Damn the bad luck! I just ordered a set of Pilot Sport AS's from Chris on Friday. Sunday, I was driving home in the rain (temperature 35F) and had to dodge something in the road. Went into hydoplane land and nailed the center divider. I am sure that if I had the new tires on it would have been no problem.

The point is, is that the potensas are a summer tire. You drive on them while it is cold and wet, you are tempting fate. I put it off, and tried to get the full life out of the tires and am now dealing with an insurance claim and all the rest. If you drive your car in cold weather, run tires that are up to the challenge. My plan is to use the Pilot Sport AS's on the origional rims in the cold months and run Pilot Sprt PS2's on separate rims in the summer.

 

How many miles are on the OEM tires?

 

10K front, 25k rear. Fronts were replaced due to the tire roar problem. Tread depth on the rears still averages at 3/16". No wear bars showing. I am not an aggressive driver.

I know I was stupid and should have replaced the tires sooner. I could tell from their feel that they were starting to loose it. Listen to your instincts and not just the numbers. Just wanted to let other Z drivers learn from my mistake.

The irony is what hurts. My new tires arrived today.

 

The RE050's are quite nice actually. They're also a summer tire but they have a very good performance rating for wet conditions.

 

I'm sorry, but the combination of that many miles and that low of tread with the rain I would not be putting any blame on the tires what so ever.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=51

"From the link above"
(Common Sense) - If rain and wet roads are a concern, you should consider replacing your tires when they reach approximately 4/32" of remaining tread depth. Since water can't be compressed, you need enough tread depth to allow rain to escape through the tire's grooves. If the water can't escape fast enough, your vehicle's tires will be forced to hydroplane (float) on top of the water, losing traction.)

 

Sorry about the incident. 25,000 miles on the OEM tires and they may look good, but they get crazy in the rain. No matter. You have your new tires. Be safe.

 

USN HM 350Z,

You are right. Bad choice of thread title, but I am sure you can understand that I was upset. My main point is don't wait for the wear indicators. If the tires don't feel right replace them.

 

yeh..potenzas arent that bad though. Lateral grip is pretty high.
How deep was teh water that you hydroplaned over. Also, were you gassing while you hyrdoplaned?

 

Yeah, the RE050As are pretty good. Most Z owners have the lesser RE040s though.

 

I don't like my RE050 that much, overall there are just a tiny bit better in every compartment than the 040
I might be one of the very few to have a "not so good" review on them
PS2 without cost/life consideration should be a better choice

 

The water wasn't that deep. The rain was fairly heavy but it wasn't like I hit a puddle.

No, I wasn't accelerating. In fact, thinking back, I may have got off the gas too quick with engine drag acting like brakes. I did turn into the skid, but other than not hitting the brakes I think I could have done a lot better with throttle control.

I really wish I had done more than just a couple of autocross events. It is a great place where one can safely get real world practice at handling your car at the edge. My New Years resolution is now to do a lot more autocross.