driving in the rain

For some reason, I love driving my car in the rain. I even installed the louvers (from the spider version) on my blades for efficient and reliable high speed clearing ability.

Have to have tires in great condition though.

What about you? Are you afraid to?

 

I love it too... if only I had a B.

 

i try not to unless i don't have a choice or if i'm caught off guard.

i'm worried a little at the amount of water which directly goes into the engine area.... at that amount of heat from the engine area i doubt pouring cold water in there constantly is good, no? most cars with the engine in the front don't have that many slates above the hood to allow water in directly, especially onto the headers, etc.....

i was also advised to never wash the with a hot engine...let it cool down first....so if this theory( or myth?) is right, then driving in pouring rain would also be bad isn't it?

 

Hit 165mph once in rain on my old 355. Was rock solid.
Porsche 928 gts is the car you wanna drive in rain. It feels like a tank.

 

My 348 SS would melt.

 

Similar experience for me. I don't drive it in the rain often but it's incredibly good, especially with good rain tires. I ran one autocross in the wet and was the 2nd fastest non-awd car there, a trailered m3 race car was a tenth quicker. The other 3 cars quicker were 2 wrx's and an evo, none stock. I had the corvettes in my class covered by 2 or 3 seconds.

I've had no issues driving in the train, if anything it keeps stuff cooler in the engine bay which seems to be the real enemy of these cars.

 

I usually take trips 3-4 hours from home in my cars and I never look at the weather report in the driving season. My 355 spider doesn't leak a drop and I've driven in some pretty good down pours. I've got myself way too close to some serious hail though.
Driving them is always a joy but I don't think I enjoy the rain over sun and dry roads.
Snow and ice they get put up for the winter.

 

Love Speed in the rain, snow and dirt


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I don't take my car out in the rain or if it's likely to rain. However, if I'm out and the weather changes, I don't run home. That said, I've been caught in the rain a few times but there is nothing I like about it.

 

348 bridgestones had 50 % wear and caught in the rain. Not good!

 

I kind of preferred driving in the rain. The capabilities of most sports cars made in the last 20 or so years are just too high for the road, so a good downpour does a decent job of making things more interesting.

 

I drove for 1.5 days in 2 inches per hour rains, one time, on slicks!
The rain started an a hour after departure and lasted over 800 miles.

 

It doesn't rain in California except today it is pouring and that is all the news can talk about. See how nasty our sky looks? Yup that's right no rain at all.
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Ditto. And it takes time to clean her after a rain.

And my Ferrari's leak like sieves. Though since I applied the wheeler-dealer stuff-the-door-gasket-with flexible tubing trick...I've been wondering if it worked.

 

You are my hero of the day!
How was it?
I've considered driving to the track on slicks. Does that work ok for you? Does it seriously degrade them? (wear them out in one trip?)

 

Illegal.
Pete

 

Drive it all the time in the rain. Car gets tailhappy though, probably the tires that are on it.

 

yep when rain makes the news you live in a Hell of a place.

Enjoy them wild fires.

I was at Camp Peneldton back in 1994, sleeping in my poncholiner under the stars, I mean its southern California it never rains right! Wrong down poured what a miserable night.

 

When I picked up my 348 the roads were damp. I didn't test drive it before I handed over the money. But I entered the road sideways, intentionally, hopefully a symbol of our happy life together to come. I might even drive it in the rain again if I could get my heater to work.

 

Ferrari Fall Foliage Tour 2011 - Cars don't Melt, Torrential Rain, Rockslides, Mudslides and Snow, Movie by a guy in some car we passed entering Norwood CO

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrr0KVlH1jA[/ame]

 

Driving in the rain on slicks::
a) you never get a single moment of "brain" down time
b) you are completely frazzled after a couple hours
c) every puddle is like a snake springing up to bite you
d) the wind from trucks will blow you out of lane
e) if you blink, you may end up in the drink.....

For the trip mentioned above, these were actually street tires with 10K miles on them and less than 1/32 of an inch of groves left. {I had new tires waiting at the destination.} I have my suspension setup so that with my driving style, all 4 tires go slick within 100 miles of each other.
But in 2 inches per hour rain, they are no different than real slicks.

 

Interesting that you brought this up. I was on a 6 lanes highway buzzing along at my favourite cruise speed in my favourite fall weather, (warm with a sinister sky) and the rain just about to be unleashed. I had Rears that were due to be changed, in fact, I had them on order and was waiting for them. I passed some dude and his hot chick in a 911 variant with a victorious **** eating grin on my face and not 4 minutes later the rain comes down. With such fury that I seriously thought my Ex-Wife ordered it specially for me. Anyway, as you say above, the car turns from your trusty partner in crime to a murderous advesary when you have low tread. I immediately pull to the slow lane and begin driving at a crawling speed, same like those annoying Subaru and sub compact lefties do ( though they do it in the fast lanes). Anyway, said dude in his VW passes me with the same grin I had prior.

When the tires are good, I have no problem performance wise in the rain. If your tires are bad, take really good care because your car becomes a weapon.

 

Tim, it looks like you managed to dial out the push.

 

Had my alternator give up the ghost on the way back from Vegas road trip last summer. For the better part of an hour I went thru a torrential downpour in the mountains that was pretty gnarly.

To keep the battery life at max for as long as possible, I ran through the storm WITHOUT the windshield wipers on. (or any other electronics for that matter)

I use Continental DWS tires, and she handled fine even with the standing water on the road. At 75 MPH the water beaded off the windshield enough to see ok without the wipers.

Fun =]

- Pixel -