Anyone running the Falken Azenis RT-615 on an MCS as a summer street tire in an area which sees some rain? How bad is the hydroplaning? Is this combo an accident waiting to happen?

I loved the RT-215s rain or shine on my R32, but I had AWD and a bit more wheelbase then. I dial it down considerably in inclement weather anyways, but just wondering if these are a safe option at legal highway speeds in a steady downpour on a MINI.

TIA

 

They suck on a MINI in the rain, Doesn't rain here in the summers so we don't worry about it.

 

K, that's what I was suspecting. Thanks for confirming.

 

Might be worth giving the Hankook Ventus Rs2 Z212 a try...they are supposed to be much better in the the wet, but in the dry they aren't quite as good as the rt-615 specifically in brake and accel grip. i am going to give them a try next time around...
or may the Kumho Ecsta MX?

 

I Know Draggonmann runs them and I asked him about it, as it rains quite a bit in Ohio. He said as long as you don't act stupid and drive "normal" there are no problems...when my tires need replacing I will be picking up a set.

-Cody

 

i ran them for a summer. light rain is no problem, downpours and standing water you better slow way the hell down ( to the speed limit even!).

 

Hmm, OK. Call me an old man, but 99% of the time I drive pretty much at the speed limit w/ DSC enabled when it's raining anyways.

To be honest, When they were new I was actually more impressed w/ the RT-215s wet traction than the OE Eagle F1s on the R32 (somehow less hydroplaning but a bit less lateral grip), but imagined they would spell near certain death for me on a FWD only car. Now I'm wondering if my newfound sense of mortality, LSD+DSC, and the "Improved Wet Traction" of the RT-615s would make them managable for me in a rainstorm at 55MPH or so.

I should probably look at those Hankooks (or just replace my Dunlops) but the dry grip of the Falkens is taunting me...

 

I have *never* had a problem with Falkens in the rain. I've had 2 sets (615's) on my Mini, and a set on my old CRX (215s). I think wet grip is fine. In fact, I've been impressed with them as a rain tire.

Snow grip might be another story

I'd get the Falkens. Just replace them before the tread depth has majorly gone away, and you'll be fine.

 

My opinion is that if the MINI is your only / daily car, getting tires like the Azenis doesn't make sense. You'll be putting too many miles on them in situations where you cannot make use of the extra grip. For a weekend only (autocross / track / etc) car, or as a second set of tires for a daily driver, they're great. I'd hate to have my Azenis / Hankook RS2's on the car when I needed to drive a couple hundred miles on the interestate for whatever reason.

Other people will undoubtedly think different.

For daily use, I'm using BFGoodrich G-Force Sports. Longer life than Azenis / Hankook RS2, and still more grip than you really need for daily driving.

 

I would say you are correct snid, except I would say a lot of people wouldn't use those tires for the track. Why spend that much money when you can put them towards a pair of slicks?

I agree with you that it wouldn't make sense to use the tires for daily driving on the highway if you drive a lot. I'll be running them as daily drivers, but I don't drive far and my driving is all city driving.

-Cody

 

Cause Azenis / Hankook RS-2 are ~$90 a piece, RA-1 are ~$170 a piece, and other "track" tires are over $200 a piece.

If money is tight, I'd rather have less tire and more track time.

 

I can personally attest to good wet performance for the Z212s - they stick extremely well in the dry and have pretty decent tread life for such an aggressive tire.

 

How many miles did you get out your RT-615s before the were slicked?

I think I got about 9K of daily driving w/ 5 autocrosses on my RT-215s on the old car before they felt like they were no longer suitable for the street and I only rotated them a couple of times. I probably would have replaced them w/ the RT-615s the next spring if I had kept the car.

 

My RT-615's felt stable in the rain when they had > 75% tread. Once they were broken in, the MINI seemed to "float" on the interstate in moderate rain at speeds greater than 50 mph, so I tried to avoid that situation as much as possible.

To summarize, the RT-615's are my favorite dry high performance tire that I've ever used; substantially better than the KDW2s and my current F1 GS-D3's. I highly recommend them but just be extra cautious while driving on wet roads.

 

GS-D3's stick like glue even in the rain.

 

yeah those are what i have right now, sidewall is a bit soft (hurts turn-in a tad) and they were a pain to balance...but then they have a 280 treadwear and i got ~1.02G in the dry and ~.82G in the wet

also they are a bit more expensive

 

My '04 only has 19k miles on it, so I haven't actually worn either set of Azenis down to "mostly smooth" yet

I autocross the car as much as I can, so I doubt I would get 9k miles from a set of them, but that's OK - so far I've only been averaging about 6k miles per year on the car.

 

I have to agree w/snid. Wouldn't use them as a daily driver. I used the 615s as a track tire for HPDEs last year at Watkins Glen & Mosport and they were just fine. I ran a couple of sessions in the rain at the Glen and they were ok..no huge issues..just need to slow down and use lighter inputs. I use the Goodyear F1 GS D3s as a daily driver and have used them on track as a rain tire. They performed very well in both situations.

 

not sure why the GS-D3's were hard to balance cause mine were
balanced not only at tirerack when new, but also locally on a hunter
machine after it was re-wrapped. perhaps it's your wheel.

 

Bridgestone RE-01R's are another option for you. Supposedly just as good of grip if not better than the Falkens (and better than the 'kooks), and tractable in rain.

 

yeah that was my first thought too (well after having it roadforce balanced at two different places), but when i had the wheels checked. the people said they looked fine

right now i run with an almost imperceptable vibration at about 65-75
until the tires warm up a bit. and it seems to go away, dunno if that makes sense or not...

 

i love my falkens.... suprisingly they don't have a dreadful highway drone that i'd think would be normally associated with semi-r-compounds like this... that said, DO rotate them... after 5000km.... the letters in the rear tires are still there, although jst marks... the fronts disappeared about 4500km ago!

and in the wet... they can be scary... but drive with caution and you will be fine

 

Falken Azenis RT-615 are awsome they're like glue in dry, but just good in rain, better than my previous Hankooks I had. (both in 215/40-17)

 

I for one second snid's recommendation of the bfg g-force sports. I chose them simply because they were cheap and came in a size I was interested in trying out (225/50/15). They are the perfect tire for me, the sidewalls are very stiff making up for the 50 profile and they grip forever in the dry. They are also manegable year round in VA at least as long as you are careful in the rain (you dont want to go much faster than about 60 in a downpour but this could be because of the width as well). Hope this helps.

 

I had to go back and see what I wrote.

The g-force sport has noticably less grip than an Azenis 615. But it will last noticably longer. For me, that was the correct compromise to make for my daily driver tire.