Driving M3/M4 in the rain - anything to worry about?

[duky]

Is there a reason why it would hydroplane any more than any other car that has the same tires?

Not trying to be a jerk, just wondering why you think it might

[DML]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

*BRAKES*! They're BRAKES, not BREAKS!

If your BRAKES fail, you'll BREAK your car!

Leave it to SD, thank you

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by ndukyh

Is there a reason why it would hydroplane any more than any other car that has the same tires?

Not trying to be a jerk, just wondering why you think it might

It's a pretty common misconception for folks. You'd be amazed (or maybe you hear the same thing) how often someone tells me they'd never buy X car because they had one as a rental or drove a friends in the rain and it hydroplaned on them. You ask about tires and you get a blank stare back...

Tires matter tremendously as you allude to. Put crap tires on a BMW, or a Porsche or Ferrari and guess what, it won't handle the rain or in some cases snow at all. Put good tires on a POS Kia and it'll be fine in the rain or snow.

[Jbellah]

Originally Posted by CattleCorn

So I am looking at getting an F80, but was wondering what they are like driving in the rain. Does it slide around a lot or hydroplane more than other cars? Just nervous and want to hear your experiences. Thanks in advance.

Only way the car is going to be all over the place is if you drive like an idiot in the rain or if you have summer tires on your car. I had a vette which had summer tires never drove it in the rain but in low temperatures and it did slide some. so if you have it all oem you should be good.

[duky]

Originally Posted by Jbellah

Only way the car is going to be all over the place is if you drive like an idiot in the rain or if you have summer tires on your car. I had a vette which had summer tires never drove it in the rain but in low temperatures and it did slide some. so if you have it all oem you should be good.

Surprise surprise, OEM are summer tires on the F80, and they're also fine in the rain. This thread needs to end

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Jbellah

Only way the car is going to be all over the place is if you drive like an idiot in the rain or if you have summer tires on your car. I had a vette which had summer tires never drove it in the rain but in low temperatures and it did slide some. so if you have it all oem you should be good.

Right. All we use in rainy South Florida are studded snow tires...

[Phatcat]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

they are great in the rain even with dsc completely off you can control the car and slide around intentionally. just need to respect the torque curve. tires are the most important attribute

Don't know about that, maybe you are a good driver but at M school people spin left and right with DSC off on the wet skidpad.

To OP, as long as DSC is on and you don't go into a corner too fast, you will be fine.

[Aapparition90]

Just had my first experience with a good drenching in sydney and happened to be driving.Its completely fine, if the water is too high you will get hydroplaning no matter what. I used to drive my 2016 s6 to work for 6 months and same thing .. once the water is too high and your on throttle the traction control has to intervene. The only major difference was that i could easily give it higher throttle inputs in wet roads with awd.FYI efficient mode for me in the m3 with rain , no point risking it very sunny here down under normally.

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by Railgun

Uh yeah.

In heavy rain, there have been multiple occasions where there was significantly reduced initial bite. It goes away quickly but it's disconcerting when you don't expect it.

Also, MPSS sucks more than any other tire I've driven in anything more than normal rain.

Originally Posted by Railgun

Uh yeah.

In heavy rain, there have been multiple occasions where there was significantly reduced initial bite. It goes away quickly but it's disconcerting when you don't expect it.

Also, MPSS sucks more than any other tire I've driven in anything more than normal rain.

This is an issue with the ceramic brakes but this is the first I have read about it on the steelies. do you have a third party link in a review that backs this up?

[Vectors2final]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

*BRAKES*! They're BRAKES, not BREAKS!

If your BRAKES fail, you'll BREAK your car!

Hey, man... Give him a break.

[stormlv]

Originally Posted by OUGrad05

This is an issue with the ceramic brakes but this is the first I have read about it on the steelies. do you have a third party link in a review that backs this up?

Yeah, that's also what I heard from multiple people.

Concerning the steel brakes, like *any* cold brakes, you'll have reduced friction in the first hundreds of ms, after brake application.

You need to be aware of this, that's all...

That's even more important in the winter, in very low temperatures, where the different wheels will start "biting" at different moments and will attempt to induce a turn of the vehicle.

[cwhands]

The discussion about initial bite on steel brakes being dismissed by some of you is laughable. First hand experience shows this is 100% true depending on circumstances. No I don't have a review that can back me up, but I'll second the others that stated this.

Also, don't let someone tell you that DSC/Traction is going to save you during hydroplaning. That sort of statement makes 0 sense. If you are truly hydroplaning, you're basically a passenger at that point.

That said, if you don't drive like a dick, the car is 110% capable regardless of weather conditions *given proper tires*

[OUGrad05]

Originally Posted by cwhands

The discussion about initial bite on steel brakes being dismissed by some of you is laughable. First hand experience shows this is 100% true depending on circumstances. No I don't have a review that can back me up, but I'll second the others that stated this.

Also, don't let someone tell you that DSC/Traction is going to save you during hydroplaning. That sort of statement makes 0 sense. If you are truly hydroplaning, you're basically a passenger at that point.

That said, if you don't drive like a dick, the car is 110% capable regardless of weather conditions *given proper tires*

Never really had a problem with steel discs on any car. I have even done a track day in the wet and no issue...traction was an issue but not brake performance... interesting

[nicknaz]

I didn't read the full thread but wanted to share that it was 42F and raining intermittently when I did euro delivery (car was delivered with PSS) and car was great at 100+mph

Obviously if there was a risk of standing water I backed off the pace and I kept dsc fully on at all times , but there we no issues.

Don't let this thread mess with you OP. Get your m3/m4 with no worries.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by Vectors2final

Hey, man... Give him a break.

I think that you mean BRAKE!

[DBACE]

OP, the car handles well in the rain, just like any vehicle you have to create more time and space to react to situations. I.E. You might not brake in the same distance you would on dry pavement, etc..

Once particular issue I have each time I drive in the rain: My F80 gets dirty when it's raining out. You would think the opposite, but I have to address it every time, the stuff that ends up getting kicked onto the car messes with my OCD, or what I like to call CDO (letters are in order).

Enjoy the new ride and don't be nervous.

[clutchdj]

Originally Posted by Phatcat

Don't know about that, maybe you are a good driver but at M school people spin left and right with DSC off on the wet skidpad.

To OP, as long as DSC is on and you don't go into a corner too fast, you will be fine.

Did m school also hours on a wet skid pads with an instructor. It will spin with slow hands it will also drift I am a novice.

[trey100]

Handling is fine. No issues on my MPSS.

One thing that I notice is when on the highway for longer periods, there is a delay in the brakes grabbing. I brought it in and they insist it is fine. Brake pads have a lot of meat on them. Of course it wasn't raining when I brought it is so they just wet down the brakes to simulate rain.

Now it's also winter so could be the combo of wet and cold but needless to say I'm not liking this unpredictability. Delay can feel like a full second sometimes. Steel brakes by the way.

[F83]

Originally Posted by radiofrequency

Strange question.... here goes; I drive my car in all weather, this last Friday, I drove through two raging snowstorms with temps in the low teens, this car, with snow tires, performs beautifully.

It's all about the tires. In the summer I run Super Sports. In the winter (Seattle, so winter means cold and wet) I run Continental DWS06 tires.

Cold and wet with summer performance tires = problems. That's not the car's fault - that's the tire.

But with the DWS06s on - I can handle just about anything - it sticks to the road like glue.

[Bch53211]

Looks like I'm alone here but I'd say yes there is the issue of losing traction under moderate to hard acceleration , especially if you are turning at all while doing so. And don't try to race anyone off the line in the wet a Prius could beat you. I take it easy when the roads are wet and make up for it when it's dry. I'm sure people will chime in saying its driver error, maybe so but better safe than sorry.

[RickFLM4]

There is a difference between losing control of the car due to traction or hydroplaning when driving normally vs. losing traction on a wet road trying to accelerate hard. The former is the topic of this thread, the latter is not.

[Bch53211]

Originally Posted by CattleCorn

So I am looking at getting an F80, but was wondering what they are like driving in the rain. Does it slide around a lot or hydroplane more than other cars? Just nervous and want to hear your experiences. Thanks in advance.

Maybe you should re-read the title and the first sentence (the former), while not only concentrating on the second sentence (the latter).