I have seen mention of this a few times and no real definitive reason as to why??

Is it because it is rear wheel drive?
That doesnt bother me as i grew up driving rwd muscle cars and love rwd much better that fwd.

Or is this coming from the younger drivers that have never driven a rwd and the way they handle on wet roads is new to them?

Or is it those saying this that may have bald tires or near bald that are surly bad on wet roads and really noticeable on rwd?

In the north, we are in a transition period. There isn't snow on the ground anymore, but it isn't warm yet. The summer performance tires need to have temps above 40 F before the rubber gets soft enough to grip. I spun my car in the rain, on a 40 degree day. It was on the OEM tires and the road was an expressway bend. No lane change or high speeds were involved. The rear end just took off.
I now have all-season tires.

Yeah, the OEM Bridgestones on my RX-8 were very scary on cold, rainy days. Even with full tread depth.

The OEM tires are scary when it's just cold, no rain need be involved.

A limited slip differential can be a blessing and a curse. No traction will put you in a 360.

You should be careful in the rain with any car you drive. Its just a plain fact that a car doesn't preform the same on a wet road as it does on a dry one.

You should be careful in the rain with any car you drive. Its just a plain fact that a car doesn't preform the same on a wet road as it does on a dry one.

+1 My front wheel drive Civic doesn't do good in the rain and I have all seasons with wider tires lol. It seems like the tire choice from the manufacturer wasn't general enough or location specific. (hot area, cold area)....

Driving in the wet is trickier with any RWD car versus FWD, but the OEM Bridgestone tires were crappy in the wet. Change out the tires to something better and things improve greatly.

I've not had an issue with the rain/snow/ice yet, doesn't feel any different than driving some other car. Just usual rule, don't be an idiot when driving on slippery surfaces.

tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires, tires.

goodyear F1's if you get a lot of rain.

depends on the tires that u have

Ive never had a problem and I always drive like a moron, except when I got stuck in a snow storm in Chicago when I had Potenzas, that sssuuucckkkedd!!! Made it though, somehow.....

sorry to be rude, but seriouslyy this thread is completely for dumbasses!! you must be retarded if you dont know by now that rain is alot more dangerous then dry weather.. common F'ingg SENSE!... holy crap... puff puff pass.... shytt.....


Dude, does that explain why you were attracted to it so much so that you had to put youre two cents in to it to?

I will say from experience in my several decades of driving that if you think its only common sense then take a ride in a 65.66.67 etc mustang on a wet road and hit a wet curve or standing water and your common sense will be forgotten quickly as you will be upside down in a ditch or canal very very qucikly as these cars are very dangerous in these type road conditions.
However another type car may drive 90mph in these conditions and these conditions are hardly noticeable/affected in that vehicle.

The OEM tires have very sudden breakaway characteristics in the rain. I have the Dunlops, but I'm sure the Bridgestones suffer from the same issue. Since switching to Advan Neovas, I've found the breakaway in rain to be much more progressive.

The OEM tires have very sudden breakaway characteristics in the rain. I have the Dunlops, but I'm sure the Bridgestones suffer from the same issue. Since switching to Advan Neovas, I've found the breakaway in rain to be much more progressive.

Pirelli P-Zero Nero M&S have been my winter/cold season rain tires up in the mountains. Progressive breakaway as well, but soft & quiet.
If it's gonna snow 2" or more, I wait for the roads to get plowed.

Geez guys,

YOu all should move to Seattle and drive in the rain every day. Maybe more practice driving in the rain might help you. Or, having Yokohama A032 might give you better pratice. I still have the OEM Bridgestones and they are fine with me. It used to be that most cars on the road were RWD. Just use your common sense and know your limitation.

I'm just reporting my findings. My evaluation of the OEM tires having very sudden breakaway in the rain is under circumstances that should probably not be replicated during normal driving.

I'm just reporting my findings. My evaluation of the OEM tires having very sudden breakaway in the rain is under circumstances that should probably not be replicated during normal driving.


It's nice to see you here.

Yeah, the OEM are fine with me for now. When the time comes, I'll get better tires, suspension and rims.

Geez guys,

YOu all should move to Seattle and drive in the rain every day. Maybe more practice driving in the rain might help you. Or, having Yokohama A032 might give you better pratice. I still have the OEM Bridgestones and they are fine with me. It used to be that most cars on the road were RWD. Just use your common sense and know your limitation.

I think you just summed it up by simply mentioning A032's and RWD... :lol:

I have seen mention of this a few times and no real definitive reason as to why??

Is it because it is rear wheel drive?
That doesnt bother me as i grew up driving rwd muscle cars and love rwd much better that fwd.

Or is this coming from the younger drivers that have never driven a rwd and the way they handle on wet roads is new to them?

Or is it those saying this that may have bald tires or near bald that are surly bad on wet roads and really noticeable on rwd?

Easy for the back end to come lose with RWD cars.

Easy for the back end to come lose with RWD cars.


Yes very true from my life of driving rwd muscle cars, however i would rather lose traction on my rwd car anyday/anytime then lose the same on a fwd car as a rwd is much easier to get back control of for me.

Not only is the 8 High powered and RWD, it's also lightweight which doesn't help matters. Taking corners at any kind of speed in the rain quickly becomes quite the adventure.

I've got the OEM tires and I've noticed their habit of breaking loose in the rain on corners, but they seem pretty solid on the freeway.

If you read non-specific complaints/warnings about wet conditions, it's a safe bet it's either less experienced drivers or complaints about the OEM tires (especially the im-potenzas)

Proper wet condition driving and you're fine, assuming you're expecting the occasional hydroplane at one corner or another. No problems at all on said potenzas for me unless I was playing in the rain.

+1 what expo said.

What do you want to do in the rain? The stock tires (Bridgestones) are decent in the rain as long as it's not too cold.

its just all about tires on this car.

The RX-8 has more RWD torgue than we give it credit for, and in the rain you can fairly easily get the tail to break free. Of course the DSC will save you from yourself at a point. The RX-8 isn't any worse than any other RWD sportscar in the rain. Of course tires do have a lot to do with it. Goodyear F1's are excellent in the rain.

The warnings are warranted, but nothing to worry about unless you're interested in pushing the car quite a bit in the rain. Like Jeremy Clarkson said on Top Gear, it gets a bit twitchy in the rain. It's not that no other RWD car has ever had handling problems while it's wet outside, it's just that it can kind of spontaneously lose the back end if you're really loading up the tires.

The problem can be fixed rather easily, however. Simply get rid of the standard Bridgestones and never put that brand of tire on the car (or any car you ever own) again.

You should be careful in the rain with any car you drive. Its just a plain fact that a car doesn't preform the same on a wet road as it does on a dry one.

yup! Doesn't take an RX-8 or a muscle car to lose traction in cold / wet weather.

Dude, does that explain why you were attracted to it so much so that you had to put youre two cents in to it to?

I will say from experience in my several decades of driving that if you think its only common sense then take a ride in a 65.66.67 etc mustang on a wet road and hit a wet curve or standing water and your common sense will be forgotten quickly as you will be upside down in a ditch or canal very very qucikly as these cars are very dangerous in these type road conditions.
However another type car may drive 90mph in these conditions and these conditions are hardly noticeable/affected in that vehicle.

maybe not a 65-67 mustang but i use to own and drive a 58 Thunderbird and believe me its worse~ so i would know a little something about old skool and modern.~ eyy im just saying, rain compared tod ry is a verrrry big difference. sorry to come off so harsh man but its true.

Because we don't want to see any more broken crushed 8's in the landfills. :)

^so true. we need more evo's in there and maybe some Sti's though.. lol =]]

Not only is the 8 High powered and....


:rollingla


Not trying to offend you, but I thought this was funny. :)

^so true. we need more evo's in there and maybe some Sti's though.. lol =]]
:evil_laug :lol: :rollingla :rofl:


:rollingla


Not trying to offend you, but I thought this was funny. :)

I think he really meant rev-happy...:lol2:

+1 My front wheel drive Civic doesn't do good in the rain and I have all seasons with wider tires lol. It seems like the tire choice from the manufacturer wasn't general enough or location specific. (hot area, cold area)....


Sometimes the wider the tire increases your chances of hydroplaning...

Sometimes the wider the tire increases your chances of hydroplaning...


thats a fact. :)

you cover more area which makes the percentage alot higher. ;)

Geez guys,

YOu all should move to Seattle and drive in the rain every day. Maybe more practice driving in the rain might help you. Or, having Yokohama A032 might give you better pratice. I still have the OEM Bridgestones and they are fine with me. It used to be that most cars on the road were RWD. Just use your common sense and know your limitation.

Indeed. Cold weather period is a bad thing for the OEM tires. I totalled my 2005 8 because of cold weather, wet roads, possibly some ice, and making a quick adjustment to my course due to large animal in the road on a corner. And I was only doing ~30MPH. I'm really paranoid now when it is evening, cold and wet out... which is a lot of the fall and winter in Seattle.

:evil_laug :lol: :rollingla :rofl:




I think he really meant rev-happy...:lol2:

Yeah. That works. :spank:

The problem can be fixed rather easily, however. Simply get rid of the standard Bridgestones and never put that brand of tire on the car (or any car you ever own) again.

This is quite a misinformed opinion. The characteristics of a tire have more to do with the model than the brand and while the RE040 has fairly twitchy wet weather characteristics, other tires of the Bridgestone line, such as the RE960AS, do not display that quality. Branding is a poor way to determine a tire's potential characteristics.

Yes very true from my life of driving rwd muscle cars, however i would rather lose traction on my rwd car anyday/anytime then lose the same on a fwd car as a rwd is much easier to get back control of for me.

+1 FWD cars are for the suck!

40 degF, in the rain, on OEM Dunlop Summer tires yesterday. Obviously not ideal, but with the attention the environment demanded no big deal. This morning we're already over 55 degF. Only in NE!

This is quite a misinformed opinion. The characteristics of a tire have more to do with the model than the brand and while the RE040 has fairly twitchy wet weather characteristics, other tires of the Bridgestone line, such as the RE960AS, do not display that quality. Branding is a poor way to determine a tire's potential characteristics.

I've never driven on a set of Bridgestones that I've liked - every set has had their own problems, mostly relating to wear and wet traction. First car: Nissan Sentra. Bridgestones, needed new tires in 10k miles, wet traction was shot by about 7k. Next car: IS300. Bridgestones again, fronts wore in 5k miles (to be fair, we think there was an alignment issue), wet traction was always lackluster, especially on the rears. Second set of tires were fine. Finally, the RX8 - wear was good enough, wet traction was decent, but when pushed, the tires would just come out from under you with little warning. Switched to Dunlops and those tires ran like champions until the day the 8 had to be returned.

These are just the cars I've driven personally, I'm not even getting into all the problems my parents have had with that brand. I'd say it's pretty safe for me to recommend people look elsewhere after all the problems we have experienced.

If a person doesn't have traction control on the car can spin like a top. :)

Been a while since I did that and yes it was on the stock Bridgestones, they got better when they were about half worn... but they also got louder. :(

Been much happier with the Dunlop Direzzas. :icon_tup:
Didn't realize how loud the stock ones were till I mounted these on the car. :cool:

newer RX-8 comes with Dunlop SP-something as stock tires which from other accounts were better tyres.

I love driving my 8 in rain, so mutch fun =)

The '05 Shinka came with Dunlop SP 8090's. Very nice tire. Much more trustworthy in the rain than the earlier stock Bridgestones, not to mention better dry wx handling and quieter.

newer RX-8 comes with Dunlop SP-something as stock tires which from other accounts were better tyres.

^ Actually some '05 Shinkas, like mine, came with Bridgestones.

^ Actually some '05 Shinkas, like mine, came with Bridgestones.

I believe 06+ Mazda began installing Dunlops... when the Birdstones were used up.

Sorry to hear that New Yorker. :lol: (j/k a fellow BCM Shinka owner!)

^ Actually some '05 Shinkas, like mine, came with Bridgestones.

I believe that Mazda has always had a mix of OEM Dunlops and Bridgestones. The latest spec deck for the 2009 indicates tire brand as Bridgestone so they might now all be Bridgestones, but even 2008 inventory had a mix of Bridgestone and Dunlop and that trend has been happening at least since 2005 and possibly has from the very beginning.

i have bridgestone tires on my 2008.

I have dunlop tires on my 07, didn't know there were bridgestone oems till now. No problems in the rain yet... maybe because i dont drive as aggressive

Yes very true from my life of driving rwd muscle cars, however i would rather lose traction on my rwd car anyday/anytime then lose the same on a fwd car as a rwd is much easier to get back control of for me.

i don't discredit long time RWDers ability to control their car, but i personally find the opposite to be true. in the rain... understeer, even breaking traction or hydroplaning, i found the car will steer back on track easier for me.
this is just what i'm used to.

but the common knowledge is that a narrower tire is better suited for rain and combating hydroplaning. whereas the wider a tire is, the more it will "float" or hydroplane across a puddle of water.

True, but there are many wide performance tires that are designed to channel water to minimize hydroplaning (effectively multiple narrow tire treads) , e.g. Goodyear F1 GS-D3.

....
but the common knowledge is that a narrower tire is better suited for rain and combating hydroplaning. whereas the wider a tire is, the more it will "float" or hydroplane across a puddle of water.

I believe that his question has now been answered.

"I just think that the subject should resolve itself based on its own momentum." - George Costanza :)

I believe that his question has now been answered.