RWD Worries

[RM7]

Hey all,

I live in North Georgia and don’t have to worry much about snow but reading on this forum has made me second guess ordering RWD. A lot of people have said it’s horrible in the rain, etc.

This is going to be my daily driver… so if it’s pouring rain I’ll be out in it. If I keep it out of sport mode and don’t drive it like a maniac will I need to worry?

I’ve never owned a RWD car and the more I read the more nervous I’m getting.

Thanks for the insight.

Jesus christ, are you kidding me?

This AWD thing is totally out of control. Yes, AWD is very useful for me, it GETS THE CAR MOVING, which may not sound like much, but uphill on ice, which is common for me to drive on, it's pretty helpful. Just being able to start at an intersection and get across before the light turns yellow and red...seems simple in most conditions, it's not when the sun doesn't come up high enough to burn the ice off the roads for months. The best studded tires help out, but still spin the rear end a lot more when trying to accelerate and if you need to move out of the way of something by accelerating, all the RWD will do is kick the rear out, studs or not, driving on ice like we do.

But once you are moving, AWD is out of the picture completely, then the tires, their width, their ability to deal with rain, their tread composition, the conditions, those are what matter.

I remember my WRX with summer performance tires vs. my old 2010 Camaro SS with decent performance tires that were still high performance, but much better in the rain. The wet traction of the Camaro was far and above the WRX. Just think about that for a little while. The tires that come on the AWD stingers are pretty pathetic too, a little too skinny to take seriously IMO, they will do decent in the wet though due to their tread pattern and usage. I got some wider high performance AS for that car, but in winter I've got it on studded tires.

Again, AWD gets you moving/helps with acceleration. Unless you are driving on ice and deep snow (as in you are not penetrating to relatively warm pavement), it's not going to do anything to you, except shave your 0-30 time a little due to hooking up all 4 wheels and delivering that initial power a little better, but it will cost you more top-end with the driveline drag.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Definitely recommend upgrading tires to Z rating

"Z" is not an "upgrade" if the tires that come on the car are Michelin (Y) summer tires.

OP: RWD is easy in the rain as long as you don't hydroplane. You already said that you're a careful driver, so, I suspect that you know how to correct when you feel the back end starting to come around. Just go easy on the gas in the wet. You have to do that to retain full control of any car, regardless of which wheels lay down the power.

 

[Blueangel]

"Z" is not an "upgrade" if the tires that come on the car are Michelin (Y) summer tires.

OP: RWD is easy in the rain as long as you don't hydroplane. You already said that you're a careful driver, so, I suspect that you know how to correct when you feel the back end starting to come around. Just go easy on the gas in the wet. You have to do that to retain full control of any car, regardless of which wheels lay down the power.

Mine didn’t come with summer tires. Guess every car is different depending on year

 

[vipeboy2000]

Mine didn’t come with summer tires. Guess every car is different depending on year

pretty much only rwd's come with summer tires from factory after 2018... i believe that year you could option/get a awd with summers. Not sure on that though..

 

[StingerMG]

My RWD Stinger GT is my only car. I stay in South Carolina (the Midlands) and driven in downpours in sport powertrain mode all the time. As long as you treat the car sensibly, the car will treat you well in the rain.

 

[Continuum]

My RWD Stinger GT is my only car. I stay in South Carolina (the Midlands) and driven in downpours in sport powertrain mode all the time. As long as you treat the car sensibly, the car will treat you well in the rain.

Very encouraging, thanks. So unbelievably excited to get behind the wheel.

 

[StingerMG]

Very encouraging, thanks. So unbelievably excited to get behind the wheel.

No problem, anytime. Just be sure to watch the temperature. The car will warn you if the outside temperature is below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The RWD model comes with summer tires from factory, while pretty decent in the rain, they're crap in sub 45 degree weather. I'm going to switch to Vredestein Hypertrac all season tires after the Pilot Sport 4s wear out.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The RWD model comes with summer tires from factory, while pretty decent in the rain, they're crap in sub 45 degree weather.

I think that you should qualify what you mean by "they're crap". My definition would be that the tire is unsafe in normal driving conditions and at normal speeds. By that definition the Michelin summer tires work well below freezing on non-icy surfaces. I've been into the high Unita mountains at air temperature of 20F, late in the fall: the road surface had not hard frozen yet: there was slush and ice forming, but everything was wet still, and I took the curves very easy and sedately, 10 MPH or more under the speed limit. The Michelins didn't slide once. But stay off ice with them, absolutely. I wouldn't deliberately drive into conditions like that: it was unplanned on that occasion.

 

[codex]

I live in Florida where it rains basically all year round. PS4's were just fine, I got Extreme contact DWS to replace them since they wore out at 15k mi. the contis are not quite as sticky in the dry, but easily just as good in the rain, if not better than the PS4's. I've never had any problems controlling the car in the rain on either tire, just don't gun it while turning obviously. the car's traction control does a very good job of keeping you straight if you're not actively trying to hoon in the rain. I've only ever had one moment of concern, accelerating while passing (and attempting to change lanes) at highway speeds in mid-to-heavy rain. I felt the front tires start to slip and immediately backed off the gas, and the car straightened right out without complaint. RWD in the rain is fine if you don't drive like a moron (like me sometimes!)

 

[StingerMG]

I think that you should qualify what you mean by "they're crap". My definition would be that the tire is unsafe in normal driving conditions and at normal speeds. By that definition the Michelin summer tires work well below freezing on non-icy surfaces. I've been into the high Unita mountains at air temperature of 20F, late in the fall: the road surface had not hard frozen yet: there was slush and ice forming, but everything was wet still, and I took the curves very easy and sedately, 10 MPH or more under the speed limit. The Michelins didn't slide once. But stay off ice with them, absolutely. I wouldn't deliberately drive into conditions like that: it was unplanned on that occasion.

I don't feel that the summer tires grip very well once it gets cold. It's drivable but not ideal, the overall poor road quality where I live doesn't help either.

 

[RM7]

My 2SS 1LE with Goodyear F1 Supercar 3s was scary as hell in anything more than light rain at highway speeds. You had to slow down below highway speeds because it was too easy to hydroplane. The crazy-wide 305 section tires with that tread profile and compound was ultra-scary in those conditions. Moving to PS4S made a big different and handled the wet MUCH better. The Stinger is removed from this by magnitudes and it's not an issue. Unless you go and put 305 F1 S3s on there, you shouldn't be having any significant hydroplane issues at any normal speeds.

 

[RM7]

I think that you should qualify what you mean by "they're crap". My definition would be that the tire is unsafe in normal driving conditions and at normal speeds. By that definition the Michelin summer tires work well below freezing on non-icy surfaces. I've been into the high Unita mountains at air temperature of 20F, late in the fall: the road surface had not hard frozen yet: there was slush and ice forming, but everything was wet still, and I took the curves very easy and sedately, 10 MPH or more under the speed limit. The Michelins didn't slide once. But stay off ice with them, absolutely. I wouldn't deliberately drive into conditions like that: it was unplanned on that occasion.

My other car has temperature sensors in the TPMS and it updates the driver info center with the tire temperature, cold, cool normal, warm, hot, etc. The tire temp is not the outside temp. It can vary quite a bit based on many factors, how much sun the pavement is getting, how much you are braking, the speeds you are driving, etc. 45 degrees is pretty useless without more information, I've had situations where the tires are gripping just fine, but by the same token, if you are experiencing cold tire temps all the time, a high performance AS tire may be the ticket. I usually caution against this, since life is too short to not experience summer tires in summer, but there are some limited situations where it makes sense. I wanted to set the Stinger up more for AS wet, where I wouldn't be driving my more "summer" car...

 

[Random386]

^^Isn't that a speed rating? How does that help in the rain?

It actually hurts, higher speed rating is more performance grippy tires. You rather have grooves and such for rain. Js.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I don't feel that the summer tires grip very well once it gets cold. It's drivable but not ideal, the overall poor road quality where I live doesn't help either.

Yes, the gription does diminish as the summer compound gets colder. But below 40F nobody should be "testing" their cornering or acceleration or braking performance with summer tires to begin with. And the colder it is, the more carefully one should drive. But if you drive like normal people do on a commute, there should never be a safety issue right down to freezing temperatures. Extreme freezing temperatures is when summer tires get so hard that even on a dry road they are a hazard. But again, it's more a surface-to-surface thing, not going by the air temperature alone. In my scenario described above, in late fall, the ground was still warm from a long summer and gentle fall: the sudden drop to 20F with precipitation did not make the tire-to-road contact an actual hazard while the snow remained unfrozen: but that was no time to be testing the cornering ability! As I said, gently cornering below the speed limit, I didn't feel the tires break loose even once. I will add that within a week, I had my A/S tires on.

 

[clemson85]

You will be fine. Enjoy your Stinger. I live near Augusta, GA and I have driven somewhat high hp rwd vehicles most of my life. Just drive sensibly in the rain. Let's see a pic of your new Stinger.

 

[Continuum]

You will be fine. Enjoy your Stinger. I live near Augusta, GA and I have driven somewhat high hp rwd vehicles most of my life. Just drive sensibly in the rain. Let's see a pic of your new Stinger.

Thanks, man. When I get it I’ll definitely share! Ordered and on the way.

 

[Ks1965]

That works. As I mentioned, I’ll definitely be cautious when driving in wet conditions. Have you ever felt unsafe in the rain?

my daughter had a 2022 stinger g1. She was going 50 in the light rain and it hydroplaned on the interstate into a wall!! Totaled her car!! Air bag came out bloody nose bruised arm. No other cars involved and no ticket! She did nothing wrong! She had heard of the hydroplaning from the sales person who said do not go over 50 if it’s raining and she didn’t! Thank you Jesus my girl is here Be safe and don’t drive on the rain period! They need to re-design this car because of that!

 

[StingerMG]

my daughter had a 2022 stinger g1. She was going 50 in the light rain and it hydroplaned on the interstate into a wall!! Totaled her car!! Air bag came out bloody nose bruised arm. No other cars involved and no ticket! She did nothing wrong! She had heard of the hydroplaning from the sales person who said do not go over 50 if it’s raining and she didn’t! Thank you Jesus my girl is here Be safe and don’t drive on the rain period! They need to re-design this car because of that!

I sorry to hear that. It's good that she walked away without any major injuries.

 

[Ks1965]

my daughter had a 2022 stinger g1. She was going 50 in the light rain and it hydroplaned on the interstate into a wall!! Totaled her car!! Air bag came out bloody nose bruised arm. No other cars involved and no ticket! She did nothing wrong! She had heard of the hydroplaning from the sales person who said do not go over 50 if it’s raining and she didn’t! Thank you Jesus my girl is here Be safe and don’t drive on the rain period! They need to re-design this car because of that!

We are on FL and that is we’re it happened

 

[RM7]

hydroplaned at 50mph in light rain with skinny stinger tires?

That doesn't really add up to me. I had 305 goodyear SC3s that would hydroplane pretty easily, but still not at 50mph or light rain. I'm not sure outside of racing slicks that's even possible, unless you hit a big and relatively deep standing water puddle/stream over the road. Glad you are ok.