How does yours handle in the wet?

In the dry, my GTI handles a treat - chuck it into corners, hard out etc.

In the wet it's like a young giraffe, all over the shop. As soon as any power goes on - it's hold-on-time. I'm not talking about booting it around tight tight corners, I just mean accelerating 'normally' off roundabouts.

When I first got it, it was very 'skittish' in the wet but I put that down to the fact that it had no suspension at the back and had its nose right up in the air, with no weight on the front wheels. Have had new springs all round for ages now [slightly lower], but it's still not keen on the wet. Having said that, it is fairly controllable, and fun to an extent if anticipated…

Oh, have recently had new tyres too, decent ones.

How does anyone else's do in the wet?

new tyres need to be worn in first, they still have a nice coat of mould release on them, this has to get worn off.

they will be terrible with new tyres on in the wet

whatalotafun said

new tyres need to be worn in first, they still have a nice coat of mould release on them, this has to get worn off.

they will be terrible with new tyres on in the wet

bingo.

I had new tyres on my A4 from a garage in macelsfield, then as I was leaving to go back over the cat and fiddle pass its lashed it down! all I will say is sideways at 30mph in a 2 ton car is not fun!!!!


also what tyres are you running? what pressures? is the suspesnion set up properly?

Mine is quite skitish in the wet, but then it is stiffly sprung.

Could be it, maybe I just only really noticed it tonight? Tyres have been on and well used for 5 or 6 weeks now?

Just came to mind as driving home in this god-awful weather and was interested in view on other's handling in the wet really, can't think that I've got anything particularly wrong with the set up…

I assume we`re on about cars here???      ops:

My regular daily driver is somewhat unusual and demands a little bit more care and attention than the regular car. This is partly because I've just raised the suspension about 3", though. Mind you, I have the option to push a lever and engage 4WD, even on the move. So that's nice. Once in 4WD you can definitely feel it handles better, the understeer is much less so it will corner quicker.

The Golf? I have never 'pushed' it in the wet except at Oulton Park so I honestly don't know what its like to drive at the limit, in the wet, on the public roads. I just take more care. I have spun the wheels in a straight line in the wet though (sometimes in 3rd or 4th) and it gives a good indication of the (lack of) grip.

Wet track experience has shown that the car handles in exactly the same way in the wet as the dry, except that everything occurs at a lower speed, less sideways force, and thus gives more time to react and correct it. I have 'tweaked' my handling to be better on cornering at the expense of a little more oversteer and this behaviour reveals itself equally in the wet or dry.

Yeah mine sucks and its a cabrio so super heavy, i just take my time its great fun in the caddy tho naff tyres no weight and wet = alot of fun on crappy tarmac at tesco lol  

mines quite skiddy when driving in the wet, especially if you go over drain covers seems to loose its grip all together, just make sure you take more care when driving in the wet

There is a difference in the cars wet/dry handling, but wet weather is a great opportunity to smooth your driving inputs if you want to make decent progress, sounds dull, but certainly beneficial especially on track days.

no idea i'm afraid - i've never driven mine in the rain…  ops:

i have a 1.3 driver with a  speed box (which im selling in to weeks)  and used to drive it everyday to work down some very fun windey lanes, in the dry the car was fantastic and would punch above its weight, i reguarly meet a bloke in a bmw and a bloke in an interga type r on my way to work, and had no problem keeping right up there arse in my lilttle 1.3 round the tight lanes, as soon as we hit the stright they were off tho.
thats y i love the golf it just so bloody good in the dry,
now when it came to a wet day to be honest i didnt relli think it was much different it would understear a it more but it jus made me take a wider line and smother turn in to to compensate and found that i could go nearly as quick as the dry . it was a little more exciting aswell in the wet i loved it.

Mines handles like a pig on skates!  :mrgreen:

i had a mk2 golf gti 8v and now have a mk1 golf softtop 1.8 carb and i have to say the mk2 was good in the wet and amassing in the dry but my mk1 is realy bad in the wet but just as good as a mk2 in the dry strange i thought it was just me  lol

must be a mk1 problem

DuBskiZ

DuBskiZ said

i had a mk2 golf gti 8v and now have a mk1 golf softtop 1.8 carb and i have to say the mk2 was good in the wet and amassing in the dry but my mk1 is realy bad in the wet but just as good as a mk2 in the dry strange i thought it was just me  lol

must be a mk1 problem

DuBskiZ

Its not a Mk1 problem, it can be explained possibly by one or more of these 3 things:

1. Softtop - they never seem to handle as well as hatchbacks
2. Old, therefore worn suspension components such as bushes, dampers, sagging/soft springs, etc
3. Non-standard parts fitted, or modifications, such as different wheels/tyres, mismatched damper or spring rates front/rear - cheap generic parts used instead of VW components of the correct rate. Coilovers are a good illustration - the cabbys, hatchbacks, Jetta and Scirocco all had slightly different spring rates from new, but coilover sellers advertise the same "one kit fits all".

Of course, its possible to (indeed should be done) eliminate 2 and 3 by replacing worn components, and making sure they're the right stuff!!!

My Cabby can be a handful in the wet but I put that down to Yoko tyres that are brilliant in the dray and suffer from not shifting the water in the wet. In my opinion it largely comes down to tyres and if you're running P6000 be careful.

T

Tian said

My Cabby can be a handful in the wet but I put that down to Yoko tyres that are brilliant in the dray and suffer from not shifting the water in the wet. In my opinion it largely comes down to tyres and if you're running P6000 be careful.

T

is P6000 pirellis? thats what ive got? why be careful? Lou

They are known for not wanting to go around corners in the wet. I had a set on a Passat B5.5 once which is a porly handling car but with the P6000 it was dreadful. I do tend to press on though so take that in to account.

T

I let some air out of my Nankang ditchfinders and it improved things. Still think it handled better on (hottuning) coilovers but they were far too hard.

It's all here, can't be doing explaining it again!

http://retrorides.prob…tion=display&thread=64852

if you're running P6000 be careful.

Couldn't agree more, great in the dry but my car turns into bambi on ice in the wet.  I can change lanes without moving the wheel in the wet just by flooring it :roll: .

P6000 in the wet give you an idea of what a 500bhp gti would be like, the way they spin up at the merest hint of surface moisture.