Experience with Rain
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 147
I haven't really driven my car in rain or very wet streets. How does the 2001 Automatic with 17's handle in the rain? My Camry was prone to hydroplane but I'm hoping the Max, with the wider tires, will be better.
I am sorry to say this, but the stock bridgestone Potenzas on the car really SUCK in the wet. Be really careful with them when it is raining. The sucky charactersitics are all attributable to the tires.....get better tires for better wet handling.... 
Well it's not the car that matters, it's what tires the car is riding on that matters. People say the stock 2000+ year maxima tires suck. So be carefull out there!
Originally posted by maximaman69
I haven't really driven my car in rain or very wet streets. How does the 2001 Automatic with 17's handle in the rain? My Camry was prone to hydroplane but I'm hoping the Max, with the wider tires, will be better.
I haven't really driven my car in rain or very wet streets. How does the 2001 Automatic with 17's handle in the rain? My Camry was prone to hydroplane but I'm hoping the Max, with the wider tires, will be better.
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 108
As a fairly conservative driver compared to our experts in the forum...(waiting to go past 10K to really open up) these tires are adequate at best. If you want a truly smooth ride check out some of the mods these guys list or do a search...there are tons of threads on this...
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,087
Originally posted by maximaman69
I haven't really driven my car in rain or very wet streets. How does the 2001 Automatic with 17's handle in the rain? My Camry was prone to hydroplane but I'm hoping the Max, with the wider tires, will be better.
I haven't really driven my car in rain or very wet streets. How does the 2001 Automatic with 17's handle in the rain? My Camry was prone to hydroplane but I'm hoping the Max, with the wider tires, will be better.
Originally posted by mbcp_tdogg
The stock Potenzas are horrible in the rain, that's why I got new wheels/tires in the first place. As for wider is better, my friend explained to me that wider is NOT better when it comes down to wet handling because there is more to slide around. Wider is better for dry handling. Can anyone else verify this?
The stock Potenzas are horrible in the rain, that's why I got new wheels/tires in the first place. As for wider is better, my friend explained to me that wider is NOT better when it comes down to wet handling because there is more to slide around. Wider is better for dry handling. Can anyone else verify this?
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 8,765
From: Westchester County, NY
Not quite. A good wet weather tire has alot of sipes to wick water away from the tread. Width of the tire really isn't a huge consideration. Most tires that have diagonal tread patterns do well in the wet weather, for example the Goodyear Eagle Aquatread.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,087
Originally posted by UMD_MaxSE
I don't know about rain, but it may be the same for snow. In snow, you don't want wide tires since a narrow tire will allow you to cut into the snow deeper giving better traction. Perhaps the same goes for rain?
I don't know about rain, but it may be the same for snow. In snow, you don't want wide tires since a narrow tire will allow you to cut into the snow deeper giving better traction. Perhaps the same goes for rain?
I think that was it. Thanks. 
Actually wider is worse for rain also. Tires are getting better and better every day but as the tire gets wider, it has to pump ALOT more water in order to keep the tire in contact to the ground. That's why even though utra-expensive cars like Porsche 911s, Vettes, Vipers, etcc... with really wide rear tires suck really bad in the rain(despite having untra expensive tires on them)
Originally posted by medicsonic
Not quite. A good wet weather tire has alot of sipes to wick water away from the tread. Width of the tire really isn't a huge consideration. Most tires that have diagonal tread patterns do well in the wet weather, for example the Goodyear Eagle Aquatread.
Not quite. A good wet weather tire has alot of sipes to wick water away from the tread. Width of the tire really isn't a huge consideration. Most tires that have diagonal tread patterns do well in the wet weather, for example the Goodyear Eagle Aquatread.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,087
Originally posted by Jeff92se
Actually wider is worse for rain also. Tires are getting better and better every day but as the tire gets wider, it has to pump ALOT more water in order to keep the tire in contact to the ground. That's why even though utra-expensive cars like Porsche 911s, Vettes, Vipers, etcc... with really wide rear tires suck really bad in the rain(despite having untra expensive tires on them)
Actually wider is worse for rain also. Tires are getting better and better every day but as the tire gets wider, it has to pump ALOT more water in order to keep the tire in contact to the ground. That's why even though utra-expensive cars like Porsche 911s, Vettes, Vipers, etcc... with really wide rear tires suck really bad in the rain(despite having untra expensive tires on them)
Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 110
From: Holly Springs, GA
RE92 Potenzas BITE 730s look good
Just ran up to Nashville from Atlanta and YES these things hydroplane like a MOTHER. Tennesse has ridiculous smooth concrete roads with nowhere for the water to go except under your tires. On TireRack.com the Potenza RE730 235/45 17s get EXCELLENT reviews, a 300 wear rating, Z SPEED RATING, almost an Aquatread tread pattern for $148 per copy. For that kind of change I am looking forward to spending 600 bucks on tires.
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