rrobello

Ok its been raining for the past couple of days on and off now and my car loses traction a lot in this rain....and no I am not some idiot So Cal person that doesnt know how to drive in the rain because it hardly ever rains. But I did not have this problem in my 98 or any other car I have driven for that matter. I have 775 miles on these tires, still new....and even when babying the throttle and granny shifting the car starts to slip in the back end, nothing bad but I cant even give it any gas because it will just slide out on me. And today on the way to the store it did it in a coast at 25mph, had car in gear and took my foot off the gas because I was approaching traffic and I hit a small puddle in road and it just slid. I've had better traction with bald tires, and it is not that I am gunning it around, I thought that the first time because I was moving, but since I notice it happens at almost any speed. Whats the deal? Is it the tire? Arent they all weather? Or is it something with the car? Traction control is on by the way. Has anyone else experienced this? I think if it continues throughout the weekend I am going to take it into the dealer and have them check it out. Can any of you help out here?

Kahdir

How bad are the ruts in the road -wear marks from heavy traffic/trucks- ?

KPT

I have the same problem.

friedmaster

I experience it to. But only when starting from a stop, and only if i give it a little extra acceleration.

PONY XPRESS

My car feels almost as good in the rain as the dry, & I'm talking at higher speeds also with lots of rain.

Try 35lbs cold tire pressure & let me know if it helps.

justgreat

it's the tires...tread compounds and patterns are always a compromise between lots of different conditions: wet and dry braking,adhesion in the dry and wet and of course the nasty stuff: snow and ice.
make a decision about what's most important to you as far as the conditions you drive in and buy a new set of tires that best deliver the performance you're looking for. it's no fun spending big bucks for a set of tires but the improvement in handling will be dramatic...just do your homework when picking the tire that best suits your needs. jackg 90seville 96k

KenW

Still waiting for my Mustang so take this for what it's worth, but could you need an alignment? I had purchased a 2004 Intrepid a while ago and had problems with bad traction and really noticed problems making turns at any kind of speed. Tires would squeel<sp?> and I had to slow down to complete the turn. After I had an alignment I was able to take turns again at 50 mph without squeeling where before I couldn't go over 30. Of course once I get the mustang gt we'll see how it handles those on ramps.

rrobello

Thanks everyone....the roads are newly paved out here, they just redid them not too long ago, but are always pretty well kept for the most part, and it hardly ever rains so its not like I need perfect tires for bad weather, would rather have performance tires (besides I thought that these Pzeros are all weather) and I will be swapping the wheels out so I will be getting new tires w/ that... I just wanted to make sure it wasnt the car, since its new and Ive never had this happen before with any car, even faster more powerful cars so it wasnt like its slipping because of too much gas. I think I will have it looked at just to be on the safe side though. Thanks, Happy New Year and drive safe.

WBstangGT

The problem with new roads is that they are sealed very well. The water and greases/oil tend to stay on the surface much better then on older pavement. This will lead to some problems with the pzeros. But I will agree while the pirelli's aren't the greatest handling tire in the world, they will keep you from point a to point b in a safe fashion at reasonable speeds. But it is much easier to justify buying new tires I suppose if the other one's get shredded... HMM...

check these out

to bad I haven't found sizing yet...

PonyLover

You could also be getting slick roads due to oil/exhaulst build up on the roads.You say it hardly rains in your area and with fairly new roads could also cause this.
I used to get this pretty bad when I had my 98' Mustang. I still get this in my ZX2 but not as bad.
Just another thought on this.

RRRoamer

If you think the new Mustang is bad in the rain, try a liter bike. I had an old Yamaha XS1100 (1979) with a few hop ups. It put on around 100 HP (tiny compared to modern liter bikes!) but it had a lot low rpm torque (for a 4 banger!). I remember riding that thing to work on day in the rain and taking off nice and easy from a stop light. Everything was nice and smooth until I hit 3500 rpm (which is when the engine hits it's first bump in the torque curve). Then, the rear wheel just started spinning like mad. Thankfully, I was directly upright and I didn't lay it over. Definitely gets the pucker factor set to a higher level! I miss that bike...

celticstanger

I had the same problem with the stock setup. Once I traded up my wheels though, night and day. It's been chucking down this weekend and I pushed the car at lights and around corners and it's glued down.

Stock tires were awful - same as a few post mentioned, could barely pull out without slipping in the wet.

Get your pony some new shoes!

foxhtn

It's the oil [tar] coming through the asphalt. It is always there, but the rain brings it out and makes it more slippery. If you have new asphalt, it will be even worse. Sometimes the best thing to do is ride along on the high edge [out of the ruts] of where the normal tire tracks would be. That will stop you from hydroplaning.

Texas Flood

I'm amazed at how much better my '05 launches on wet pavement than my '89. There's an intersection near my house that allows so little traction that I always start sliding sideways in my '89 when I launch; the '05 has never has a problem there. In fact, I can't say I've felt any hydroplaning in the '05 yet.

hispony

What Merlot said. Light misty rain is the worst because the oil does not have an opprotunity to runoff. It just comes to the surface and stays there.
Spend more time at a slide- cart track

AZ_05STANG

I have had a terrible time in the rain in my 05 as well. Even as low as 50 mph the front has lifted up and I almost lost control. I drove in the snow with very little problems this time last year when the tires were brand new. I guess 30,000 miles in one year makes a big difference. Any recomendations for good rain tires for the stock 16" wheels? I could be overly paranoid as I hydroplaned in 99 ranger Spring of '05 and rolled down a hill. Totalled of course, and the '05 F-150 the insurance bought me as a replacement is even scarier to drive in the rain than the stang.

adrenalin

Hydroplaning is normally due to speed and the design of the tires.

clintoris

It's the tread pattern... if you're in SoCal, what I'd recommend is pitching the all-season tires and getting something to better suit your climate. It's far and few between that it smows there, so I wouldn't even take that into consideration when buying tires.... you want something that has a good contact patch for dry weather, but most important, something that is well channeled to clear water. If you look at the tread pattern on Goodyear Eagl F1s, you can see how water will easily be cleared... there's channels that go directly from the center to the outside of the tire without obstruction. This is contrarty to they type of tread pattern you want for snow, where the more obstructions you have, the better.... So, an all weather tire isn't going to clear water as well as a full on performance tire.
I can't speak to how F1s actually work, how their tread wear is, etc..... the goodyear eagles that came stock on my '98 wore like crap... cupped very quickly, acted like my alignment was way off... but when I switched to BFG Comp T/As (which I don't think are made anymore) they wore super straight and lasted forever, and cleared water very well. ... They sucked in the snow, but that's what I had to deal with to get the tires I wanted for the majority of my driving. Despite that BFG is French, I'll go with them again... becuase the work and work well.

AZ_05STANG

adrenalin; I know with my wreck in the Ranger this past spring I was in a light truck with off-raod tires going too fast and tried to switch lanes. But here recently in the Mustang I can barely get to 50 MPH with the stock tires before I feel some slipping. I know the Highway I mostly use isn't that great, known for rain accidents. But other cars, trucks and even a new TA just blow by me at 65 to 70 while I'm in the far left lane barely poking along at 40 to 50. I guess I'm looking for some miracle tires that will never slip or cause me to hydroplane.

Torch85

i have a v6 with no traction control or ABS, and i dont drive my car in on the freeway what so ever in the rain. I have already spun oput and did 3 360s; all the way from the fast lane to the shoulder and knocked over an end constuction sign. I mean this car is lethal to drive in the rain. anybody in my position?