better. In standing water, having less tread depth on aged tires is going to decrease their ability to move water out the way. You may not entirely hydroplane, but the way standing water tries to lift the tire off the ground, you will have less traction available for things like accelerating, as you've discovered.

I have to ask, how fast where you going when you hit the standing water?

Next time, don't be stubborn, pay attention to the conditions and lift before you hit a spot which is clearly going to have less traction.

285/35 would be an ok fit for the rear tires, but wider is actually worse for wet conditions due to hydroplaning factors, so going wider won't solve for that.
 

Bluemustang

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the rear end came around on me at 20mph on a wet wood bridge that had raised round-head lag bolts holding the beams when I applied power. On practically new PS4S tires. Time and Place, Time and Place. Drum it thru your skull.
Yeah, you need to be aware of conditions and what the car can and cannot do. It's a machine in real-world conditions. There are clear limitations. When you know what those are you are less tempted to test them.
 

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Bluemustang

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I completely lost traction in the wet (no standing water) on a very deliberate 2nd gear pull with my 305 RE71R which are supposedly very good in the wet as long as there's no standing water. I suspect it may be due to oils from other cars on the road that I couldn't see. Be careful in the wet, people. I've seen enough hydroplaning Mustangs crash.
 

Elp_jc

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First of all, all-season tires will absolutely be better in the wet than summer tires; no question about that. Having said that, the PS4Ss are the best summer rain tire you can buy... but as somebody else already mentioned, your tires are at least half-worn already, so wet performance is significantly decreased from new. Also important is summer tires need heat to have grip. You didn't mention ambient temperature at that time, but I bet it played a role as well. When summer tires are not up to temperature (and even worse when cold), they can break traction suddenly, even when new. Finally, A/S tires also have deeper threads than summer ones, and more of them (on a same sized tire), so they can evacuate a lot more water than summer tires. The obvious drawback is they have less ultimate grip, so you have to choose your poison :). The best category of tires for a powerful car that won't be tracked is ultra-high-performance-all-season tires IMO, like the Pilot A/S3+, and now the new A/S4. They have all the grip you need on canyon runs, last much longer, are cheaper and quieter, and better in the cold and rain. I'll get those next.
 

NightmareMoon

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A/S3+ better than an MP4S in warm/wet? I don’t think so (... hold my beer). 4S uses a wet weather tread compound across a good chunk of the tread. Have to drop the temps to turn the tide to the all-seasons.

Snow is a no go for the 4S, and summers can crack in certain cold conditions. For Florida and other southen regions there’s no need to run an all season on a sports car, if you can avoid driving in snow.
 

obgod3

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Ive been driving my 4S’s (OEM First Set) for the last year and half here in NC, plenty of rain. I dont purposely drive it in the rain but get caught sometimes, I have other cars to drive. Ive had no issues, but I drive it like a mini van in those conditions. I just replaced the fronts at 24K and got a couple 10ths left on the rears. Ive driven through some of those cant see in front of you storms and they did fine. Like others have said you gotta go easy in those conditions.
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