That is the same tire that I put on my wife's 01 Jetta after the Pilots wore out (at 47000 miles). Sacraficed some turn in but the wet weather performance was much better. I live in the Pacific North Wet ( ) so wet weather tires are a must. About 1/2 the price too.

 

Hmm, I have a base model and have had no problems (yet) with Potenza's in even heavy rain with 20k+ miles on the tires.

 

If your hydroplaning and you don't lift on the throttle your going to continue to hydroplane... Everytime i've hydroplaned i've always lifted on the throttle a little bit and the car gains traction almost immediatally. (Just don't hit the brakes)

Not sure why some of you guys keep saying you need to stay on the throttle when hydroplanning...

 

If the rear tires are hydroplanning the throttle will have no effect because there is no traction. As the car continues through the puddle it will tend to slow because of the drag due to the water and speed will reduce as a result, often this speed reduction will stop the hydroplanning.In a straight line there will be little drama, but if the loss of traction occurs with a lateral G load applied or crosswind the end without traction will move regardless of throttle position.
Maintaining a throttle position commensurate with speed will assist in regaining traction sooner in marginal conditions as the vehilce slows due to water drag.

 

TCS backs off throttle anyway upon slip so taking your foot off the gas just does it more abruptly. Even TCS can cause problems at higher speeds in inclement weather especially with summer tires not rated well for rain. Falken 451 have been the best all around tire I have used on my car. Kuhmo is the best summer tire with decent wet traction and rain channels which is what I run now. The RE040 were only good on dry warm roads (if you can even call them good).

I keep TCS off 100% of the time, I feel I can control the car better than TCS. Now VDC system is a different story.

In a hydroplaning situation, I back off throttle slightly but not all the way off. Usually the car will straighten itself back out without any steering input. If you do let completely off gas it CAN whip you around pretty quick, as will pushing the clutch in. Its a delicate balance of what you need to do, unfortunately without experience its a guessing game.