Well, I was driving along today... typical muggy Maryland summer day... There was some lightning in the distance... kinda overcast... around 6:30...

HUGE RAINSTORM COMES OUT OF NOWHERE!!!
Within literally 30 seconds EVERYthing is soaked. The hardest rainfall I've ever seen in my life.

The Pro did not miss a beat. Not once did I feel like I was about to lose control or anything. Went through some flooded roads and enourmous puddles. If I had a CAI my engine would almost definately be toast. The Dunlops on the stock 16 inch wheels had excellent grip on all sorts of roads (wet, flowing water, rough, smooth, etc.)

I didn't do anything retarded or anything, since I could literally not see the road. The wipers were on max, and I had to go by the color difference between the dark grey road and the brown/green sides of the roads. The fastest I went in the really bad stuff was 35. Anything faster would have been stupid.

The ONLY problem was that moderate acceleration from a stop while going right caused wheelspin a couple times. I have this exact same problem in the 98 accord. No biggie, just accelerate more slowly.

By the time it was all over, more than an inch of rain had fallen on the area, I had gotten a nice high-pressure car wash, and I was impressed by the light, ABS-less, Protege's sure-footedness.

 

Thanks for sharing that 'flash flood' experience. I agree the Dunlops are great... not well known but they've had good reviews, particularly for rain and snow performance. After much research I had actually bought the Dunlop 5000s to replace the (worn) Michelin crap on my Acura EL, long before buying a P5 for my wife ... so it turns out I now happily have the same rubber on both our cars...

 

I just got back from an 800 mile road trip from Detroit to Boston. On the way out there it poured so hard you could hardly see at some points. It went on like this for almost the entire drive out there. I have to say, I was thorougly impressed with my P5 and the Dunlops. There wasn't one moment, even with about a 1/4 inch of water on the road, that I didn't feel totaly confident in my car!

 

I've had terrible experiences with these tires so far (the stock tires) in rainy weather. I'm a careful driver, but I just can't figure out the problem. Maybe I need more than the recommended 32 PSi for inflation?

 

Seems you're the exception, not sure what to say without knowing how you drive and knowing what other tires / vehicles you have driven. All I will say is that my experience is that the Dunlops on the P5 are vastly better for wet traction than the crap Michelins that are stock on Civics. Michelin should be sued for calling them 'all season'.

Also I don't think more air pressure will give you better grip.

 

I'm with most of the other replies to this post... I have found the 5000Ms to be pretty darn good in the wet... a lot better than the all-season Goodyears that are on my Chevy and about as good as the Potenza RE930s that I used to run before the Goodyears (no sense in expensive rubber for occasional around town driving).

Once they are due for replacement if I can not go up a size I will likely replace them with the same thing.

 

I've have good reviews in the rain. The car is excellent. I only wish I had a limited slip. It would be nice to really drive the car hard in the rain, but the torque steer is bad in the wet.

T.

 

Actually increasing tire pressure can reduce the amt of hydro-planing.

http://www.msgroup.org/TIP035.html