Rain tires. RA-1's ?

#1

Are RA-1’s unshaven the best choice for very wet conditions? Are they allowed as a rain tire for 2014? I’m about to spring for a wet weather set of tires so any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks in advance
John

#2

Yes and yes.

#3

I was considering having a sticker set of R1s on hand as rains instead of full tread RA1s. I’d be screwed in heavy rain with lots of standing water, but I might decide not to race in those conditions anyway, even with full tread RA1s. I’d work the R1s into the dry rotation as they got used. thoughts?

#4

The R1’s not being legal for SpecE30, I don’t know anything about them.

“Retiring” your rain tires by turning them into dry tires may or may not work well. Hard to predict. I carried one set of rain tires around for 4yrs and they were barely used. I would not have been tempted to take tires with too much tread and hardened by age and race on them as dry tires. They’d have been ok for DE’s tho.

#5

my typo: meant RRs, not R1

RRs would be my choice for a damp track or light rain, but I don’t have enough rain experience to know when they’d no longer be a viable option. for example - wet track, steady rain, but little or no standing water. which tire do you choose - RA1s or fresh RRs? I’d rather not buy and lug around a set of RA1s for next season that seldom get used if fresh RRs could be used in most wet conditions.

#6

my typo: meant RRs, not R1

RRs would be my choice for a damp track or light rain, but I don’t have enough rain experience to know when they’d no longer be a viable option. for example - wet track, steady rain, but little or no standing water. which tire do you choose - RA1s or fresh RRs? I’d rather not buy and lug around a set of RA1s for next season that seldom get used if fresh RRs could be used in most wet conditions.[/quote]
Once you hydroplane, it doesn’t matter how good you are. It isn’t so much about the track being wet, as it is about standing water. You could decide “the track is only damp” and then have the rain hit you hard at a distant turn and you’re screwed. If there’s any chance at all of any standing water, put your rains on. Crashes on a wet track can be worse than dry because wet grass doesn’t slow you down. Be conservative when evaluating the likelihood of standing water.

#7

Seeing as how half our races up here are like this:

[video size=100 width=425 height=344 type=youtube]UJA-FYJz1i8[/video]

Full tread RA1’s are fine in the wet.

#8

I wish we had some rain to use those RA1s in!

#9

Damp track is a not a wet track - wet tracks need sipes/grooves/channels damp tracks just need grip, RR’s grip a lot better and get hotter/grippy-er, RA1’s have sipes/grooves/channels and move move water volume from under the tire.

#10

FYI—The RR and the RA1 are the ONLY legal tire come rain or shine.

Otherwise, I have a nice set of Hoosier H20’s that I would love to use!