What Cars Are NOT To Be Driven In the Rain?

"PatBateman" (PatBateman) 12/26/2014 at 09:55 • Filed to: Bad Idea

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So I got up early and left my parents' house early in West Austin during a hard drizzle to go run some errands. As I pulled up to the local Starbucks, an Audi R8 V10 was pulling out of the parking lot. This actually made me a bit annoyed. Help me make a list.

Z-Rated tires are not usually meant to be used efficiently in wet weather. Add in a high-performance engine, hills, curvy rolling roads, and pavement that has been accumulating slick liquids from cars during a standing drought, and this equation turns into a formula for disaster. Unlike.

So let's crowd source some answers: What are the worst street-legal cars that you can drive in wet weather?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:00

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MKII Supra. Pretty good in the dry, but the back end was too light and it had a decent amount of low end torque, so it has a tendency to point the wrong way in the rain.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:00

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R8 is auite okay to drive in the rain, at least it's AWD.

This one, on the other hand..

500hp, light, RWD, no body, slick tires, and RHD.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:00

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why were you annoyed?

You're admonishing him for driving his car in rain???

crowmolly > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:01

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Never really had an issue with anything wearing Z or W rated tires.

Drag radials, on the other hand, can be sketchy as hell.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:03

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Twin turbo V12 AMG's with summer tires (i.e. SL65). 1/4 throttle will easily break traction and light up the traction control light up to around 40-50mph in the wet. With good all-season tires they're not so bad though. Definitely still drivable as long as you are careful, the ESP is quite good, but turning that off is a death wish in the rain.

PatBateman > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/26/2014 at 10:04

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Trust me when I say this: in this weather, even AWD won't help too much. The roads are literally just wet enough to make it slick with oil, but not wet enough to move that oil off the roadways.

Source: I was a firefighter in this area for about six years, have seen MANY accidents in this area in conditions just like this.

PatBateman > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 12/26/2014 at 10:06

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More or less, yes. I don't like nice cars being risked in crappy weather.

#savethesupercars

PatBateman > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 12/26/2014 at 10:09

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We don't usually put all-season tires on sports cars here. They're more or less not needed. If it ices over here, you aren't going anywhere. Otherwise, rain is kind of a rarity.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:09

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Well, i've driven the R8 V10 on the rain. I live in Indonesia and because it's tropical country, it's rains like hell in here. As long as you drive cautiously and smoothly, R8 is a good supercar to drive in the rain, compared to say, MP4-12C.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:09

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i disagree with your opinion. The real problem is driving beyond limits, not the inherent fact that they're supercars.

PatBateman > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/26/2014 at 10:11

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If there was a decent rain going right now, cautious driving is fine. But it's slick today (my wife's Expedition broke traction on the same road earlier while pulling out of a store).

Brian Silvestro > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:14

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most of these

http://classiccarclubmanhattan.com/the-cars/

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:15

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Well..

But seriously R8 is not bad to drive in the rain. Maybe it has wet tires or someting.

*Wet tires is still a thing in Indonesia. We only has 3 tires to choose: Wet, dry, and all season.

JR1 > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:19

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Corvettes really doesn't matter what kind I've seen a lot of horror stories on YouTube.

Sn210 > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:24

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The Viper is actively trying to kill you already, don't give it the edge

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:27

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You're one of those people, aren't you?

Lemme guess, nothing should be driven in snow either, right?

GhostZ > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:30

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ANYTHING with liftoff oversteer, light weight, turbo-lag, a limited-slip differential, a tire size/grip different from front to rear, high RPM torque/redline, and no traction control/stability control.

Why? Because there's a super narrow throttle range where the car isn't spinning and you have to hit it on every on-ramp, every stoplight, and every corner. And unlike a big muscle car, you have to rev the motor out to launch which makes it even harder.

Which means our winner is: The Porsche 964 Turbo

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:31

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Lancia Beta.

One touch of the liquid-y stuff and poof. Rust bucket.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:31

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Makes sense. Where I live we get rain for what feels like 8-9 months straight, so most cars have all-seasons.

Clown Shoe Pilot > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:32

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My M Coupe w/ summer tires is a bad idea in the rain in December

sellphones2493 > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:42

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My (non-car enthusiest) friend used to always complain about driving in the snow in his car.I always thought he may just suck at driving. I drove it in the rain once, and I am now equally terrified. You need to put sandbags in the trunk of this thing to install any sort of confidence in inclement weather.

It doesn't make me feel any better that what separates me from someone's grill in a T-Bone collision is about 2" of metal.

For that reason, I nominate the 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 10:53

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...might want to have a word with demuro on that one EVEN THO he already sold the 360

OPPOsaurus WRX > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 11:07

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PatBateman > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 12/26/2014 at 11:21

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Trust me when I say that, with the roads we have in the immediate area and road conditions this morning, it was hazardous for that car. Rain alone = no problem. A slight mist + narrow two lane roads with no shoulder, hair pin turns, hills, and a nice oil slick from months of accumulation = problem for an R8.

PatBateman > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/26/2014 at 11:22

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Here, most sports cars are equipped with summer tires meant for dry weather. Austin doesn't get enough rain or cold weather to warrant anything else.

PatBateman > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 12/26/2014 at 11:26

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Well, we don't get snow. Very little rain, and most of the neighborhood roads here are hilly two laners with hair pin turns at the crest/bottom. Add on the fact that I've personally seen cars take headers off of the cliffs that line those roads in similar conditions and are only caught be the cedar trees halfway down the embankment, then yes. I'm that guy.

Milky > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 11:32

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No one has said this yet?!

(start at 2:50 if Kinja is being Kinja)

Cé hé sin > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/26/2014 at 11:37

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What's wrong with RHD?

DrScientist > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 12:08

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widowmaker? 930 turbo.

also... any car manufactured before ~1990, especially if youre in the northeast, because of insufficient galvanization and therefore, rust.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 12:12

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Kato (599 GTO). Just watch clarksons review.

Dsscats > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 12:13

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Viper. Especially the SRT10

Manuél Ferrari > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 12:17

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But but but

Audi says that Quattro is magic and infallible

472CID > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 12:31

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They seem to be good in the snow, so in the rain would be all the better. No worries if it gets wrecked, it's not like they're rare.

jj > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 12:41

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The day I bought my IS300, it was pouring, and I was driving on bare summer tires. I had no traction, and the back end was coming loose going around corners at 9km/h. It felt more like driving on ice than rain, but, I was able to drive safely, by taking it very slow. It wasn't optimal, but I'm sure the R8 guy can do the same, and just be real careful with the accelerator.

PatBateman > Manuél Ferrari 12/26/2014 at 12:53

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The car actually deploys spikes out of the tires that directly digs into the pavement without damaging the roads.

In addition, a wizard casts a spell on the tires just before it gets loaded onto the truck from the factory.

PatBateman > Milky 12/26/2014 at 12:58

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...Well that would suck.

Manuél Ferrari > PatBateman 12/26/2014 at 13:34

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YES

This is exactly what I was suspecting

I'm glad you have insider info on Audi that you could share to confirm my guesses

Axial > PatBateman 12/27/2014 at 04:07

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You don't drive this one in the rain for two reasons:

1. It will melt

2. The turbo-lag will kill you.

Conan > PatBateman 12/27/2014 at 14:28

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I don't know about the rain but I do know that I don't want to ever drive a forced induction Mustang on summer tires in the snow again.