Rain tires for racing?

Whatmakes a great rain tire for racing.  And who sells them?  

Hoosier H20.  Most fun I've had on the track was in a FWD car in torrential rain in the PNW.

In reply to Kendall_Jones :

Hoosiers are pretty pricey. Plus as race tires they age out quickly. I was hoping for a less expensive alternative.  
  Rims are 16x7 

frenchyd said:

In reply to Kendall_Jones :

Hoosiers are pretty pricey. Plus as race tires they age out quickly. I was hoping for a less expensive alternative.  

So that says to me you are looking for a "street" tire that has very good wet performance.

Our latest tire guide charts wet performance:

Ultimate track tire guide | 200tw, 100tw, street-legal track and R-comps

For those of us living in the Mojave Desert we just grin an bear it. Read run the dry tires in the wet.

Also not a lot of club racers have rain tires so we are all in the same boat.

I use Toyo Proxes R1R in 225/50-16 on a 16x7 rim for my rain tires on my race SVO.  They are 200 TW and work well in the wet, at least as far as I am willing to push it in the rain.

A052. Conti ECS if it's super wet like standing water everywhere.

David S. Wallens said:

Our latest tire guide charts wet performance:

Ultimate track tire guide | 200tw, 100tw, street-legal track and R-comps

Thank you. I should have known you'd have the complete answers,  even a guide  to selecting what to choose. 

Tom1200 said:

For those of us living in the Mojave Desert we just grin an bear it. Read run the dry tires in the wet.

Also not a lot of club racers have rain tires so we are all in the same boat.

Living up here in the corn belt the Farmers are constantly praying for rain.   Mother Nature must like farmers because we get so much rain.             We send our excess North, South, and East. Headwaters for Rivers like the Mississippi, The Great Lakes,  and Red River ( head waters of the Hudson Bay. ).  Also we form more than10,000 lakes .  Our competition drivers license test includes rules of Navigation.  Races are only called when a snorkel gives an unfair advantage.  But no, swim fins aren't required, although life jackets are highly encouraged. 

  

Conti ECS in 205/45R16 (~$130/tire):

that car finished in 8th;   and those tires had a 2019 OneLap plus another 3-4 thousand miles on them, in addition to several rain races in 2019, 2020 and 2021.  driver said they were predictable and catchable.  they were 10-20sec/lap off the Hoosier H20's... don't neglect your defroster setup, either.

Great value for the scenario you're describing.

{there's also a 205/55R16 if you need taller}

frenchyd said:

In reply to Kendall_Jones :

Hoosiers are pretty pricey. Plus as race tires they age out quickly. I was hoping for a less expensive alternative.  
  Rims are 16x7 

Heh, you didnt say cheap ;)  

If taken care of, they do last for a long time - the ones I raced on were used & ~ 5 years old.

Most people I know recommend Toyo RA1s (full tread) if you don't want to pay for Hoosiers.  That's what I have for my M3, although we haven't gotten much rain the last couple years to try them out.

+1 on making sure you have a better defroster option than a rag on a stick.

hobiercr said:

+1 on making sure you have a better defroster option than a rag on a stick.

Great comment.  I tore out the HVAC unit because that was insanely heavy. ( probably well over 200 pounds all together ) But now I'm considering what to replace it with. Is a powerful fan aimed at the windshield adequate?  2 fans?   Do I need to pick up heat off the exhaust system?  

frenchyd said:

hobiercr said:

+1 on making sure you have a better defroster option than a rag on a stick.

Great comment.  I tore out the HVAC unit because that was insanely heavy. ( probably well over 200 pounds all together ) But now I'm considering what to replace it with. Is a powerful fan aimed at the windshield adequate?  2 fans?   Do I need to pick up heat off the exhaust system?  

I'd buy or build something like this Amazon Link to a really cheap heater assembly

Note that if you're talking about budget endurance races - which I believe you are - you'll need to meet their treadwear rating limits.

hobiercr said:

+1 on making sure you have a better defroster option than a rag on a stick.

the miata in the video I linked has a boat bilge blower motor... iirc.  I don't recall if it still has a heater core, or not, though.

APEowner said:

frenchyd said:

hobiercr said:

+1 on making sure you have a better defroster option than a rag on a stick.

Great comment.  I tore out the HVAC unit because that was insanely heavy. ( probably well over 200 pounds all together ) But now I'm considering what to replace it with. Is a powerful fan aimed at the windshield adequate?  2 fans?   Do I need to pick up heat off the exhaust system?  

I'd buy or build something like this Amazon Link to a really cheap heater assembly

That Amazon heater looks...interesting. It says that it's 12-24 volts, but appears to have fittings for water lines. 
Not to worry though, the instructions will make it all clear, for example:

Notice:
1.Perhaps,the color of really goods have a little difference from the picture as different the computer,please understand.

dculberson said:

Note that if you're talking about budget endurance races - which I believe you are - you'll need to meet their treadwear rating limits.

Thank you but, No, those endurance races are anything but cheap if you really look at it. Assuming you can build a reliable but competitive race car for around $7000. Add the $2000 entry fee  for 4 drivers, a set of tires, brake pads and food water drinks snacks, other consumables. Then a trailer and RV to house everybody. You'll show up on the grid  close to $20,000 down.  
  My goal is to show up on the vintage grid  for much less than 1/2 that.    Now that puts certain limitations which I'm more than happy with, including shorter track sessions.    At 73 a three hour session is more than I can deal with.  Yet if I pit to switch drivers I'm stuck in the pits for 5 minutes while younger more fit drivers are still pounding around.  
 So I don't need to conform to tread wear rules. But since the sessions are shorter, it's not a problem.  
    Vintage requires treaded tires so I'm OK on damp tracks or even slightly wet tracks.  Rain though, esp. heavy rain I'll need good deep treads.  Some drivers won't play in the rain,  that's OK. 150 mph might be too exciting in rain,  I've  always liked it.  
      If the guys want to do endurance races that's OK,  but I won't be racing. That's too much of a handicap for me.  

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

APEowner said:

frenchyd said:

hobiercr said:

+1 on making sure you have a better defroster option than a rag on a stick.

Great comment.  I tore out the HVAC unit because that was insanely heavy. ( probably well over 200 pounds all together ) But now I'm considering what to replace it with. Is a powerful fan aimed at the windshield adequate?  2 fans?   Do I need to pick up heat off the exhaust system?  

I'd buy or build something like this Amazon Link to a really cheap heater assembly

That Amazon heater looks...interesting. It says that it's 12-24 volts, but appears to have fittings for water lines. 
Not to worry though, the instructions will make it all clear, for example:

Notice:
1.Perhaps,the color of really goods have a little difference from the picture as different the computer,please understand.

Not that it negates your comment about the poor directions or the suspect build quality but it does have fittings for water lines and it uses 12-24v for the fans.  It's a box with a heat exchanger and some fans which is what I'm suggesting Frenchy use.  Probably not that one though.

In reply to APEowner :

Do I really need water in a heater to defog a windshield in rainy weather? 
I was thinking of a blind tube over the exhaust  going into a duct under the fan. 

frenchyd said:

In reply to Kendall_Jones :

Hoosiers are pretty pricey. Plus as race tires they age out quickly. I was hoping for a less expensive alternative.  
  Rims are 16x7 

16 x7 is gonna severely li.it your choices.  I wouldn't put anything bigger than a 205 on a 7 for performance driving.  16s are an orphan wheel size almost.

Also, check out www.frostfighter.com

Thats what we, and several other teams, use for a defroster.  Basically, it is a rear window defroster you put on the inside of your windshield.  Add a fan and your golden.  We juat use a bilge blower fan.

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Thanks for the advice.  The tires on it now are 225x 16 they are horribly old. Probably well over 20 years but they wore evenly. 
 The tires fit with clearance to spare.  I was debating about going to a larger size but perhaps since they are rains stay with the size that works?