THSCC Forums

...in the rain?

Take a look at Bob Tunnel's times in SM. He was 14th or some such in the rain Thursday then ran fastest time on Friday to take 2nd in Street Mod. Neal Tovsen ('77 Scirocco with a supercharger) was 2nd on Thursday and 8th or so on Friday. The same thing happened at the Petersburg Pro in DS. A bit of rain and the dominating E46 330Ci went to the back of the pack.

It seems that BMW's suffer from this more than other RWD cars. Anyone know why?

--Kevin H.

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2003 WRX (again!)

My first guess would be the big increase in weight. Possibly the driver not compensating correctly for rain. More than likely the driver, some people just aren't good at driving in the wet even though they can be quite fast in the dry.

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2006 Civic Si - #24 HS for 2015

2005 GMC Sierra
1991 318is Garage Ornament

The deal is that the drivers I'm talking about (Kevin Youngers in Petersburg, Bob Tunnell in Topeka) are among the best drivers in solo, period. They have _no_ lack of ability, wet or dry, but their cars won't let 'em go fast in the rain. I've seen Miatas go fast in rain so I don't think it's purely a RWD factor.

--Kevin H.

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2003 WRX (again!)

I suspect tires are a big factor. A BMW 330 riding on 8 to 10 inch wide wheels is going to have waterskis as tires, there just aren't any rain tires that big (not comparable to what is likely being run on the front drive cars).

I'd expect less of a discrepancy in street mod where you can at least have a LSD. A stock class 330 in the wet must be miserable (like a Celica) with the open differential.

On the other hand, in spite of the wet conditions, the DS BMW's were still at the top of the pack.

Scott