How do you like driving in the rain?

Street, track, autocross, or playing in the mud, how do you like it when the sky lets loose?

 Wife and I have an autocross event this morning, 60% chance of rain. Picture from the same venue a few months ago. 
 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I don't mind autoxing in the rain, but I sure don't like standing out in it most of the day. Though sometimes it's still better than the sweltering heat.

I generally don't mind driving in the rain, I just hate how(especially in the south) it seems like everyone drives 10mph slower when they start seeing raindrops - just like people in the north do when it starts snowing. 
 

I skipped the autox in Nola today, partly because of a 30% chance of storms. Also because last June they didn't bother to pause the event when there were multiple cloud-to-ground lightning strikes visible. 

On the road both my cars have good allseasons and wipers so I feel pretty comfortable.

On the track I do not like driving in the rain. The unpredictability of wet spots and dry spots and other cars scares me greatly. The worst has been Sebring where the 100' braking markers are painted all the way across the track so you get an ABS feeling as the tires lock up on the paint and then gain traction again 1' later.

I don't like driving in it out on the roads, but auto cross or shenanigans it can be fun. A lot like snow in the regard.

I don't trust others enough, people driving around in grey cars with no lights in downpours just has me white knuckling the steering wheel the whole time. 

My night vision has gone to absolute E36 M3 the last few years, and with it my ability to see clearly in inclement weather. Good thing I live where there's 400 days of rain a year. 

Street: nope, but it I'm driving it's a necessity vs entertainment

Autox: as said, driving sure, standing in the rain - nope. If there's a real likelihood of rain, I pass. Reward vs discomfort scale tips the wrong way.

HPDE/LeMons: a lot of fun. Takes longer to get comfortable, but it's a good time. LeMons in the rain made my low powered Datsun feel like a high HP drift machine!

I love driving in the rain.  On the road it feels almost romantic being warm and dry while the wet world goes by.  On the track I like the challenge of hunting around for traction.  If it's heavy enough the visibility. Is severally reduced then it's less fun.  Racing in an open cockpit car is also less fun. I'm not crazy about motorcycling in the rain either but I've done a lot of it.

I ride motorcycles in the rain.

I love riding my motorcycles in the rain! Why, no clue, but being able to slide both the front and rear wheels controllably is fun. Getting it wrong, not so much.

Auto-x, hillclimb, trackday or W2W in the rain is more fun in my book than driving on a nice sunny day. You get to learn a different aspect of car control, suspension set-up, tire pressure changes and since you're going a bit slower, the off-track excursions usually aren't as bad. 
 

Yes, I prefer driving in the rain and YES I've crashed/spun LOTS over the decades.

Street - since we, out west, don't get a lot of rain drivers don't get a lot of practice and the streets get slick. I'm not fond of dodging other driver's cars

Track - in my H-Production Fiat 850 I loved it. It offset the horsepower advantage the Spridgets had. When I did out of Division races I looked for tracks that could get rain.

Autocross - never did that out west

playing in the mud - my first off road race was in the rain (drizzle really) and mud (caliche) it was great in some ways not-so in others (we had tested everything except the wipers). Considering that and being our first race it was quite good - messy but good.

I love it. It's the only time the Miata stands a chance against the high end cars on course. . 

Love it. Definitely scary on the track but when it comes to learning and improving car control, one day in the rain is worth about five days on a dry track. 

What's rain?

buzzboy said:

On the road both my cars have good allseasons and wipers so I feel pretty comfortable.

On the track I do not like driving in the rain. The unpredictability of wet spots and dry spots and other cars scares me greatly. The worst has been Sebring where the 100' braking markers are painted all the way across the track so you get an ABS feeling as the tires lock up on the paint and then gain traction again 1' later.

I love racing in the rain.  Wheel to wheel. Few people are comfortable with it which makes me eager. 
   I know the "rain line" is different and remarkably decent traction.  Plus once headed on the straights ( off line)  it's fun how many faster cars you can just blow by. 
    My real edge is ice and snow teaches you how to catch the car when it's slippery out.  I get a six month refresher coarse every year. 

 My real edge is ice and snow teaches you how to catch the car when it's slippery out.  I get a six month refresher coarse every year. 

I actually use the Dirt simulator every winter to prep me for winter driving. My daily is a crosstrek, and my work vehicle is a long wheelbase van. Put a couple of nights in on the sim and the next time it snows it feels like "a video game". I do the same if I know it is going to rain at an event. 

Hate it - and we get a lot of it up here in the Pacific Northwest.  Maybe my negative feeling for it was fostered by having an old MG with side curtains combined with a defroster that had a barely perceptible effect on the windscreen.

Driving in the rain competitively is another thing. If you have really good car feel along with a big helping of luck, you can do alright on the track. I won two or three races in the rain simply because the other cars weren't used to it and kept falling off the track.

Depends on the tires. Ice is really my least favorite travel surface. But I've never had studded or dedicated winter tires.

Rain is my favorite condition to drive in on the street.  Have autocrossed in the rain once, but I was on 20 year old all season tires (not an exaggeration, they were barnfind takeoffs) and traction was laughably poor.

Is why I like good wet tires.  The Conti ECSs are not very good on standing water compared to the BFG Sport-Comps.  I remember finding out that 90mph was the limits of my wiper blades on the BFGs, would definitely NOT try that on the Contis, they start to hydroplane easily when over 65.

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Floating Doc 

I skipped the autox in Nola today, partly because of a 30% chance of storms. Also because last June they didn't bother to pause the event when there were multiple cloud-to-ground lightning strikes visible. 

Thunderstorms and lightning never bothered me. I've done numerous sailboat races in thunderstorms and many offshore distance sailboat races where sailing through thunder storms and lightning are just part of it. When I was younger and running I never let a thunderstorm from keeping me going out. For the most part I never let storms keep me from doing things and pretty much ignored weatherman's warning to go inside when it is lightning.

A few months ago we were out in our motor home and on the day we had to leave woke up to thunderstorms. I decided to go out to disconnect the sewer, water and electricity. While on my knees with one arm disconnecting the water there was a very very close lightning strike. Instantaneously I received a numbing shock from my hand all the way up to my shoulder. I rushed inside and it took several minutes before my arm began to feel normal.

A new life lesson that could have had much more serious outcome. Occasionally you hear of lightning related deaths but wonder how many close calls there are like mine. Thunderstorms still don't scare me but I have new found respect. Standing out on a flat auto cross course in a thunderstorm or other activities can be dangerous. 

I have never raced in the rain.  That just has to be interesting.  As far as street driving, driving in the rain doesn't bother me much.  But the bother does change depending on the condition of my tires.   

it depends on how heavy the rain is and how bright/dark it is.

at night I really am not a fan because of how it causes the light from the headlights to reflect off the road surface in front of you limiting how much of the road you can see.  I also have a little astigmatism so the starburst from the oncoming traffic kinda sucks.

during the day I don't really care as long as it's not pouring so heavily that with the wipers on high I still have a difficult time seeing in front of me... it also doesn't help that TX seems to think that the roads should be the ditches when we get heavy rainfall... while living in FL all the big roads had ditches between the roadways or on either side... here the roadways are the low spot and built with gutters on either side making the road literally into a ditch... so standing water is the norm shortly after a heavy storm.... makes for some miserable driving.

on the motorcycle I don't mind that it's wet really beyond how hot/humid it gets here mixed with the fact that my rain gear doesn't breathe nearly well enough for the temps... rain gear seems to all be made for areas that it gets real cold when it rains... that isn't the case here so I don't need extra insulation along with the waterproof shell... that just makes me sweaty and end up nearly as wet as I'd be just riding in the rain without the rain gear... *shrug*

 

RevRico said:

I don't trust others enough, people driving around in grey cars with no lights in downpours just has me white knuckling the steering wheel the whole time. 

 

^^ This.  Turn your berkeleying lights on people!  A grey, silver or even white car is invisible in the pouring rain.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:The Conti ECSs are not very good on standing water compared to the BFG Sport-Comps.  I remember finding out that 90mph was the limits of my wiper blades on the BFGs,

I had the Sport-Comps on my BMW for about 8000 miles(wore terribly) which were absolutely amazing in the wet. My friend borrowed my car for a day of document delivery. When he came back he complained that the tires were too grippy to be fun.

In Re Snow:

I love driving in the snow. Having good snow tires(and shift-on-the-fly 4wd in case I get in trouble) does help though. I find it so much more predictable than rain. I do a lot of drifting(when no cars nearby) on snow days. Hanging it out for 100' at 25mph is really nice.

I love racing in the rain.

Every lap is different.  Searching for the grip and sliding the car is sooo fun.  I absolutely love destroying everybody who is just trying to survive.

If you aren't almost losing it you aren't going fast enough!

Yes, I have spun a few times.  But I never race hard in the rain side by side or anything like that.  Too unpredictable and too high of a chance of ruining somebodies day.

One wet track day is like two in the dry for developing skill.

Getting stuck in mud and then bringing it on to the track is no fun though.

A set of full trend Toyo tires makes rain lots of fun. I was always leery of the other drivers. I have seen lots of cars get bent in the rain.