Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Aquaplaning M3W's

I wonder what the MTWC racers use?

The easiest way to avoid aquaplaning in road use is to simply slow down.

No matter what tyre is fitted, if that rear loses grip Newtons Law will take over and the car will spin whether it's in the wet or dry..! If you don't believe this, get a Dinky or Corgi car and put a piece of sellotape over the back wheels. Put it on a whiteboard at one end, and slowly raise that end until the car moves. The car will always spin.

The factory have to play safe and fit a car wheel & tyre to ensure the safest combination to avoid a loss of grip under the majority of circumstances, and this it does. You have to be quite aggressive to spin it up in the dry, and rarely will it break traction cornering, the car tending to understeer, another 'safe' handling trait.

If you're competing and speed is of the essence, then fitting alternative compounds and sizes is down to your imagination and the event regs. but for road use I doubt there's a better alternative than the present,

Water is often underestimated, and modern tyres plus electronic driver aids (that's not an M3W, then..) often make drivers flippant driving in the wet, but when it goes, it goes very fast as water makes a pretty good lubricant..

More punctures happen in wet weather too, due to that lubrication effect.

Good point. I was wondering whether ABS on front wheels might be useful - probably the rear wheel brake is fine for low decceleration rates but is like a chocolate teapot in an emergency stop (or worse).

I have a Nokian Weatherproof on the rear as well as beating many winter tyres on snow & ice it has excellent aquaplaning resistance & wet braking. It does loose out a bit on dry handling & braking. In my location that is a better compromise. No tyre is aquaplane proof.

I have them on my Panda 4x4 and they make that particular vehicle unstoppable. Definitely either one of those of a Cross-climate for me next time round.

Cross climate has awesome wet grip, it shows just how rubbish the fronts are.

The Cross-Climate is certainly very good, mine was likely simply worn past its best albeit still very much legal. The Blockley's seem to have some strange pressure related behaviour in the wet; since talking to someone at Blockley I have been experimenting with tyre pressures. My previous experience had been that at about 25 to 28psi I got good feel in the dry and better grip than I got from the Avons while at the lower end of that range in the wet they were okay, at the upper end they did not give any feel at all and indeed felt completely wooden and deeply unpleasant. However since going up to 37psi, missing out the pressures in between, I got much more dry grip with dramatically less deformation induced understeer and the feel in the wet came back. There is a fair old step down from dry to wet grip but (horrendous downpour aquaplaning aside) there is still a lot of grip. Before my motorway excursion I had been driving enthusiastically on very wet and twisty roads with frequent brake tests for grip and feel, I had also been through many seriously deep puddles with no ill effects (the water was surprisingly warm )

Interesting. I once allowed a tyre fitter to persuade me to fit Nokian winter tyres on my old V70. They were absolutely rubbish; worst snow tyres I've ever had.

I went back to the trusty Michelin Alpin Pilots (always excellent) or Pirelli Sottozero, (also top notch).

37 psi; interesting! What did the guys at Blockley recommend exactly, if you don't mind?
With the Avon's (at 27psi) I would say that feel is nonexistent. A bit like driving a rattily flying carpet on a computer:) (Much more fun than what it sounds, though)

T

He wasn't absolutely specific with a pressure but said that the 26 or so psi was way too low and it really needed to be a lot higher, not just a couple of psi. Also said that very high pressures are routinely used in many of their tyres.
I tried going straight to 36psi in very cold weather and was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked despite feeling somewhat nervous and sceptical.
I would suggest giving it a careful try and if it works for you then it's a good thing.